Siobhan Brooks.  Unequal Desires: Race and Erotic Capital in the Stripping
Industry.  Albany  State University of New York Press, 2010.  ix + 125 pp. 
$60.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-4384-3215-1; $19.95 (paper), ISBN 978-1-4384-3214-4.

Reviewed by Mary Shearman (Simon Fraser University) Published on H-Histsex
(October, 2012) Commissioned by Timothy W. Jones

The Racial and Sexual Hierarchies of Sex Work

Siobhan Brooks's _Unequal __Desires _picks up where the documentary about
unionization and erotic dancing _Live Nude Girls Unite _(2000) directed by
Vicky Funari and Julia Query left off, researching issues of race and desire in
the industry. As in _Live Nude Girls Unite_, Brooks points to the one to seven
ratio of dancers of color to white dancers, and notes that black dancers were
not given the same lucrative opportunities to work in the "Private Pleasures"
booth with the same regularity as white dancers. These realities are based on
largely unquestioned assumptions about the kind of women/experiences a person
expects when going to see erotic dancers. Brooks establishes from the beginning
that she is approaching this project with a labor perspective and thus feminist
debates of "whether sex work can be work" are not considered. Her start
"beyond" these debates allows her to dive into discussions that focus
specifically on racial dynamics in dancers' lived realities that are often
erased or absent from macro-discussions of sex work as work (p. 102). Brooks
concretely demonstrates the complexity of intersectional identity markers for
those working in the industry, largely in their own words, and also
interrogates the implications of structural and symbolic racism and classism
within erotic economies.

The main story line of _Live Nude Girls Unite _centers on the challenges
dancers faced while trying to unionize at The Lusty Lady in San Francisco.
While racial equality was an important issue for the workers, it faded somewhat
in prominence, at least in the film's rendition of the story, as talks
continued and gained more intensity before ultimate unionization on August 30,
1997. To look in more depth at the assumptions implicit in the labor politics
of the erotic economy, Brooks studied three clubs, two that cater to
conventional heterosexual striptease relations located respectively in the
Bronx and Manhattan and a black lesbian club in Oakland. _Unequal Desires
_reports on the results of thirty-one interviews conducted somewhere between
2005 and 2007 (more specific dates are difficult to discern) with dancers,
customers, and managers who vary in race, class, and age. Through these
interviews and ethnography, Brooks investigates women of color who have been
rejected as performers in mainly white clubs alongside management's perception
of race, hiring, and advertising; the relationship between safety, race, and
violence in the clubs and their surrounding environment; responses from
customers to darker-skinned dancers in general with a particular focus on kinds
of payment and tipping; and the effects of racism and stereotypes of both men
and women who work in the clubs.

Brooks's main project is to intertwine the racial and sexual hierarchies of sex
work that she identifies as having a gap in U.S.-based theory, and she
accomplishes this skillfully from cover to cover. Brooks clearly and carefully
lays out her key terms, like "desire industries," "racialized desire," "erotic
capital," and "racialized erotic capital." With the use of these terms, she
locates her work within a contingent of researchers interested in striptease
and sexual labor identified by Katherine Frank in 2007.[1] In line with
findings of Becki Ross and Kim Greenwell, Brooks observes that dancers of
different races work at clubs largely corresponding to the racialization of the
neighborhoods where the clubs are located.[2] She goes on to question this
division by interrogating why black dancers are largely absent from and
rejected by high-end clubs that feature primarily white dancers. Further, she
connects racial stereotyping and desire to the safety of black and dark-skinned
Latina dancers and examines customers' specific responses to the bodies of
these dancers, versus white dancers. She also looks at wage differences between
dancers of various races, racism experienced by support staff in the clubs, and
questions concerning racial passing and management policies. Brooks
contextualizes the stigma challenging dancers with a concise historical
overview of burlesque, focused largely on New York City. She goes on to show
that sometimes black dancers can transcend their social, symbolic, and economic
status through dancing, which in turn results in educational or economic
benefits.

