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| Lusty Lady – world's only unionized peep show – on verge of closure | Lusty Lady – world's only unionized peep show – on verge of closure |
| (17 days later) | |
| It's a fact of capitalism that co-operative businesses come and go. But when that co-operative is San Francisco's Lusty Lady, the world's only unionised and worker-owned peep show, and an inspiration to all erotic dancers fighting for better labour rights, it's a loss of a local (if not global) landmark and blow to sex worker morale. Hopefully, the club's labour rights legacy will outlast the problems of its co-operative model. | It's a fact of capitalism that co-operative businesses come and go. But when that co-operative is San Francisco's Lusty Lady, the world's only unionised and worker-owned peep show, and an inspiration to all erotic dancers fighting for better labour rights, it's a loss of a local (if not global) landmark and blow to sex worker morale. Hopefully, the club's labour rights legacy will outlast the problems of its co-operative model. |
| The club's closure is being blamed on Roger Forbes, the millionaire landlord who has given the dancers just two weeks to vacate the property due to rent arrears. Forbes owns a serious chunk of North Beach real estate, including the next-door commercial Hustler Club, which the Lusty Lady could never compete with. When questioned about his reasons for closure, Forbes is quoted as saying that it's not about the money, but the fact "there was no one in charge". | The club's closure is being blamed on Roger Forbes, the millionaire landlord who has given the dancers just two weeks to vacate the property due to rent arrears. Forbes owns a serious chunk of North Beach real estate, including the next-door commercial Hustler Club, which the Lusty Lady could never compete with. When questioned about his reasons for closure, Forbes is quoted as saying that it's not about the money, but the fact "there was no one in charge". |
| The lessons of the Lusty Lady's troubles shouldn't spell the end of sex workers' push for rights, but should be a model for how to do things better in the future. | The lessons of the Lusty Lady's troubles shouldn't spell the end of sex workers' push for rights, but should be a model for how to do things better in the future. |
| The main problem of the co-operative has been its inability "to get anything done fast", former dancer-turned-PR manager Prince$$ told me, who has worked at the club for 12 years, and has been elected to the executive committee several times. Part of the Lusty's charm has been the novelty of its old-fashioned peep show structure with its screens raised by dollar bills, an antidote to an age of freely available live footage of performers via the internet. But it has never made it commercially competitive. When the co-operative recently took the decision to install web cams to try and increase revenue, irreconcilable disagreements about their use brought them down within weeks – and they were never reinstalled. Time and again, decisions that needed to be taken for the sake of revenue have been delayed past the point of business viability. | The main problem of the co-operative has been its inability "to get anything done fast", former dancer-turned-PR manager Prince$$ told me, who has worked at the club for 12 years, and has been elected to the executive committee several times. Part of the Lusty's charm has been the novelty of its old-fashioned peep show structure with its screens raised by dollar bills, an antidote to an age of freely available live footage of performers via the internet. But it has never made it commercially competitive. When the co-operative recently took the decision to install web cams to try and increase revenue, irreconcilable disagreements about their use brought them down within weeks – and they were never reinstalled. Time and again, decisions that needed to be taken for the sake of revenue have been delayed past the point of business viability. |
| Prince$$ is hoping that the Lusty Lady may be able to re-establish itself in new premises in a few months' time but not necessarily as a co-operative: | Prince$$ is hoping that the Lusty Lady may be able to re-establish itself in new premises in a few months' time but not necessarily as a co-operative: |
| Part of the problem for organising sex workers is the high turnover. People just aren't invested in their rights because they might only work for a summer. There are co-operative models that work, for sure, but we would need better requirements of the staff to join to make it more efficient. Of course, the double-bind of that would be the need to vote on it …. | Part of the problem for organising sex workers is the high turnover. People just aren't invested in their rights because they might only work for a summer. There are co-operative models that work, for sure, but we would need better requirements of the staff to join to make it more efficient. Of course, the double-bind of that would be the need to vote on it …. |
