YAS Podcast: Caroline Blaike Episode #10 Transcript
Caroline Blaike is an interesting one. She has an MSW, she’s a certified social worker and therapist, she’s a fully hearing ASL interpreter. She helps deaf people experience and feel music like never before. She signs while stripping, which is probably not something that any other stripper does, and it’s amazing. She understands discrimination from working with the deaf community and she understands discrimination from being a stripper for years. AM and Caroline Blaike talk about the work she does, is doing and how discrimination is hurtful in all areas of being.
*This transcript was auto-generated and may contain minor errors.* Begin transcript after opening credits.
AMD: We are recording from our house, Babetown House, actually. And um, normally I start out with a thought of the day, um, so I think the thought of today is actually going to be about Babetown House and about what this means. And about what we’re doing here. Um, and so, you know, on March 1st of this year, 2020, me and several other babes moved into a house together, and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect because two weeks later, we were, uh, things were getting shut down, we were all losing our jobs, everything became so uncertain.
But the greatest part about moving right before this happened and moving in with each other is we have this massive amount of support with each other. And I couldn’t imagine right now still living in my studio apartment and going through this. We’ve been able to cook for and with each other. We have movie nights, we have game nights, we support each other in our creative endeavors. And we’re literally there for each other just to talk. Um, and, you know, I want to remind everybody that that’s basically a stripper’s role in life. Is to be there for others and to, and to support them and to listen to them. And, um, we literally help people through their lives. I was just having conversations with my producers just a little bit ago today about how strippers literally, how we have side conversations with each other about how basically we’re each other’s therapist or how we’re, um, customers therapists. And to be quite honest with you, we’re each other’s therapists too. We spend so much time in the dressing room together. We uplift each other, we’re there for each other when shit hits the fan, um, and I, I would say that living in a house with the majority of them are strippers, um, it’s basically the dressing room times ten, because we’re here with each other all day long, and it’s been really beautiful, and it’s been really an amazing experience so far, and so I like, I’m not even that mad at quarantine right now. Like I’m not even mad.
CB: Yeah, I love it.
AMD: Yeah. So normally because the podcasts we have to do right now are virtual Normally, you’re seeing a much different type of video screen, which is where we’re like side by side in these vertical videos. But because Caroline lives literally on the other side of that wall We get to film each other inside our house.
CB: We don’t have a six week quarantine.
AMD: Exactly Yeah. Yeah.
CB: We quarantine together.
AMD: Basically our spit is all over each other’s things already. Yeah. too late. Too late. Yeah. Yeah. We’ve already discussed like, uh, like a couple weeks ago, we were like, if one of us gets it, we’re all getting it.
CB: We down. We’re all going down.
AMD: Yeah. So we don’t even, we’re not even tripping. Like we literally all snuggle on the kingsize bed together and watch movies. We just watched Braveheart last night. That was really good. Yeah, you haven’t seen it in 10 years.
CB: I haven’t seen it in 10 years, yeah.
AMD: Well, you were kept making comments like you didn’t expect things to happen.
CB: Because it had been a long time and I didn’t remember what had happened. So, and I was like, oh shit, this is intense. Can I curse on you?
AMD: Oh god, yes.
CB: Okay. Oh shit, this is intense. Like it was a much more intense movie than I remember it being.
AMD: Yeah. Oh, my nipple just came out.
CB: Whoops.
AMD: Yeah. See, that’s why you need to watch these YouTube videos, cause you get little surprise nip slips.
CB: I washed my hair for you guys. Be ready.
AMD: Um, yeah, it was just funny because I’ve seen that movie like 20 fricking times. And so every time you’re like, Oh shit, I was like, damn, bitch, didn’t you know that was coming? Anyway, um, so thank you so much for, um, walking 10 feet into my bedroom.
CB: It was not an issue. The commute was not stressful. So.
AMD: There was like no traffic?
CB: There was no traffic.
AMD: That’s so weird.
CB: Just, you know, get out, get out of your room and turn to the right and there you are.
AMD: Um, so, you know, one of the first things that I like to do is, um, confirm, uh, whether or not my guests identifies. As a stripper.
CB: That’s a great question.
AMD: Yeah. Because this is yes, a stripper podcast.
CB: So totally. Um, yeah, I definitely do. I, I think, I think right now where I dance, which is jumbos. Is definitely sort of more of like a pg 13 version of a strip club, but i’ve been a nude stripper I said it’s been over it’s been 12 years now of me being a dancer and stripping and performing I’ve done fully I started out fully nude stripping So and again At the end of the day i’m dancing on a pole and people are throwing me singles like and i’m wearing stripper heels. So yes, fuck, Yes a stripper And come at me bru.
AMD: But you also, as part of stripper’s duties, right? You talk to customers and you listen to their bullshit. And you sit and have drinks with them and you get in . That’s so interesting and like, so interesting.
CB: Yeah. I have to do all that. Yeah. I definitely, I still, I have customers, I have people, I have to, you know, people, friends will come in and I’ll be like, it’s really great to see you, but I’m working, it’s still a job. I’m, I’m still taking off my clothes for money. At the end of the day, I’m seducing people for money. Mm. So, if that’s on a stripper
AMD: I don’t know. I feel like that might fall under another job title.
