Fifi Tinker
Fifi Tinker
Occupation: Stripper, Co-creator of the Berlin Strippers Collective
Location: Berlin, Germany
The Sex in My Business: I’m a stripper and activist living in Berlin. I juggle my time between dancing in the club and organizing events for the Berlin Stripper Collective, where I work with other former and current strippers towards destigmatizing the sex industry. When I strip, I create and craft fantasies that are both romantic and sexual. When I work as part of the Collective, however, my goal is to bring stripping to the public. I help organize burlesque shows, figure drawing classes with live models, and online peep shows, and I use my sex appeal along with my voice as I work to destigmatize and decriminalize the sex industry.
A Typical Day: When I’m working regularly at the strip club, I like to wake up early and get some sunshine. Even though I go to bed at four in the morning, I feel healthier when I rise with the sun instead of sleeping until the afternoon. After I move my body and eat, I’ll lie down for a long nap. When I wake up, I listen to music, take a bath, and do my hair and makeup for work. I commute an hour and a half on the train, and that’s when I usually get my administrative work done. When I’m organizing events for the Collective, my schedule is usually more sporadic and less structured.
The Best Part: The money is the main attraction for me. I’m not super motivated by huge stacks of cash or expensive sparkly material things, but I enjoy the freedom that fast cash allows me. In my thirteen years of dancing, I’ve rarely had to work full-time, only stripping two or three times a week. This is what allows me to give more energy to the collective, not to mention my own well-being.
The Worst Part: Alcohol can be a problem. There’s a lot of pressure to drink in strip clubs, and we make money from selling and drinking champagne with customers. I’d rather not drink, but it can be difficult to avoid when it’s part of your job. I have been trying for the last few years to stop altogether. It’s a work in progress.
How I Got Here: I started stripping when I was nineteen, after I moved to Scotland for college. I had just landed a job at a shoe shop to help finance my studies, but once I realized I could earn as much in one night dancing as what I earned in a month at the shop, I quit that job and never looked back. Since then, I’ve danced all around the world, and I hopped from city to city before I eventually settled in Berlin. After a few months of stripping here, I felt a need to get more involved in activism and work toward building a community, so I joined the Berlin Stripper Collective.
What Society Thinks: I’ve noticed a big change in attitudes since I started stripping thirteen years ago. People used to look at it as being dirty and shameful, but now it seems to have become more acceptable to be a stripper. Sometimes, I worry that society can only accept the glamorous side of it. People are happy to praise the sparkles and champagne on Instagram, but when it comes to having an honest conversation about the exploitation that can exist in sex work, they aren’t quite ready for that.
When I’m Not at Work: When I am not working at the club or organizing events for the collective, I like to craft and sew costumes. I have a small business called “Fifi & The Wild” where I create sustainable glitter, as well as making playful outfits for showgirls and festivals. I get a lot of enjoyment out of expressing my creativity, and that’s why I enjoy stripping, too.
Published in Issue X: Clash of Ideologies