[Music]
I'm adua boa a model founder of girls
talk and an advocate for female
empowerment she feels really amazing and
empowering I do it for myself and people
respect that you know they admire that
riding motorcycles is basically a symbol
that we're not going to be told what to
do anymore and we're going to just do
whatever we
want I want to use my personal
experience of depression and an
addiction to get girls around the world
talking about mental health body image
and
[Music]
sexuality I feel like a woman is the
most like sacred
beautiful thing entity in the world like
to me that's just power that's
control that's Beauty that's grit that's
Serenity the stripping industry in La is
worth a staggering 1 billion employing
more women than ever before I want to
talk to some of these women to find out
if stripping can be
empowering I'm at top Hollywood
stripping clothing store byy B to meet
Shay and Casey as poll dancers they
often find their expression of sexuality
under scrutiny I love to meet you
hey meet you would you girls be up for
like taking me around yeah let's try Stu
on fit you in the sexiest we could
find I think you guys should choose me
something I love how I've got all like
nervous now oh I like this okay so this
goes together so you want to get maybe
like a thong or something to wear under
this you
stand my dad's going to be
like and what was it that kind of I
suppose
attracted you to it I was already a
dancer so it became natural to me the
initial goal was just like I'm just
going to save up for a car but then like
I liked it it was fun and it was a
pretty easy way to make money after a
while so how do your parents feel about
you guys dancing my family was really
weird about it I kept it a secret for
the first like 4 months but then like
after um I got sober I was just trying
to live honestly
so congrats on
your that's so cool
um one year okay great I'm what about
you two years in September Yeah so
basically once I got sober I was like no
more secrets like I want to live
honestly so I just told them and both of
my parents said the same thing
separately on the phone to me they both
said I don't want to know that stripping
or dancing is not everything we do
that's not our career we have so many
other hustles we do she do just gives us
time to do the we want to do
exactly if you've ever done it or known
somebody that does like it's it's really
not a big deal I like this Flor outfit
so pretty that is good and if I rub that
on a man I mean he'll love it you got to
think about that stuff you know stripper
fashion is so popular now and it's you
know being taken to other sorts of
Brands like high fashioned Brands and
you know all girls are wearing shorter
and more revealing stuff but there is
still so much stigma around it what do
you guys feel about that you embrace
your I totally I love it I mean as
as do we you know
yeah I mean I can go from looking like a
boy to dressing like head to dough and
no skin or to be wearing like anything
you know something really revealing it
just depends on how I
[Music]
feel I'm doing it for myself so I and I
think that's a big problem nowadays with
younger girls is I'm not sure if they
are doing it for themselves I think
that's a battle we all fight inside
ourselves and when I was a teenager I
rejected sexuality because I felt like
that was thrusted upon me but now I
don't mind being sexual I don't mind
looking sexy because I'm doing it
because I like to feel sexy you have to
do it for yourself you know like you
can't do it for anybody else I do it for
myself and people respect that you know
they admire that cuz I'm like just
working out this is how I want to look
today so what I am not at that point
where I could like get up on stage and
have that a lot of power a lot of and it
the roles are reversed speaking to Casey
and Shan made me aware that dancing is a
way to be financially independent to
express themselves or buy their own car
or pursue other passions I don't see it
as any different from what I do I'm in
fashion I'm still selling
something the girl's friend Alabama was
willing to give me a poll lesson so I
went over to beun poll Studio lovely to
meet you to meet you as well hi there
Alabama nice to meet you good handshake
I like that thank you so how long have
you been teaching here at be um I have
been teaching pole for almost a year
um yeah but dancing for probably three
or four 3 years yeah yeah so I grew up
in Oregon um and there's a bunch of
strippers there and it's just normal up
there where as over the rest of the
country for the most part it's still
looked down upon yeah it seems there is
this kind of
hierarchy with women who are in you know
teaching or doing it as a
competitive kind of what is it you know
competitions it's interesting that you
do both yeah that's a thing there are
some studios around town that are very
specifically like antix worker it's like
don't talk about it they don't want to
know um and there because there's a
stigma on strippers like you know we're
bad we're whatever people think
they don't want to be
associated with strip culture the second
that you get on this poll like
you're you know going back to the roots
of where po dancing comes from which is
strippers you're so vulnerable
when you're in a studio or when you're
up on stage like you we don't have time
for people to be haters like that's
disgusting men have their type and there
is this kind of underlying you know
sense of rejection I have the same thing
with modeling for sure some people
aren't going to like my look right you
know they're going to be more interested
in so and so but sure so being up there
and bearing all MH and doing your thing
is yeah I just have so much respect yeah
if you can get up on stage at some point
in your life and take all your clothes
off and dance around
it's awesome so one two three step
around pure W yes yes yes
Dr pop
yeah yes
beautiful oh my
God
yes sadly it's clear that Society is
still judgmental of women who own their
sexuality it makes me think of how often
girls in revealing clothes are accused
of asking for
it that evening I'm invited to cheetah
strip club to see the girls at work you
want to do this forever once you like
you don't have to depend on it you just
come in here just for fun cuz like you
want to with the girls or like you know
you're just like expressing yourself we
have some older girls in here that you
know like how old maybe like 50 and I
started at 26 and I was like oh will
that be too old and the thing is like
it's not because it's the age where I'm
finally comfortable with myself and my
sexuality and like at 22 I was not so
you know like I think you have to have
some maturity to be good at this
[Music]
job yeah like it doesn't it doesn't feel
like I've like sold out at all as a
feminist I feel like more empowered as a
feminist cuz like I really feel like I'm
playing dudes and like embracing my
modness you
[Music]
know today I got to meet some of the
most amazing women I've ever met they
were powerful they were strong they did
it for themselves it just made me
realize that the stripping world isn't
as black and white as society makes it
out to be I got up on stage it was like
I had this new sense of
confidence for that just one moment
run her
I mean this is the reason that I'm
here today I want to just break down
that stigma it just makes me want to get
to that place where I
am
that that moment of like complete
selflove cuz I feel like that's what
they have in there
so I don't know F
that Jesse and the velvets are a
testament to the fact that too many
spaces are being claimed by men they are
an all female bik gang creating a space
for themselves in the typical male world
of motorcycling and proving girls can be
or do whatever they want