CB: That might. I don’t know.
AMD: All I’m saying is that Seducing people for money.
CB: I mean, at the end of the day, that is my job. I’m like, creating a fantasy.
AMD: Yeah, no, I don’t know. I can’t think of any other job description. Like, grocery store checkout person? Uh, art curator? No. I’m just like boring. Like is there any other position in life where you’re literally the description of your job title is?
CB: It’s like seduce people for money. Like. That’s what I do.
AMD: That’s what you’re doing.
CB: Yeah. I’m really good at it.
AMD: But you also are taking clothes off. You’re just not showing your nibblies.
CB: Yeah, sadly. Right.
AMD: Yeah. It is sad, isn’t it?
CB: Because they’re nice.
AMD: I know. I would love to at least get topless. I started to feel weird about men like wanting to basically be a. Like they would literally request the visibility of my vagina. Wow. And that’s when I was like, Oh, I’ve had it. I’ve had it. Yeah. Like I understand you want to see my vagina, but they literally were requesting, you know, you’re a really great dancer, but I just don’t get to see your vagina.
CB: I don’t get to see your cervix. Do more of a split. Yeah, no, I, I don’t miss the vagina being shown. Sure. I like my vagina. Like it’s fine. I do miss like showing my boobs a little bit just because my boobs are Nice. And it was so fun to just kind of be like, and here they are. And then kind of not have to do anything because you’re like here they are. And everyone’s like, ah, and you’re like, there you go. You know, where now I have to resort to much more creative things to keep people’s attention.
AMD: Totally. Yeah, totally. I feel that. Um, shit, man. But you are taking off something when you’re doing that dancing at Jumbo’s Clown Room specifically just in case you’re I know a lot of Jumbo’s Clown Room Dancers because I danced there for 11 and a half years And so I just have access to a lot of those types of people. So you’re not just a stripper though. You are so many interesting things um you are a social worker
CB: True
AMD: and How would you describe your title in the ASL world? Can you explain to everybody what ASL is? Because when I say that to people, they’re like, what is that?
CB: Sure. Sure. Um, so ASL is American Sign Language. So I got my master’s degree from Gallaudet, which is a completely deaf university. So I took my entire degree in sign language. So my degree is in social work, but it’s specifically for deaf. And then I’m a, I’m an ASL interpreter slash performer. So I, um, I do sometimes just interpret for deaf actors and, um, just people trying to get into media or the entertainment industry, casting things like that for commercial work, for TV shows, for movies. Um, but I’m also an ASL performer, which means I integrate my dance background and signing to create a more complete experience for the deaf audience, especially for music. And things like that. Um, so I’ll dance and sign and then I also make ASL, American Sign Language, music videos.
AMD: That’s what ASL stands for.
CB: American Sign Language. For the Deaf community. Yeah.
AMD: So, can we just go back to the school thing because I don’t think it really sunk into people what college you actually went to. Explain that you were the only speaking person.
CB: Right. So Gallaudet is a completely deaf university. So that means that all the staff, all the teachers, all my classmates were all deaf. Um, there’s like a, like a 1 percent hearing population, but most of them are in most of them are in interpreting or like hearing programs where my program was, Deaf. So I also lived on campus and I didn’t really speak for two years. Um, I checked my hearing privilege and if I was on campus or with deaf people, I did not speak. I only signed. Mm hmm. I would really only speak like if I had to call my mom and I’d shut my dorm room and call my mom. But I was fully immersed in sign language for two years.
AMD: So that’s crazy.
CB: So that’s why I sign. That’s why I sign like a lot of rap and hip hop now though. Because I learned slang terms that you don’t get from taking like an ASL course. You have to be fully integrated.
AMD: Right, right. It’s kind of like speaking Spanish.
CB: Yeah, exactly.
AMD: There’s Mexican slang.
CB: Yeah. If you were like to live in Mexico or take a Spanish class, they’re going to be two different things.
AMD: Like I’m not going to learn that Mexican slang. Yeah, where I can say like, that’s lit. On Duolingo. I’m not going to learn how to say like, that’s lit. On Duolingo. That’s lit. That’s lit. How would you even say that? That’s lit. No, that’s sugar. Luce? Luce? Yeah, I’ll figure it out. Update on next podcast. Our producers are asking if we want to do a Topless podcast and star them out. And, um, my answer to that is, Yes, eventually, not this one, because we’re not mentally prepared for that, we’re not in that state. Yeah. Yeah, we look cute with our outfits on. Yeah. But that’s a good suggestion.
CB: That’s a really good suggestion.
AMD: For future. Yeah. Yeah. I’m definitely down to do. Actually, I would like for you guys to write in and comment on, uh, this Instagram. Uh, the Instagram post that we’ll make about Caroline, so if you’re listening to this podcast after the Instagram post has gone up and you want to send a DM and you want to let us know, would you like to see a topless podcast episode? Let us know. There you go. Trying to get the audience engaged a little bit more. Yeah. Yeah, engagement. Um, wow. Okay, so yeah, so one of my favorite things about, watching you dance at Jumbo’s Clown Room was when I got to watch you sign on stage, which at first was a once in a while thing. And then, and so I don’t think that there’s I can’t think of a single one, I’ve never heard of a single one, and have you of any other stripper that literally dances sexually on stage while does sign language at the same time? Because that’s what she does. Tell us about that.