Many aspects of this work make it an important and unique contribution to
scholarship. One highlight is the inclusion of a queer owned and operated club
in Oakland catering to queer audiences.
Through this piece, Brooks analyzes the exchanges between customers and dancers
outside of the heterosexual exchange that takes place in the majority of
nightclubs featuring female striptease artists.
Brooks makes some interesting comparisons between the two styles of clubs,
particularly surrounding violence. She also brings her research out of the
clubs and assesses the online presence of all of these clubs, paying particular
attention to how the clubs try to attract clientele through signifiers of race
and class. Finally, Brooks strongly concludes by tying the implications of
erotic capital as previously outlined to social policies related to welfare and
reproductive rights.

Consistently in chapters 2 through 6, I wanted Brooks to expand her thoughts
and analysis, as merited by the scope and importance of her project. I wanted
additional interpretation of the sometimes lengthy comments and quotations that
she includes from her field research. I wonder, however, if she made a
conscious choice to let the narrators'
words stand on their own as much as possible and let readers make their own
additional interpretations. Various perspectives are presented at different
points that could have been related to other material as the work progresses.
Furthermore, I wish that Brooks had drawn lengthier conclusions at the end of
each chapter. In numerous places, endnotes could have been included in the text
to add and complicate in more detail the main analysis. Brooks also could have
discussed in greater detail her important additions to the recent history of
burlesque surrounding zoning laws in New York City.

Unfortunately, and sadly unsurprisingly, Brooks finds that black and Latina
women are not paid enough for their erotic work, reflective of dominant
attitudes across other industries and economic structures.
She further concludes that this is because racism is framed as acceptable due
to the industry's dependence on consumer tastes and preferences. This is
reinforced by neoliberal ideas that women of color are solely responsible for
their ability to access wealth and manage public perceptions. A vicious cycle
thus emerges devaluing these women's labor in erotic industries, not just in
terms of earnings but also in terms of safety in the workplace. _Unequal
Desires_ demonstrates the power of symbolic and structural racism and classism,
which in turn affects other areas of the women's lives:
Brooks makes links to romantic relationships, education, market investments,
health, access to justice, immigration policies, and other areas of employment.
Despite these depressing but realistic conclusions, Brooks does note that some
dancers of color have the ability to "pass" as other races and thus subvert
their supposed place within the desire hierarchy; however, this "opportunity"
is only available to a few (and is dependent on the idea of a hierarchy
existing in the first place). Further, because Brooks has not limited her
research to instances of striptease aimed at entertaining dominant
heterosexuality, she demonstrates how the queer club in Oakland both challenges
and reinforces "notions of patriarchy and masculinity, while responding to the
specific needs and desires of working class Black lesbians who mostly are
ignored by mainstream White-dominated gay and lesbian institutions" (p. 100).

Brooks tirelessly advocates for diverse groups of activists to ensure that
consideration is paid to the real-life positions of women of color, and she
shows how this ripples across their lives in order to affect beneficial change
in policy and accessing rights. Finally, despite the trap set up by
appearance-based industry, Brooks recommends that symbolic affirmative action
approaches be implemented in the clubs, such as more promotion for dancers of
color. As Brooks acknowledges, dismantling this oppression is daunting;
however, her suggestions in the conclusion of some specific and tangible ways
to make changes are incredibly refreshing. I sincerely hope that clubs take her
up on the challenge despite the fact  management, as she notes, is relatively
comfortable operating under the current status quo. Throughout the book, Brooks
bounces between an academic and a conversational tone in her writing. This
technique makes the reader feel challenged and relaxed simultaneously. Anyone
interested in striptease, sexual labor, and race could, and should, read this
accessible book to inform their perspective and politics of anti-oppression.

Notes

[1]. Katherine Frank, "Thinking Critically about Strip Club Research,"
_Sexualites _10 (2007): 501-517.

[2]. Becki Ross and Kim Greenwell, "Spectacular Striptease:
Performing the Sexual and Racial Other in Vancouver, B.C., 1945-1975," _Journal
of Women's History _17 (2005): 137-164.

Citation: Mary Shearman. Review of Brooks, Siobhan, _Unequal Desires:
Race and Erotic Capital in the Stripping Industry_. H-Histsex, H-Net Reviews.
October, 2012.
URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=31880

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No
Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

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