An Invisible Industry?

A few weeks ago, I went on an urban tour of the lap dancing clubs of Liverpool as part of a different module. Having lived in the city for 3 years now, it was shocking to me that these clubs were an almost invisible part of the nightlife, and without actively searching, you’d struggle to find them.

It will be interesting when we go to Amsterdam to compare how the industry presents itself in two different countries, and evaluate what this means to those involved.

One of the venues, called ‘Erotica’, I’d have probably walked past a thousand times without noticing what it was. The signage is discreet, and could probably be mistaken for an independent shop had it not been for the minuscule lettering that states ‘Gentleman’s Club’ beneath the name. I found the use of the wording here interesting compared to other clubs such as ‘X in the City’ (pictured below), which claims to be ‘Liverpool’s No.1 Lap Dancing Bar’; it’s as if Erotica holds some elitism in the fact that it presents itself more discreetly, and targets ‘Gentlemen’ as oppose to any man.

‘X in the City’ was probably the most blatant in the type of establishment it was, and for this I’d say it would be the most similar to what I might see in Amsterdam. However, due to complaints about having a lap dancing bar so public, it had been relocated to a quieter area of the city centre. This is a common theme throughout the tour, with ‘Angels Paradise’ located in Liverpool’s ‘Gay Town’, sandwiched between two well known gay bars.
This has a negative effect on business, and the discreetness of the locations mean that they are often overlooked by those on nights out.

The fact that the clubs were so hidden is symbolic of a culture that believes an ‘out of sight out of mind’ approach is the best when it comes to the sex industry, which is hugely different to the policy of the Netherlands. The covert status of the lap dancing bars in Liverpool, I believe, will directly contrast those in Amsterdam, from one extreme to another. It will be interesting to see which approach works best, and whether or not the UK can learn a few things from the Dutch.