CB: Uh, yeah. So, I have never met another one that does it.
AMD: They’re probably stealing your idea if they did it.
CB: You know, and if they did it, if they’re doing it, great. It’s awesome. Um, so I started doing it because my deaf friends would come into Jumbos. And that’s how it all started. And then sometimes they would come in, and because it’s really tight and packed, I wouldn’t always see them, that they were there. So then I just said, fuck it, I’m just gonna start doing it every set. Just as an in case. Um, so, And I also believe in, sometimes people like to, what I call Disney disabilities, which means they like to, they assume that someone with a disability, um, has no sexuality or, you know, they kind of make them very childlike. Yeah. Where deaf people want to get a sexy striptease too and want to get, um, Want to have access to the things that we have access to as well Which can be sexy and which can be erotic and which can be dangerous and you know, whatever not that stripping is dangerous. But that that that you know depends on the day, but that sort of depends on your heels
AMD: and who your owner Yeah, who your owner is club lets your stalker in
CB: Yeah, exactly. Yeah those kinds of things, but they want that too and I recently just had and I, you know, and I, I get, I, I still check in with the deaf community about me doing it even. Cause I’m like, I never want it to be a gimmick. I want it to be something that is appropriate and they all support me doing it. And I recently got definite confirmation that it’s good because I had, um, a deaf guy come in, he drove two and a half hours to come see me perform. And when I asked him, you know, kind of like why are you here? And he said, because of you, because I knew it would be an accessible performance.
AMD: So he wanted to go see a stripper that he could connect with on a different level.
CB: And understand what music was being played. Yeah, and have access to it. And I lost, I was like so, I was like losing it in the back room because I was so excited. And I performed so hard for him because I wanted him to have that experience. That so many people take for granted of having access to this thing. It’s, you know, the music is a huge part of it. And so I’ll sign and strip at the same time. And yeah, it meant a lot to him. And he made a huge effort to come out and see me do it because he knew I was going to be there. And it was very reassuring and validating.
AMD: I didn’t know that. You never told me that. That’s really incredible. When did that happen recently? Before the shutdown?
CB: Yeah. Before the shutdown. Maybe like a month before the shutdown.
AMD: Okay.
CB: Yeah. It was really cool.
AMD: Wow. Wow. So one of the things that I noticed that Caroline does when you’re like, signing. I, I noticed pretty early on that you make a lot of like facial movements. It’s almost like you’re saying the words, but you can tell that you’re not saying the words. So can you tell people like, what is that about when we’re watching people do sign language? What’s happening with the mouth simultaneously with the hands?
CB: Sure. Of course. So a lot of people assume sign language is just hands. It’s also your body language and your face. So there’s mouth movements that match the sign that you’re saying. So for example, If you’re saying something’s very big or large. You don’t mouth large. You do the sign and you mouth cha. Cha cha. So you go cha cha. Something’s cha cha. So I’m not always mouthing the words. I’m actually doing a mouth movement to match. The sign that I’m saying so when you learn sign language and you get really into it You learn that it is not just hand movement. It is just as important for your facial expression It’s the difference between a statement and a question is in your facial expression Not in your hand movement
AMD: Like eyebrows raised?
CB: A hundred percent tilt to the side a hundred percent Okay, so if i’m telling you something if I say Um, we’re we’re gonna have dinner at six I’m telling you. If I say, we’re going to have dinner at six, I’m asking you. Your face is different. But I sign the exact same thing.
AMD: You sign the same thing, but her face was, for those of you who are listening, her brow was slightly furrowed and her head was slightly tilted like a little puppy, like a puppy dog. Yeah. Got it. Well, that makes sense. Yeah. Okay. Tight.
CB: So that’s why sometimes you’ll see me mouth things on stage. It’s because I’m mouthing, not always the words, but what mouth movement goes with the sign that I’m saying.
AMD: Sick. That’s sick. So you are an interpreter for Angel
CB: Angel Theory
AMD: Angel Theory from Walking Dead. Yes. What’s that experience been like? Because she’s pretty famous, right? I don’t look at her that way.
CB: She’s awesome. She’s awesome.
AMD: She’s she’s pretty famous, right?
CB: She is.
AMD: She just seems like a little buddy You know, yeah, I don’t even notice how famous she is.
CB: She’s super famous.
AMD: But Walking Dead is like massively huge.
CB: Huge, huge. Um, I don’t watch it. Yeah, she’s huge. I only watch it with her because I get scared easily, but she she’ll be like, it’s fine They were just had a cigarette break like before that scene. Um, she’s amazing. She’s so she’s younger She’s unbelievably talented one of the best actors like just so So talented and we just we have so much fun because she’s a dancer as well So because I sign and dance music in my interpretation, we bonded really quickly. We were hired for the same. We were both performing at an event. Where we were dancing and signing. And so she quickly realized this is so cool because I can interpret a song well for her and we just vibe in the dancer aspect. Um, and also she wanted someone younger and like more fun to be on set with her than feeling like a mom was following her around. She’s younger. She’s like 20. So she wanted to feel cool still on set.
