I may look sexy stripping… but I think about toast

WITH the cost of studying at university soaring to £20,000 a year, many female
students are turning to stripping to pay their way.

According to a study in the British Journal of Sociology of Education, a
THIRD of all UK strippers are students looking to offset tuition fees of
£9,000 a year before living expenses.

Here, DIANA APPLEYARD meets three young women who have paid for higher
education by stripping.

'I'm quite a shy person so at first it was weird'

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SARAH DAVIES, 21, is reading English literature at the University of
Manchester. She is from Guildford, Surrey. Sarah says:

I started stripping a year ago because I was struggling financially. I could
see my student loan piling up.

A friend was already stripping at a club in Manchester and she said I could
make great money.

I waitressed for a year in clubs before I plucked up the courage to audition.
Twice I was laughed off stage but I needed the money so I practised lots and
tried again.

I’m quite a shy person so it was hard. You have to be very strong-minded. You
need to be in control of the men, not let them control you.

I’ve learned to leave my real personality at the door and be a different woman
on stage.

The money has saved all my financial worries and let me get my boobs done –
they are now 34D. I paid for a £3,000 villa in Ibiza to celebrate my 21st
birthday and I can buy fabulous clothes.

There is such a social stigma to stripping I rarely talk about it.

Sometimes I’ll be really tired in lectures and have to concentrate not to drop
off. It’s hard to study and focus when you’ve been out until 4am.

I do have a boyfriend and he hates me stripping but he can see the money I
make. The most I’ve made is £1,900 in a night. Usually it’s £200 to £400 a
night.

I doubt I’ll carry this on when I leave university.

I aim to work in the media and will want to put this behind me.

'I haven't told my parents what I do. They'd be horrified'

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VERONICA WEBSTER, 24, is studying travel & tourism in London. She lives
in north London and is single. Veronica says:

There are moments when I hate stripping. I’ll be dancing in a tiny G-string
with a red-faced, sweating punter leering at my naked body and I’ll wonder,
‘Why am I doing this?’

Then you think of the money. You could never earn this doing a traditional
part-time job.

The cost of living in London is horrendous. College fees are £3,000 a year
then I have to spend around £10,000 on rent and living.

There’s no way I could survive without this job. I don’t want to saddle myself
with a huge student debt.

When I leave I want to work in travel. I won’t carry on stripping.

The most I’ve made in a night is nearly £2,000 – extraordinary money for a
student.

Private dances are only £20 a go, so you depend on men giving you huge tips.
My biggest single tip was £200.

I haven’t told my parents what I do. They’d be horrified.

A few friends on my course were already doing it and they said, ‘You’re
pretty, give it a go’. I try to see it as dressing up – as if you were going
to a party. I put on my sequins and make-up and become someone else.

This is definitely a means to an end – clearly it’s not what I want to do for
the rest of my life.

When I’m sitting in the lecture hall wearing a neat skirt and jumper with no
make-up, there’s no way you would know what I do at night.

'Bouncers protect you but verbal abuse is the worst'

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PENNY STEVENS, 26, recently graduated from the University of Westminster
after studying politics. She lives in south London and is single. Penny says:

When I’m dancing and stripping I may look sexy but often I’m thinking, ‘I’d
love a cup of tea and a piece of cheese on toast’.

If only the customers really knew what we were thinking!

When I’m stripping I put on my “game face” – an emotional wall between myself
and customers.

Bad nights are when I forget to put on my game face and some customers seem to
know you are emotionally vulnerable and make derogatory remarks.

I’m not concerned about physical abuse because there are bouncers and cameras
to protect you but the verbal abuse is the worst.

You can be called a slut and even worse if they are drunk.

I started stripping when I was studying for a foundation year at Camberwell
School of Arts in London. Other girls on my course were doing the same
thing.

I was nervous at first but surprised by how much I enjoyed the job.

You meet lots of intelligent girls in the clubs and we have a great time
together. I find it glamorous and fun, I get to choose the days I work and
do as little or as much as I want.

The downside is tiredness – it can be hard to balance work and study.

Stripping has let me pay my way through university and on average I make £200
a night.

I won’t do it forever but I’ll carry on for now as the money is so good.

Eventually I’d like to make my living by writing and I want to travel the
world.

'It's fun but can hit your career'

SOCIOLOGIST Dr Rachela Colosi is a lecturer at the University of Lincoln
and worked as a stripper when she was a student.

She says: “There is no doubt we are seeing more students becoming lap dancers
and strippers – there are more clubs now, as well as the normalisation of
sexual culture.

“Soaring tuition fees are a reason but many people overlook the fact that lap
dancing and stripping can be fun, sociable and pleasurable.

“These girls have to be careful about their future. Photos can pop up on the
internet, even if they use pseudonyms, which most of them do. Careers like
the law would not look on this favourably. I enjoyed working in the clubs
while I was an undergraduate.

“The biggest issue for me is workers’ rights. Some of the girls are being
exploited by their bosses.

“They can be made to pay high house fees even if they have earned nothing, or
come under pressure to work more than they want. The only ‘union’ is the Sex
Workers Union but many students don’t like to feel they are sex workers and
worry about losing their job if they join.”