#Where strippers went when COVID closed clubs

They’re stripping away preconceptions.

Stripper vids might sound like yet another sleazeball trend circulating on TikTok. But sex workers are increasingly taking to the video-sharing platform — and not to strip off their clothes.

Rather, they want to shed harmful misconceptions surrounding their oft-stigmatized profession.

In the stereotype-shattering phenomenon, dubbed “StripTok,” exotic dancers explain to their followers what really goes on behind the stripper pole.

“I think that when myself and other StripTokers put ourselves out there, it’s opening a way for a lot of other sex workers and dancers who might not have normally come out and come forth about being a dancer because of fear of judgement,” StripToker Sky Hopscotch told Refinery29 of the stigma-busting trend.

In one of her most viral vids to date, which has 4.3 million views, the sexhibitionist can be seen counting a stack of cash she earned “crawling around onstage” for work.

“While that might look degrading to you, it isn’t to me,” the lap-dance dynamo insists, noting that she has no student debt, pays her taxes and can even take her kid to Disneyland during the day, as she has no 9-to-5 gig.

“The other great thing about this money is half of it came from your dad,” the stripper quips while flashing a cheeky wink.

In response to fan queries, Hopscotch has also posted helpful and humorous tutorials on every aspect of the stripping business, from picking the perfect stage name to recovering after a night on the pole and explaining the nature of her job to her kid. The pole prodigy even invites her more than 300,000 followers to virtually accompany her to workplace — or, should we say, “twerkplace” — like a randy ride-along.

In a similar vein, fellow StripToker Isabella Davenport dispels the myriad myths surrounding the misunderstood vocation.

Contrary to the popular image of uneducated riff-raff with absentee fathers and mothers, Davenport explains in one viral vid that six out of 10 strippers are college graduates, 91% report being close to their parents, seven out of 10 dancers feel empowered through their line of work and other shocking facts.

Of course, the transparent entertainer also makes sure not to sugarcoat the skin-dustry, which she admitted is rife with substance abuse and impressionable young women getting taken advantage of, Refinery 29 reported.

One of Davenport’s harder-to-watch videos details the harrowing story of how she got into stripping, which involved trying to escape an abusive partner.

“He cheated, stole from me, broke me down … made me feel worthless,” she wrote in the caption.

Davenport recounted telling her beau she was leaving, whereupon he broke into her home with a stolen key, dragged her to where there were no cameras and “brutally assaulted” her. The video even includes alleged security footage of the moments leading up to the alleged attack.

Along with allowing strippers to let it all hang out, TikTok has also helped supplement their income amid the nationwide strip club shutdowns during the COVID-19 lockdown.

According to recent studies, strip club revenue across the US decreased by 17.4% in 2020 and is projected to fall another 1.5% this year — despite the fact that skin merchants have since reopened for business.

Unfortunately, making it rain online has proven an uphill battle, as TikTok has reportedly suppressed some StripTokers and other body-centric accounts.

Another StripToker, Taylor, explained that she and her cohorts circumvent the censors by using the hashtag #skrippers instead of #strippers and refer to themselves as “accountants” — the logic being that no one is interested in probing into the life of a bean-counter.

Ultimately, StripTokers want to normalize their misunderstood vocation.

“At the end of the day, I think most people like their jobs and don’t like their jobs,” said Hopscotch. “Stripping is really no different.”

Of course, strippers aren’t the only flesh peddlers going digital to bolster their bank accounts in the time of coronavirus.

Many out-of-work escorts have turned to hawking OnlyFans content, while one enterprising Nevada courtesan is offering a PG-rated “virtual girlfriend experience” in exchange for groceries and gift cards.