ABSTRACT
In this chapter we examine the relationship between exotic dancing and power at the meso-organizational level. We found that the more stringent the rules are, the more power dancers had, to control the customer and the situation. Dancers also indicated their power was mitigated by organizational culture. Specifically, dancers indicated that if they cooperated with each other, management was supportive, and staff promoted dancers’ success, they had more power than in an organizational culture of aggression and competition. This held true whether the club was a high-end gentlemen’s club or a low-end biker/trucker club. We also found that dancers support feminist theories of power that define power as domination of others and control over self. However, they also recognized the power of cooperation. This offers support for the importance of a critical examination of hierarchical power as ubiquitous, inevitable, and beneficial in structuring our organizations.
