Female Strip Clubs Are All the Rage

Adrenalin says he makes up to $1,000 a night. But the job has its hazards. "Some women are addicts, following you around to different clubs," he says. "This is their life — they're like roadies." The dancers wear heavy boots to protect their feet, since women have been known to throw broken glass on the stage. (Boots, not shoes, says Adrenalin, because boots make you "look good when you've got nothing on.")

Other hazards? Women like to grab at his crotch, he says. "They think it's tied on. You always get a woman who wants to yank it off, proving to her friend that it's fake. You really have to be careful." When groups are particularly rowdy, the stripper calls the female bouncers — all of whom are trained in martial arts — to stand guard.

More often, though, the evening dissolves into laughter. "When women go to see men, it's more for a giggle," shouts Lisa Scott, a curvaceous, platinum-blonde 22-year-old, over the throb of "Hot Stuff." Lisa, along with her equally platinum sister Sonya, a policewoman, and her friend Alison, are an appreciative audience, whistling and catcalling. Sonya even climbs onstage and pretends to whip one of the strippers. The stage acts, of course, are teasers, meant to encourage you to buy the real deal: A $20 chip gets you a private dance down to a G-string; $40 — a pink chip — entitles you to, as Penny tells the crowd, "a cock in your face, basically."

Outside a booth in the back of the club, Lisa, Sonya, and Alison team up for a naked lap dance by a man dressed like Clint Eastwood in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. To them, a Friday-night lap dance is one small step for womankind. "There's lots of girl power out there," Sonya grins. "This is about equality. Men go out and have a good time. Why can't it be the same for women?" Laughing, the three disappear into the booth for a private display of writhing male nakedness. Female empowerment indeed.