ABSTRACT
This chapter synthesizes findings from the micro, meso, and macro levels of analysis that examine the relationship between exotic dancing and power. We analyze the data through the lens of feminist theories of power. We find support for those that define power as something to be possessed, economic resources, power to mesmerize and dominate through sexual displays, power to control activities and definition of self, and power with others. The findings indicate that the seductiveness of power women feel on the individual and organizational level may be occluding the fact that they are without power at the institutional level, that is, the power to set the agenda of how they will be paid for what and by whom. Rather, dancers act within available opportunity structures and cultural beliefs that reinforce dominant definitions of gender, sexuality, and power. Dancers could be seen as being seduced into a false sense of power that more likely represents the ultimate abdication of power, perhaps as their most intimate experiences are bought and sold in the commercial market. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications of findings and usefulness of a multilevel perspective to understand the ways in which power operates in our interactions, organizations, and institutions to inform a feminist theory that searches out systems of domination in order to challenge and change them.