AMD: Like a hot chick walking around.
CB: But her and I are family. I love angels.
AMD: Yeah, that’s really tight. You’ve also interpreted for some celebrities on stage. Just list it out. Just list. Come on. Tell us who you are.
CB: Uh, uh, uh, Cardi B, Nelly, Toby Keith, Randy Houser, Uh, there’s more. Um, my brain’s blanking. Uh, there’s other ones. I’ll, I’ll, I’ll get you.
AMD: Can’t remember?
CB: I can’t remember. Um.
AMD: What genre of music? So I specialize in hip hop and rap is definitely my specialty. So that’s the most fun Yeah, your videos of you dancing to hip hop and rap It’s just like so sick because it almost doesn’t look like sign language. It almost looks like some crazy style of dance That’s like really intricate and difficult to learn Right, and you also dance with um
CB: Shaheem
AMD: Shaheem. That’s right. Amazing talent So talented so talented
CB: So shaheem is also a deaf dancer Who memorizes the music, feels the vibrations. Uh, we’ll have cues in our videos where I give him a cue to when it starts or when a certain part starts. And we’ve done a lot of stuff together. So we performed at Life is Beautiful, which is that festival. Um, we performed for Sappos. We’ve done, um, we were, we were in LG commercial together, LG mobile commercial together. We did the, um, Ooh, Seattle. This is another one. CL, the K pop star. CL, if you are into K pop.
AMD: I’m not into K pop.
CB: Um, we were both in a music video for her, which was really great. And yeah, super fun.
AMD: Wow. So like, I don’t know, for me, when I see the stuff that you’re doing, I feel like you’re definitely changing lives and that you’re like making a difference for a large community that never had access to seeing and hearing music the way they do when they watch you.
CB: I think. I think I come from a place where, this is how it started. So when I was in Gallaudet in the grad school, right?
AMD: Say it, say it. Galludet.
CB: Galludet.
AMD: Galludet. Thank you. Yeah, got it.
CB: I speak really fast sometimes.
AMD: It’s fine. I just wanted to make sure that we all understood. I’m like, Galludet.
CB: When I was at Galludet, I would go go dance on the weekends and my people, deaf people in my program would come see me go go dance. And I would start signing the music and every time they were like, we love the way you do it. I finally understand the song because of how you’re signing it, things like that. So I realized, Oh, this is something that’s kind of a thing for me. And then I also realized very quickly over time that people focus on deaf people having access to academics, emergencies, you know, right now with all the coronavirus stuff, right? You see an interpreter on the side. But they forget about things that are cultural or art based. So deaf people want to know about Drake too. Deaf people want to know about comedy things as well. Deaf people want to know- And because ASL American sign language is grammatically more like Spanish, while closed captions are definitely a huge help, it is not the same as having an interpreter. So when I realized that this was a niche for me, I just, have made it now my mission in life to make sure that media, culture, art, things that people forget about are, you know, stripping are accessible to deaf people as well, because they deserve all the access to everything.
AMD: Right. They’re human beings.
CB: And they want it too.
AMD: Yeah. What do you, I mean, so you, you’re the type you have experienced in this community, which is forgotten about excluded in certain ways. Um, what’s the other word I’m looking for? There’s just misconceptions. Example, we had a meeting with our landlords about a week and a half ago. And one of the, when it came up, what Caroline does for work, they, uh, and this may be a cultural thing, um, they’re from Israel, um, so, you know, I don’t know if it’s a cultural thing or not, but they were shocked to learn that there is such thing as actors that are deaf.
CB: They couldn’t believe it, yeah.
AMD: And I don’t know if they were faking it. Because they thought they were being cute and they were trying to connect or if um, oh my god What if they’re listening to this podcast right now?
CB: Yes, there are deaf actors. Don’t be stupid
AMD: The point is they were like shocked that there and then I was sitting there thinking like do people not understand that Deaf people actually also, like, lead pretty semi normal lives and so there’s misconception there and I guess the point I’m getting at is you work in an industry, in the stripping industry where there’s tons of misconceptions about the types of people that we are and then you’re in the deaf community where, first of all, when you call them deaf, people think that you’re being- what’s the word offensive and you’re not that’s you know, and
CB: That’s actually the politically correct term.
AMD: That’s a misconception. There’s a misconception that they don’t want to be sexual and like you were just talking about So, what do you think how those two things I kind of correlate with each other and like what you your experience being a deaf immersed Stripper. What’s that like?
CB: Um, You know, here’s what that’s a great question. I honestly I’ve always been I’ve always been a The person outside of the box, right? I’ve always been the new kid or the only white person in a situation or the only Um, which is good for people white people. You should do that more as people. Um, Side note. No, it’s tangent. Um But i’ve always sort of been the odd one out of situation. So it doesn’t make me uncomfortable To be in that space. And I never intended on merging the two. That was never an intention of mine. It all just happened very naturally and just based off my Deaf friends started coming. So I’m like, Oh, of course we’ll make it accessible. Um, but I do find a lot of times just, there’s definitely frustrating moments for me on, on both sides where people are either shocked from, it’s more that people are shocked from the dancing community that I also do sign language or that I also have a master’s degree.