| Daisy Ducati, a 23-year-old dancer who has been working at the Lusty for just nine months told me she would "work at another co-operative, definitely". But then Daisy also works in porn and dances at another commercial club further up the strip, thus highlighting Prince$$' point about sex workers and their lack of personal investment. | Daisy Ducati, a 23-year-old dancer who has been working at the Lusty for just nine months told me she would "work at another co-operative, definitely". But then Daisy also works in porn and dances at another commercial club further up the strip, thus highlighting Prince$$' point about sex workers and their lack of personal investment. |
| When the Lusty workers first unionised in 1996, it was in response to the Management's discrimination against black dancers (who allegedly cost the club profits), and the installation of one-way mirrors on the advent of video-phone technology, a decision on which the dancers were not consulted. Supported by other sex-positive collectives, such as the Exotic Dancers Alliance and the Bay Area Sex Worker Advocacy network, becoming the first strip club to require union membership was a pioneering act that helped establish the autonomy of women in sex work, recasting them as agents in charge of their financial fortune, rather than victims of male fantasy. | When the Lusty workers first unionised in 1996, it was in response to the Management's discrimination against black dancers (who allegedly cost the club profits), and the installation of one-way mirrors on the advent of video-phone technology, a decision on which the dancers were not consulted. Supported by other sex-positive collectives, such as the Exotic Dancers Alliance and the Bay Area Sex Worker Advocacy network, becoming the first strip club to require union membership was a pioneering act that helped establish the autonomy of women in sex work, recasting them as agents in charge of their financial fortune, rather than victims of male fantasy. |
| In 2003, this was compounded when the Lusty Lady was turned into a worker co-operative, but negotiating the commercial dictates of male desire has always been at the root of the Lusty's struggle. In 2006, a male member of the front-of-house staff blamed dwindling profits (and therefore wages) on the club's diverse-bodied dancers, claiming they were too fat and that customers were demanding refunds as a result. The male employee was ousted, but here was an instance of how the co-operative model meant to empower and protect female sex workers could shake it. | In 2003, this was compounded when the Lusty Lady was turned into a worker co-operative, but negotiating the commercial dictates of male desire has always been at the root of the Lusty's struggle. In 2006, a male member of the front-of-house staff blamed dwindling profits (and therefore wages) on the club's diverse-bodied dancers, claiming they were too fat and that customers were demanding refunds as a result. The male employee was ousted, but here was an instance of how the co-operative model meant to empower and protect female sex workers could shake it. |
| Ironically, in recent months, when a management consultant called Scott Farrell stepped in and attempted to negotiate the rent with Forbes, he failed, leaving the co-operative with no time to fundraise locally prior to closure, which had been proven to work in the past. (In the meantime, the workers have been inundated with gifts and food in a show of support.) Charity, of course still won't solve the problem of the co-operative's viability, and it seems the club's commercial fate was already sealed. But Farrell's reluctance to consult the workers, who may have been able to do more to save themselves, is a final irony in their failure to control their fate. | Ironically, in recent months, when a management consultant called Scott Farrell stepped in and attempted to negotiate the rent with Forbes, he failed, leaving the co-operative with no time to fundraise locally prior to closure, which had been proven to work in the past. (In the meantime, the workers have been inundated with gifts and food in a show of support.) Charity, of course still won't solve the problem of the co-operative's viability, and it seems the club's commercial fate was already sealed. But Farrell's reluctance to consult the workers, who may have been able to do more to save themselves, is a final irony in their failure to control their fate. |
| Despite its ultimate commercial failure, the Lusty has been instrumental in sending out the message to other sex workers that collectivising is possible. In November 2012, dancers at Spearmint Rhino pursued a successful class action against the corporation for failing to correctly classify them as employees, and were awarded $13m to be split between them. Without Lusty's example, that victory would not have been possible. Unfortunately, the problems with Lusty's co-operative structure, and the values that accorded it its rightful place in feminist and sex worker history, have also led to its demise. | Despite its ultimate commercial failure, the Lusty has been instrumental in sending out the message to other sex workers that collectivising is possible. In November 2012, dancers at Spearmint Rhino pursued a successful class action against the corporation for failing to correctly classify them as employees, and were awarded $13m to be split between them. Without Lusty's example, that victory would not have been possible. Unfortunately, the problems with Lusty's co-operative structure, and the values that accorded it its rightful place in feminist and sex worker history, have also led to its demise. |
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