Neon Girls

May 1, 2020
A former sex worker's chronicle of her days hustling at a legendary San Francisco peep show serves as a piercing examination of gender politics and a gritty insider's account of union organizing. Like many of her colleagues at the Lusty Lady Theatre, Worley, an English professor, had a greater vision for herself when she began working as an exotic dancer in the 1990s. Working on her doctoral degree, she had just embarked on a new career in academia, entered into a promising new relationship, and expanded her circle of friends. At the same time, she realized that stripping could theoretically give her the time she needed to advance her studies. What she did not fully understand, however, was just how much the Lusty Lady gig would demand of her body and soul. Worley adroitly captures the devastating dichotomy of feminist power running headlong into the realities of work built around the whims of men. "Despite my now-proficient skills combating licking...and bossing around, I was unprepared for this new indignity, this blatant, wholesale rejection," she writes. "I felt a commingling of shame and fury at being discarded so perfunctorily by someone I was, after all, pretending to like in the first place." The economic exploitation the author was to experience on the Lusty Lady stage and in its darkened, secluded side booths could not be ignored. Worley's dynamic campaign to organize the performers into the Exotic Dancers Union could be used as a primer for unions nationwide, as her spot-on account of the battles between management and workers is as relevant now as it was 25 years ago. The author also demonstrates a deep understanding of trade unionism's extensive roots in burlesque and respect for those who came before her, including iconic figures like blacklisted "communist" Gypsy Rose Lee. A vivid and erudite exploration of class struggle and gender identity.

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May 15, 2020

In this lively debut, Worley writes about her life as a dancer at the Lusty Lady Theatre in San Francisco in the 1990s. A graduate student looking for employment that would allow her to work the fewest hours for the most money, Worley becomes Polly, a performer in one of the last peep shows in the city. As she befriends a group of like-minded feminist female dancers, she sheds her apprehensions about her chosen employment and gains the confidence she will use to transform her workplace. After witnessing various incidents of discriminatory and humiliating practices by management, and watching how her coworkers are punished when they take a stand, Polly decides to act. As their core group of activist dancers grows, the Lusty Ladies successfully establish a union to protect their rights and gain more control over their work. In telling their story, Worley skillfully captures a slice of a San Francisco that no longer exists through a fiercely feminist lens. Includes illustrations. VERDICT A fast-paced, engaging book that readers with an interest in feminist thought, memoirs, and labor activism will enjoy.--Venessa Hughes, Denver

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