History of Stripping

The Americans started it as an entertainment. Naked dancing goes back to Ancient Greece and Egypt.

The Sumerian myth of the descent of the goddess Inanna into the Underworld speaks of her removing an article of clothing at each of the seven gates. By the time Inanna reaches the throne of the Underworld, she is naked. As long as she remained in hell, the earth was barren. When she returned, fecundity abounded. Some believe this myth was embodied in the dance of the seven veils of Salome, who danced for King Herod, as mentioned in the New Testament in Matthew 14:6 and Mark 6:21-22.

Aside from this, stripping seems to take its roots from Egyptian, Babylonian, or Assyrian courtesans during the time of the Pharaohs.

In ancient Greece, the lawgiver Solon established several classes of prostitutes in the late 6th century BC. These included the aueltrides - female musicians, acrobats and dancers who danced naked alluringly in front of male audiences.

Stripping was part of ancient Rome’s regular entertainments particularly for the Floralia, a late April festival in honor of the goddess Flora.

Empress Theodora, wife of 6th-century Byzantine emperor Justinian is reported by several ancient sources to have started in life as a courtesan and actress who performed in acts inspired from mythological themes and in which she disrobed "as far as the laws of the day allowed". She was famous for her striptease performance of "Leda and the Swan". From these accounts, it appears that the practice was hardly neither exceptional nor new. It was, however, actively opposed by the Christian Church, which succeeded in obtaining statutes banning it in the following century. The degree to which these statutes were subsequently enforced is, of course, opened to question. What is certain is that no practice of the sort is reported in texts of the European Middle Ages.

People flung aside their garments in gay abandon to celebrate every sort of occasion and it wasn't till Early Victorian Times when the Serpent raised its head in this hedonistic paradise and its new name was Prudery. Even table legs had knickers. When the heavy tome of the Bible landed on the frilly-legged tables, its first heroine was Eve, who bit into the serpent-proffered apple and realized she was naked! It didn't take her long to off-load the guilt onto Adam and they were driven from Eden by an angel with a fiery sword. If ever there was a phallic symbol! Sex became a dirty word and the common parlance for genitalia became swear words. The developing disillusion with life caused by two world-wide wars caused people to question the restrictions of Victorian and after the Second World War women shyly slipped a shoulder strap off their shoulders and men began posing for little post cards wearing but a minuscule fig-leaf. The homoerotic study of body-building grew into an industry and that great secret liberator Photography grew into a profitable industry. In Victorian times actresses wore over-all garments known as fleshings but these vanished in the touring nude shows of the Forties with frozen-still artistic girls with urns on their shoulders. See the Judi Dench movie. In California short movies of naked men in Classical Poses circulated. The Bible Belt began to thunder and Hollywood invented The Hayes Office with the pathetic sight of separate beds for married couples, swimming trunks that had to hide navels and Tarzan with a shaven chin and chest and a leather apron. Hair, that erotic progenitor, disappeared from under arms and bodies.

The equation is simple, women are mentally stimulated by eroticism and fun whilst men are visually stimulated, So Male Strippers have to learn how to be charming, funny and witty whilst putting together a very entertaining show for the ladies – whilst putting on a raunchier little more basic and sexual show for the gay audience, If you were a professional stripper you were able to do both, and the earnings were good.     As the 1980's came, groups like the Dreamboys and the Chippendales were very popular all over the world, NO Full Monty on these shows, just choreographed and well thought out dance routines were developed, this is when some bright spark (and we don't know who) decided to add Drag Queens into the shows, Drag Queens bought female humor and Girl Power to the forefront long before the Spice Girls did.

Many Social Clubs, Nightclubs and Pubs decided to "cash in" on this side of the market and decided to book Drag Queens, Male strippers and a Male Vocalist for the evening to entertain their Lady Customers usually making the shows Full Monty, which was an added bit of fun to the proceedings!

Gay venues up and down the country also decided to have Male Stripper Nights and some still do especially in Cities like Manchester and Brighton which have large gay scenes. Most Strippers though, are NOT gay, some are, it used to be the reverse, 90 percent are not, but they always find it great fun to keep the girls guessing! How great is that to be secure enough with your own sexuality!!!   Kissograms - these became immensely popular in the early 90's with well built "hunky strippers" arriving at parties and pubs etc with a poem for the Birthday Girl, Hen or Bachelorette taking off some clothing and sitting with her for a while, this then turned into Stripograms with a “Full Monty" style Strip and is still very popular today, but they've dropped the poems, well they were corny.   The film The Full Monty made the form of entertainment explode into the mainstream in 1997, pushing the scene (or what's known as the circuit) to phenomenal heights, with new shows and new acts and audiences in their thousands but all still a little cheesy by today’s standards.

 So to summarizes, Male strippers are usually straight, work out a lot in the gym, are intelligent and witty and if good, have a great entertaining show to keep a smile on your face all night.