Like if someone sees me dance and they’ll ask, I have a tattoo for my grad school on my thigh and all the time someone says, what is that? And I say, Oh, it’s a, it’s a statue at my grad school. Every time without fail, 100 percent of the time someone goes, she went to grad school where the deaf community is much more open minded. So when I tell the deaf community that I dance, They’re excited and I don’t have those same misconceptions or misunderstandings. And then I the other thing I get while dancing and signing is I’ll get hearing people assume that I’m deaf, which I’m never trying to appear deaf in anything ever. Um, and then they’ll try to mimic sign language at me or things like that.
AMD: Oh my God, are you kidding? That’s so offensive.
CB: So offensive. Extremely offensive God. Don’t fucking do that.
AMD: Oh my God. I wanna punch my face.
CB: Don’t fucking do that. Also, I’m gonna, I’m gonna do a little PSA on here as well. ’cause people just don’t know and it’s okay. Okay. The term hearing impaired, while you have seen it on the back of DVDs, or you have seen it as “To the Deaf community”, it is offensive as fuck. As an interpreter, when I have to sign that, it makes me cringe and it hurts my soul. It was a phrase that hearing people gave to Deaf people without asking them.
AMD: Of course.
CB: So, deaf people will have a little clap back. When they, when deaf people put out a video in sign language, they’ll say closed captions for the signing impaired.
AMD: Whaaaaat?
CB: So, don’t fucking use that word. Use deaf. It is, I know it seems like it feels funny to you or whatever, deaf is the appropriate term. It’s the politically correct term. It’s the culturally correct term. You will never offend someone by calling them deaf.
AMD: Yeah, because that’s what they are.
CB: They’re deaf and they’re proud.
AMD: That’s like someone getting, is it okay to call you a stripper? Yes, that’s what I do.
CB: Yeah. Have you seen my shoes? Yeah. Yeah.
AMD: Well, I’ll be, I’ll be truthful. I used to, I had a small period of time where I insisted I be called an exotic dancer. That was during my whore phobia phase.
CB: Yeah, that’s okay. We all have the, we all have a phase.
AMD: Were you, did you ever experience whore phobia?
CB: A hundred percent. Okay. Um, when I first started dancing, my parents found out. They were, I mean, it was, I mean, it was a huge thing. I got kicked out of the house. It was like a huge
AMD: How old were you?
CB: Um, I was like, I was 19, so I was at college, you know. So I’d already moved out at 17, but was still dancing, and it was a huge tumultuous point of our lives. And I remember my mom saying to me, like, this person would never date you because if they find out you’re a dancer or you’re a stripper. Um, basically that I had scarlet lettered myself. And so I believed that for a certain amount of time. Thankfully, I don’t know. I honestly can’t remember the moment but thankfully at some point I gained my power back and I was like Actually, I hold way more power in just being honest about who the fuck I am and what I do and that I like it. I like stripping I like dancing. I hate the fucking narrative where it’s like Oh, well, like you make it out of that life or when you’re done with that- or you know Even people have dated who have seemed super cool about it still now are like, oh, you’re still at jumbos Like it’s like it’s a shame. Fuck you. Try to do what I do And with my body how many nights a week and let’s see if you can do it Yeah, don’t act like i’m copping out. Yeah by maintaining a job that i’m very good at and that brings me joy
AMD: Yeah, so yeah, well, I mean and I hear that but the the narrative around whether or not we live a joyful life as stripper is very convoluted because there are a lot of scenarios out there in strip clubs where It does feel like a trap and it can be abusive. So can being in a relationship with a person, right? I was in a physically scary trapped relationship with a man when I was 20 But have I been in that situation since? No.
CB: And so can working in a cubicle being sexually harassed by your manager, right? Tere’s privilege that I recognize my privilege as well as that I’d be privileged to work in safe enough clubs and that I-
AMD: Not to say that I agree with that narrative I’m just saying that that is where that stem from stems from and it’s our Responsibility to do as much as we can to educate people to change that narrative. No, we’re not trapped Some people are trapped. Some people are trapped, like she said, in cubicles. Um, some people are trapped in, um, cross country driving big ass trucks. Yeah. They might not want to be doing that. Um, you know, Nadia, one of our past guests, felt trapped in her very high paying engineering job, where she got PTO. And for those of you who don’t know what PTO is, because I didn’t know what the fuck PTO is, it means paid time off.
CB: Yep.
AMD: She felt trapped. Yeah, pay time off PTO.
CB: I want PTO. Yeah. What’s pt? That sounds good.
AMD: I had to ask her in the middle of the interview. Excuse me, friend. What? What is PTO? I have no experience in that area. But you know, and it’s just something that I always go back to. It’s people deal with shit. It’s not, oh, you’re a stripper, so it must be this way for you. It’s you’re this person, so it must be this way for you. And it’s a person to person case. Um, I did never felt trapped. Um, and when I did feel trapped, I just adapted and pivoted and, and changed my narrative to not feel trapped.
