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Strip clubs are venues that regularly provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease or other erotic or exotic dances. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, and can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style. American-style strip clubs began to appear outside of North America after World War II, arriving in Asia in the late 1940s and Europe in the 1950s,〔 where they competed against the local English and French styles of striptease and erotic performances. As of 2005, the size of the global strip club industry was estimated to be US$75 billion.〔 In 2002, the size of the U.S. strip club industry was estimated to be US$3.1 billion, generating 19% of the total gross revenue in legal adult entertainment.〔 SEC filings and state liquor control records available at that time indicated that there were at least 2,500 strip clubs in the United States,〔 and since that time, the number of clubs in the U.S. has grown. Profitability of strip clubs, as with other service-oriented businesses, is largely driven by location and customer spending habits. The better appointed a club is, in terms of its quality of facilities, equipment, furniture, and other elements, the more likely customers are to encounter cover charges and fees for premium features such as VIP rooms.〔 The popularity of a given club is an indicator of its quality, as is the word-of-mouth among customers who have visited a cross section of clubs in different regions. The strip club as an outlet for salacious entertainment is a recurrent theme in popular culture. In some media, these clubs are portrayed primarily as gathering places of vice and ill repute. Clubs themselves and various aspects of the business are highlighted in these references. "Top Strip Club" lists in some media have demonstrated that U.S.-style striptease is a global phenomenon and a culturally accepted form of entertainment, despite its scrutiny in legal circles and popular media. Popular Internet sites for strip club enthusiasts also have lists calculated from the inputs of site visitors. The legal status of strip clubs has evolved over the course of time, with national and local laws becoming progressively more liberal on the issue around the world, although some countries (such as Iceland) have implemented strict limits and bans.〔 Strip clubs are frequent targets of litigation around the world, and the sex industry, which includes strip clubs, is a hot button issue in popular culture and politics. Some clubs have been linked to organized crime.〔 == History == The term "striptease" was first recorded in 1938, though "stripping", in the sense of women removing clothing to sexually excite men, seems to go back at least 400 years. For example, in Thomas Otway's comedy ''The Soldier's Fortune'' (1681) a character says: "Be sure they be lewd, drunken, ''stripping'' whores".〔Robert Hendrickson (1997) ''QPB Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins''. New York, Facts on File, Inc: 227〕 Its combination with music seems to be as old. A conclusive description and visualization can be found in the 1720 German translation of the French ''La Guerre D'Espagne'' (Cologne: Pierre Marteau, 1707), where a galant party of high aristocrats and opera singers has resorted to a small château where they entertain themselves with hunting, play and music in a three-day turn: Other possible influences on modern stripping were the dances of the Ghawazee "discovered" and seized upon by French colonists in 19th century North Africa and Egypt. The erotic dance of the bee, performed by a woman known as Kuchuk Hanem, was witnessed and described by the French novelist Gustave Flaubert. In this dance the performer disrobes as she searches for an imaginary bee trapped within her garments. It is likely that the women performing these dances did not do so in an indigenous context, but rather, responded to the commercial climate for this type of entertainment. Middle Eastern belly dance, also known as oriental dancing, was popularized in the United States after its introduction on the Midway at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago by a dancer known as Little Egypt. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「strip club」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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