[lankymanky]

Female students and graduates are increasingly turning to lapdancing to fund their studies, according to a London nightclub chain.

About 18 per cent of performers at London's six Secrets venues are in higher education, and about 10 to 15 a month apply for the jobs.

For the year 2009-2010, there was a three per cent increase in the number of applications from students and graduates, and in 2010-2011 six per cent more auditioned.

The numbers look set to rise as students struggle to pay higher tuition fees of up to £9,000 a year from next year, while latest government figures show graduate unemployment is at a 10-year high.

Mia, a barristers' clerk in Holborn, started dancing at Secrets in Covent Garden six months ago. She said: "I'm saving up either to go travelling or to put the money towards getting a law qualification and becoming a barrister. I did pole dancing anyway for exercise."

Dancers pay £20 a night to perform and then up to £100 in commission, depending on how much they earn, which can be up to £1,000 in an evening.

Mia said: "If I dance three nights a week I can earn £500. I work for about 40 different barristers and I earn about £24,000.

"There are a couple of foreign girls who are qualified lawyers in their own country and working in Secrets while they improve their English. In the end it's just a naked body. I'm quite proud of having the courage. I feel I'm proving a point that not everybody who does this is thick."

Stephen Less, owner of the chain, said: "Many of our dancers spend more time talking to clients than dancing for them. Dancers who are educated often have more to offer in that respect. It can make them very popular. People often don't expect them to be knowledgeable and interesting as well as attractive."

He claimed last year that after taking a debate about lapdancing at Trinity College Dublin, four students approached him for jobs.

Lapdancing clubs have to reapply annually for a licence and councils can close venues near churches or schools.

Source: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standa...g-with-fees.do


What a pity.

[flown_muse]

Lol. Noone has to pay for fees upfront so this is the newspaper putting their own twist on it.

[Xhotas]

What's wrong with lap dancing? I have a friend who does it, she gets paid a good amount and enjoys her job. If you've ever been to a strip club you'll find it's hardly women being harassed or mistreated, if you so much as look at a stripper funny, let alone slap her arse or something, she'll just get a bouncer to get you to get the **** out.

And I still don't understand this conception of saving money to pay for tuition fees. Loans will still cover them like before, why do people still not realise this?

[Akkuz]

(Original post by flown_muse)
Lol. Noone has to pay for fees upfront so this is the newspaper putting their own twist on it.

You do for masters degrees.

[Yawn11]

I wonder if they do student discounts for lapdances yet....

[HARRY PUTAH]

As soon as a woman touches the professional lap dancing scene, she will change and that is fact.

Whether she is mentally tough enough to stop her view of men becoming broke is a big sticking point.

[JGR]

(Original post by HARRY PUTAH)
As soon as a woman touches the professional lap dancing scene, she will change and that is fact.

Whether she is mentally tough enough to stop her view of men becoming broke is a big sticking point.

Ordinary life will do that, often enough.

I for one am not surprised at all that it's becoming more popular.
The reward/effort ratio is frankly enormous, and living costs keep going up.

[Martyn*]

What do the men/boys do?

[seanfromtheblock]

I swear this is a news story about every six months

[L i b]

(Original post by seanfromtheblock)
I swear this is a news story about every six months

Exactly. It's a half-baked nudge in the direction of moral outrage.

Whilst I once met a uni student who worked in a strip club, it's not even remotely common.

[Snagprophet]

At least I don't need to pay fees up front. Does this mean that this paper was biased for not mentioning it? Or are masters degrees that common?

[ForensicShoe]

(Original post by Yawn11)
I wonder if they do student discounts for lapdances yet....

NUS 'Extra' card

[House Dagoth]

You don't have to start paying it back until you earn 21k. But lets say you earn 26k, the difference between 26k and 21k is 5k, what is 9% of 5k? 450 pounds. This is what you pay back at the end of the year.

if you don't manage to pay back the 45k debt in 30 years (which you probably will, unless you start earning 100k at some point), then your debt is completely cleared, as if it never existed.

The media always tries to hide this fact and they make out the fees worse than they actually are.

[BaBaFiCo]

Tbh lap dancing is a very professional field, it's so strict in this country. And with a lot of uni students who receive the minimum maintenance loan etc. being unable to even afford their accommodation I'm not surprised it's increasing.

[Rooster523]

I don't understand people who say they don't understand people who save money for fees.

The sole reason I cannot go to university is that I cannot afford to live there. Sure you get a maintenance loan but you must be high if you think that'll cover the cost of living.

[tnajamie]

if I could i would ... not sure if it guys lapdancing works tho LOL

[The Real Quaid]

(Original post by Yawn11)
I wonder if they do student discounts for lapdances yet....

Maybe you can pay in lentils

[kerily]

Up to £1000 in a night? I won't even lie, I was reading the article thinking 'this might be an idea...' as opposed to being morally outraged like I presumably should be

[there's too much love]

(Original post by kerily)
Up to £1000 in a night? I won't even lie, I was reading the article thinking 'this might be an idea...' as opposed to being morally outraged like I presumably should be

What's immoral about lapdancing?

[kerily]

(Original post by there's too much love)
What's immoral about lapdancing?

I don't think anything's immoral about it - but the article's worded in a way that implies we should think there's something immoral about it, is all.