CB: Or, or I would leave a certain club, like,
AMD: Exactly, that’s what I did. I left a club.
CB: You know, I’ve danced at a lot of clubs, not just Jumbo’s. Yeah, you just leave the club. And I would just leave. I’d be like, alright, this isn’t a healthy environment for me. Um, but I also get that that’s a lot of privilege, right? That as, especially a white woman, it’s easier to get hired in strip clubs. It’s easier to change strip clubs, um, looking a certain way, it’s easier to, like, change strip clubs that other people don’t have. But at the end of the day, that’s in every career ever.
AMD: Exactly. And so what I do want to make sure though is whoever, if you’re listening and you are a stripper who currently feels trapped, that there is absolutely no judgment about you feeling that way. And like, it’s not to disparage like, Oh, well, I didn’t feel trapped, so we’re not trapped. It’s like, well, if you feel trapped, you feel trapped. And like, um, you know- we don’t want you to feel that way, obviously, but, but the point that we’re trying to make is that feeling negatively or positively about anything isn’t, isn’t, um, connected to necessarily the form of work or the thing that you are labeled as.
CB: The occupation, yeah.
AMD: Right. It’s, it’s base, it’s such a case to case thing. Um, and I think that that’s a really important thing to think about, um, when you’re dealing with a situation in that what I have issue with is the generalization of, oh, you’re stripping because you’re trying to go to school or you have kids or you’re trying to support a drug habit.
CB: Or you’re addicted to drugs. That’s always the best when I’m addicted to drugs. Which I’m like.
AMD: Um, or that, oh, you must be trapped. You poor thing. Don’t you need to be saved? That’s another very generalist narrative that, um, I. Hell, hell I disagree with. Don’t like it.
CB: Yeah. I don’t. Or the You’re too pretty to be here.
AMD: Oh my God. That’s the most annoying one.
CB: It’s, it’s so offensive.
AMD: You’re so pretty. Or why, why are, what are you doing wasting your time here? Yeah. It’s like, well, now you’re judging me on based on my judgment calls. Yeah. So you’re basically telling me I’m fucking stupid if I’m here. Um, like what? Why even, yeah. Yeah. I can’t.
CB: It’s super frustrating. It’s super frustrating.
AMD: I know. Yeah. I know, it’s our job to educate.
CB: We’re doing, yeah, we’re doing, that’s why we’re doing it now. So we appreciate you guys listening and learning new things.
AMD: Bye! Hahaha! The way you’re like, sounds like you’re wrapping it up. Um, no, so I did want to, um, Talk to you about, because you stripped in DC, right? And then you’ve been stripping in LA and you stripped in Baltimore. And, um, you know, you just, let’s just pretend we’re not in kind of a Corona virus era and that we’re business as usual. What have you seen? Like happening in the industry that may be good or bad. Like, just like what’s kind of going on for you as you’ve been watching the industry evolve over time. What do you see?
CB: It’s a great question. Um, you know, mixed feelings about lots of things. So for example, the fact that pole dancing now, since I started 12 years ago is now more of a mainstream concept, right? We had JLo pole dancing at the halftime show at the Superbowl. There’s pluses and minuses to that. There’s pluses because it means that it’s becoming a more mainstream concept, which means there’s not as much taboo around it, which means that people might be more open to having conversations about it being an actual job. The negative of that is that people will idolize it. But not actually support dancers that work. So, you know, with the laws that are passed or with shadow banning on Instagram and all those things. Um, the other thing I’ve just noticed is that because it has become even more mainstream since I started dancing, the amount of girls that are, you know, taking, that are new will be like, Oh, I took pole classes where like, I learned on a dirty pole, a bunch of front of old men, naked, falling being clumsy by myself where these bitches now come in and they’ve been taking pole class for like a year and now they’re ready. Like I didn’t get that like there was no like baby like like bumpers or whatever What do you call it? There was no bumper course where I got to be try it out You know I just had to be so that’s the whole dynamic has definitely changed now that pole dancing has become more popular and more mainstream I think- and then but then at the same time You You know, now that we’re paid a salary, at least in California, it also changes the dynamic of customer because people assume, oh, you’re getting paid a salary. So I don’t necessarily have to a salary.
AMD: A salary! It’s minimum wage
CB: It’s hourly, and it is nothing. Yeah. And by the time you get the only-
AMD: She’s at the only club in California where they’re paying anything. Every, every other club is, is um, practicing extreme wage theft.
CB: Extreme wage theft.
AMD: So, so she, you know, in this dynamic, in this scenario, you’re the only one. Well, yeah. Your club is the only one.
CB: And there’s pluses and minuses to that. Like on one, on one hand, yes, it’s great. I want it is a job. I do pay taxes, so I want it to be recognized as an employee. I want benefits as an employee though, as well with that. But also on the same hand There’s already that thing where people won’t tip as much because they assume. Oh, she’s getting paid a wage.
AMD: Is that happening?
