Bar Girl

A bargirl is a woman who is paid to entertain patrons in a bar, either individually or, in some cases, as a performer. The exact nature of the entertainment varies widely from place to place; depending on the venue this can be individual entertainment ranging from light conversation to sexual services, or more public entertainment in the form of go-go dancing or striptease. Variants on the term include "B-girl", "hostess", and "juicy girl".

Bargirls work in various types of bars throughout the world, including strip clubs and regular bars in the U.S., hostess bars in East Asia, go-go bars and "beer bars" in Southeast Asia, dance bars in India, and ''boliches'' in Argentina.

A bargirl should not be confused with a barmaid, who serves drinks in a bar but is not expected to entertain customers individually or to dance.

Forms of entertainment provided

In addition to entertaining customers individually, bargirls also dance on stage in some venues such as strip clubs in the United States and go-go bars in Asia. Bargirls often wear bikinis or other revealing costumes for dancing, or they may dance partially or fully nude.

Methods of payment

Bargirls often receive a commission on drinks bought by their customers. Where applicable, they may receive a percentage of the escort fee or bar fine paid by any customer who wishes to take them out of the bar. In other cases, they may have a periodic quota of drinks or bar fines, or both.

Bargirl prostitution in Africa

Screening carried out in the 1990s in Malawi indicated that about 80 per cent of bargirls carried the HIV virus. Research carried out at the time indicated that economic necessity was a major consideration in engaging and persisting in sex work.

Bargirl prostitution in Asia

It is a common practice in Asia for bargirls to also act as prostitutes, either on-site (with the bar effectively acting as a brothel) or by being hired upon payment of a bar fine. In South Korea, "juicy bars" near the gates of United States military bases provide prostitutes for soldiers. Prostitution has been illegal in South Korea since 2004, and since 2005 the Uniform Code of Military Justice has prohibited US military personnel from buying the services of prostitutes, with bars and clubs suspected of being venues for prostitution being declared "off-limits" for military personnel.

In Thailand, and in many other countries where bargirl prostitution is common, it is technically illegal but widely tolerated.

In Japan an "entertainers visa" was introduced in 1981 allowing migrant Filipina women to work in Japanese nightclubs. The work included dancing in strip shows, socialising with male guests, and in some cases prostitution.

Where bargirls act as prostitutes, patterns vary widely. Some seek to have as many customers as possible in a given day; these women generally take only "short-time" clients. Others are more selective and accept only one customer per day, taking "long-time" customers overnight or even for a few days.

Bar fines

A "bar fine" is a payment made by a customer to the operators of a bar that allows a dancer, hostess, or some other employee of that bar to leave work early, usually in order to accompany the customer outside the bar. The bar fine is usually kept by the bar in lieu of lost income, but in some larger bar chains the bargirl may receive a portion of the bar fine, with much of the remainder being used to pay for STD and HIV testing for the bargirls. Although it is not universal, this practice is frequently associated with venues offering prostitution to foreigners—especially in Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and the Philippines.

Working conditions

Working conditions vary both among and within countries; even within individual countries, conditions can vary widely between venues. For example, there is significant variation among establishments in Thailand's red-light district in Pattaya. Some bars employ relatively well-paid women who live outside the bar, while others employ lower-paid women who live at the bar.

"B-girl activity" in the US

In the U.S., the term ''B-girl'' (an abbreviation of ''bar girl'') is commonly understood to mean a woman who is paid to converse with male patrons and encourage them to buy her drinks. The B-girl is usually served watered-down or non-alcoholic drinks to minimize both the effects of the alcohol and the cost to the bar. B-girls were employed by bars in the US during the 1940s and 1950s. In her memoirs Maya Angelou describes working as a B-girl in a San Francisco strip club in the 1950s.

B-girl activity has declined in the U.S. (so much so that female breakdancers now refer to themselves as B-girls), but it still occurs. Because prostitution is illegal in most parts of the U.S. and is restricted to licensed brothels in those parts of Nevada where it is legal, B-girls who act as prostitutes are breaking the law. The practice of accepting drinks for pay is specifically outlawed in many localities.

Bars have been raided and closed down for "B-girl activity". In one 1962 case, nightclub owners suspected of having ties to a Chicago crime syndicate were brought before the Senate Rackets Committee. The ''Boston Globe'' reported that "one of he syndicate'srackets, according to testimony, is the operation of cheap nightclubs which use B-girls to solicit watered-down drinks at high prices from customers, or even engage in prostitution with them."

It was once common for modestly dressed B-girls to pose as secretaries who had stopped at the bar for a drink on their way home from work. The male customer, under the impression that he had found a "date" for the evening, would buy her one expensive drink after another, only to be jilted afterwards.

In 2014, city officials in Kenner, Louisiana (a suburb of New Orleans), where the practice is illegal, replaced the word "B-girl" with "B-drinker" in their liquor laws to avoid gender discrimination.

In popular culture

* Marilyn Monroe was nominated for a Golden Globe award for her role as a B-girl in ''Bus Stop'' (1956). In the film, Monroe's character, Chérie, consumes four tea-and-sodas before her companion catches on.

* Darlene, a character in John Kennedy Toole's ''A Confederacy of Dunces'', works as a B-girl in the Night of Joy bar.

* In the ''M*A*S*H'' season four episode "Deluge" Hawkeye tells Father Mulcahy: "You look just like a 'B' girl I knew in San Diego". Father Mulcahy jokingly responds that "It's quite possible. I worked my way through divinity school as a 'B' girl in San Diego".

* In the television film '' Young Indiana Jones and the Treasure of the Peacock's Eye'', Indiana Jones (Sean Patrick Flanery) becomes involved with a woman named Lily (Jayne Ashbourne). When they first meet, Lily is working as a bargirl on the island of Java. They meet again, after Lily's had all her money taken from her, placed on a ship and told to never come back (implied to have been kicked out of town for prostitution).

See also

* Jilt shop
* It girl
* Lap dance
* Meshimori onna
* Prostitution in Thailand
* Table dance
* Taxi dancer

References

{{Reflist

External links

''Hope In Heaven'' documentary



Prostitutes by type
Food services occupations
Sales occupations
Gendered occupations