On June 25 of 2015, millions of women and men flocked to theaters, dropping their $11 to see the highly anticipated film, “Magic Mike.” The film starred Hollywood favorite Channing Tatum as Mike Lane, a male stripper. The film grossed $122.5 million and had many women rushing back to theaters to see it again. The idea of big, buff men grinding, taking off their clothes and teasing audience members is one that is easily accepted and welcomed.

Here lies the double standard. A female stripper receives far less respect than her male coworkers. Female strippers and sex workers deserve the same amount of respect and revere that her male counterparts earn.

A female stripper is quickly labeled a whore, a slut and cheap. The word stripper even carries the negative connotation of girls dancing in their underwear in a seedy bar while men let their hands wander on her body. This image and this stereotype is unrealistic. According to a study held in 2015, 33 percent of strippers really are just trying to get through college, and it works. According to a Forbes interview with an Atlanta stripper, “In January and February, she worked 96 and 75 hours a month respectively, for which she took home $2,237 and $2,398, and earned $23 and $32 an hour.”

Another heavy factor into why women pursue a career in stripping is simply because they like to dance. The job is mostly play after all, and as stated before, a stripper will make more in one week’s worth of shifts than a dance major might in months.

The issue some bring up when strippers, and sex workers in general are brought up is that strippers have little dignity and are allowing themselves to be seen as objects. I’m sorry, but only a woman who is fully in charge of herself and her sexuality would be able to go out and perform for men and women every night. The image of the sad stripper smoking cigarettes in the back of the club is outdated and is being replaced with that of powerful, independent women who, yes, are mothers, students and business women. Amber Rose, TV personality and ex-stripper, has taken ownership of her past work and is proud of it, speaking openly about the job and the fun she had doing it.

“That was the best time of my life!” Rose declared in an interview with Cosmopolitan. “Oh my God, I had so much fun. All the girls were really cool. The guys weren’t allowed to touch you. I was never sexually assaulted or [anything]. I was young, beautiful, I was onstage. I wasn’t really ashamed of my body. I made lifelong friends.”

Strippers and sex workers are taking back what it means to be in the industry. Many of these women are empowered and are proud of what they do, and with good reason. Women and girls are trained from day one to be ashamed of their bodies and their sexaulity. We are expected to be hush hush about our sex lives, and we are shamed for owning our sexuality. And strippers are challenging these social injustices. These are women who are in charge of themselves and know who they are. These are not women who are weak, these are not women who are disappointments and these are definitely not women who care if you think they are sluts or whores. These are physically and mentally strong and empowered women who know what they want and work hard to get it.