CB: Yeah when people because people for years have always been like, oh, they’re getting paid
AMD: They did assume we got paid.
CB: Well, they did assume we would get paid and now they know we’re getting paid away So now they don’t always tip as much which is kind of frustrating
AMD: I mean, it’s 45 total, a shift that you’re making. They’re only working three hours, making 15 an hour. And they’re getting 45, which is what you should be- I mean, also, the job that you’re doing is so much harder. You deserve to get paid more. Whatever. We could talk about that for like an hour. God, that’s so infuriating.
CB: Yeah, it’s really annoying.
AMD: Okay, so is that how you feel about that?
CB: Yeah, that’s how I feel. I just feel like it’s, I feel like the biggest change I would say is that there’s pluses and minuses again to being- to pole dancing now being a mainstream thing.
AMD: Yeah. And the thing about the JLo performance and like pole dancing be like that type of performance being visible as like, this is a real job. It’s like, but what message of the job was that sending? Was it sending the message It’s like, “This is a stripper thing and stripping is a cool job”? Or “this is pole dancing. It’s what we’ve been shoving down your throat since 2009 that we’re not like strippers, we’re pole dancers.” So like what message was that performance really sending? Was it sending, hey, it’s cool to be a stripper or hey, it’s cool to be a pole dancer, but not a stripper because we’re barefoot and we’re doing this at a family event. Does that makes sense?.
CB: No, that makes complete sense. I think Especially since pole dancing now has become very popular. We’ve both seen the movement of not a stripper.
AMD: Oh I’ve been part of the movement.
CB: It’s very frustrating where- Which by the way, if you’re part of that movement, fuck you.
AMD: Not the non stripper movement, but the movement. Okay, relax.
CB: Okay, sorry. No, because like, respect, respect where it came from.
AMD: I’ve been a part of the movement as far as like pushing pole dancing in the mainstream.
CB: Which is great, which is great. You can push pole dancing to the mainstream, but there’s a huge split that is pole dancing and they don’t recognize strippers and almost as like we’re better than them. Which respect the like respect your ancestors.
AMD: So what do you see is an issue with that type of classification? Like what is what is like a long term issue?
CB: Because you’re still continuing to um push the propaganda and misinformation of that stripping is somehow bad or taboo or negative or I’m doing okay because I’m doing it athletically. You are somehow bad because you were doing it sexually or you’re doing it for money or compensation. Where it is a job. I clock in, I clock out, I pay taxes. I can’t wait to get in my sweatpants after I’m done. Like it is a,
AMD: Let me tell you why I see, cause we just found this out the other day. Yesterday I cried about it, that in Nevada, that sex workers, legal sex workers, are being denied any benefits to unemployment if they’re doing sex work, legal or not. And um, even though, uh, strippers, there’s 12,000 of them in Las Vegas. Um, they are the lifeblood of that tourist industry, and they are being denied benefits because they do sex work.
CB: Some bullshit.
AMD: And what I see is an issue of separating. Right? Good pole versus bad pole. Yeah. Is that now you can classify a group of people and determine their rights collectively as a society. Because as society you’ve collectively decided, that’s bad work. Right? Yeah. So then what happens is, well, stripping is so closely connected to all these other industries. At what point do rights start to get taken away from people that are adjacent to? Because that’s what we’re seeing happen on social media. It started with sex workers, then it bled into the pole dance community, then it bled into the fitness community, and before we knew it, All types of women and transgender, LGBTQ, anyone that’s femme identifying, then all became a target as well. So, it, it causes a ripple effect. If you start to demoralize and, and, or, or say, like, oh, that group has no morals, so therefore we’re gonna treat them X, Y, and Z, and then everyone condones that behavior. So, what’s happening in Nevada, if that is condoned, That’s absolute bullshit and it’s going to start to seep into other states.
CB: It’s going to be a ripple effect. It’s going to set the bar for how those women are allowed to be treated by clients, it’s going to set the bar for how those women are allowed to be treated by their banks, how they’re allowed to be treated by their-
AMD: But, but let’s cut to also, not just those women. But women who choose to dress also similarly to those women, who now if you dress like them you must be like them and therefore will treat you with the same lack of respect and whatever, because you dress like that and only bad girls dress like that. So now you can’t even dress like a slut, um, because then you’re categorized in this group of people that are bad. And you’re treated like shit. Yeah. Um, and so, yeah, that’s my rant.
CB: Yeah, I don’t like it. Yeah, I don’t like it.
AMD: No, I don’t like it either.
CB: Don’t agree?
AMD: Yeah, I don’t agree at all. Yeah, it really, um, irks me. It’s something I think about. All day long. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So thank you. Cause it really allowed me to go down. Yeah. And I think a lot of people need to know about what’s happening in Nevada right now. Ready to write a letter to some people. Um, excuse me. Hello. No, no, no. You’re not doing this. Oh, man. Okay. I keep refraining from lifting my arms up because every time I do, my shirt comes up and then my nipples pop out.
CB: You’re like “Hello”.
AMD: I’ll just stop. And this isn’t the one.
CB: We’re going to do the next one, Topless. Not this one.
AMD: Yeah. Well, maybe. I don’t know. I have to discuss that behind the scenes with my producers. Yeah. We might have to do that one for like donations or something.
CB: Yeah. Some kind of charity event. For sure.
AMD: Yeah. Some kind of charity event. For sure.
CB: Deaf children or the Nevada girls. Either one. Maybe both.
AMD: All right. So, um, also really quickly, I just want to touch on you’re a social worker. You’re like, and how much work do you do currently in the social work world? Are you like really immersed in that or is that like a phase in your life?
CB: Not, not so much now. So when I first, when I first moved to California, I was seeking, I was working for an agency. I was seeking clients. Uh, I, so I, I am, um, LCSW, which is a licensed clinical social worker. So that means that I was doing So there’s social workers that are case workers So, you know in media movies things like that what you assume is social- like for family services and things like that What I was doing, um when you get a master’s in social work, and then you also go your clinical route That means that you’re more of a therapist. So I can legally diagnose people, but I can’t prescribe the medication. Um, I could also open my own private practice to do therapy. I work in a community that is not a very wealthy community. So it seems unethical for me to do that. So I am in the very, very baby early stages of starting my own nonprofit.
AMD: Oh shit. Um, I didn’t know that
CB: You didn’t know this?
AMD: No.
CB: Oh, um, it’s called unspoken expression and it will be a space where. I’ll backtrack a little bit. So I noticed that my deaf friends kept asking me, can you come to this dance class with me? Can you come to this yoga class with me? Because it’s not accessible. And so I go pro bono just for, you know. So I realized there’s a lack of, again, culture and art, and somewhere where they can practice these ways of expression, dancing, poetry, painting, movie making, all these things. So it’s called Unspoken Expression, it would basically be a space where deaf teens and middle schoolers would be able to come and, you know, I also, I wouldn’t be hearing savior. So I have a Rolodex of deaf directors, actors, dancers, all those people. I would have them come teach the classes for the deaf teens so that they could have access to not only a way of expression and a way to practice that expression in an accessible space, but also deaf role models to see, Oh, I can be a director. I can be an actor. I can be a dancer. And then within that, I would incorporate social work aspects of play therapy with younger groups, middle schoolers. We do more art project things like that. We wouldn’t sit down and be like, how are you feeling today? um more play therapy based I would run a girls group because that’s super important just for It’s a very small community.
So misinformation can be spread really quickly. And I definitely have a soft spot for making sure all the women are safe and understand consent and understand things like that. So my next step as far as anything social work is definitely to, and to start this nonprofit, possibly attached to another nonprofit in the beginning, but incorporate through just running it also therapy based practices, um, because they are a vulnerable population, especially in Los Angeles. It’s a lot of people who are undocumented, people that are, have very low, like not a lot of resources and things. So you can’t, if you’re going to come at it from a social work perspective, you can’t just provide a service. You also have to have relationships and connect with other people that provide services to create a full supportive experience.
AMD: Nice. Wow. That’s amazing. That’s my You’re like, literally changing lives.
CB: No, but I’m excited about it.
AMD: Yeah, that’s so cool.
CB: We have some merch. But we just gotta get a We gotta have to get a building and and figure out transportation. And also have to wait till after corona. Because We have to wait till coronavirus is over.
AMD: Yeah, this corona party. Yeah Amazing. Thank you. I did not know all that. Yeah, awesome
Stripper Tips
AMD: So tell everyone what your stripper tip is
CB: So my stripper tip is for ladies or gentlemen Or whoever you identify Going through going to the bathroom in a crowded club. Oh You What do you do? So I have found because I’ve had I’ve done it right when I have to go to the bathroom in the club And I have my heels on people tend to move a little bit quicker because they’re like here’s an amazon coming through Get out of the way When I put on my sneakers in the exact same club the exact same people who were just like you were amazing 10 seconds ago, they do not move When i’m in my normal shoes and my normal clothes trying to go to the bathroom.
AMD: Got it.
CB: So I’m going to try to explain it for the listeners, not for, so if you just do like a little Beyonce as you go through a crowd.
AMD: Okay. She’s kind of just pumping her chest
CB: Like a little, like a little, like a little just back and forth and you smile at people as you go through, right? You don’t just do it aggressively.
AMD: You’re basically doing like a mini dance.
CB: Just do a mini dance however you want. Maybe you do a little, maybe you just do like this.
AMD: Maybe you can raise the roof. I can’t raise the roof right now. Cause my nipples are popping out.
CB: The point is pick a dance move, whatever dance move you feel comfortable with and then make it fun as you go through. So you go, Hey, Hey, like look at people high five, you know, past Corona. Like look at me. And they will gladly spread the seas. Like they will move out of the way so that you can go to the bathroom or get out of the concert or go to the, you know, wherever, go to the bar, whatever you need to do. If you make it fun, do a dance move, smile at them and be like, yeah, like almost like we’re all in it together. They will gladly part the seas for you.
AMD: Amazing. I’m definitely going to try that one. That’s hot. Okay. Tight, tight, tight.
This was an interview with ASL Stripper, Caroline Blaike