Reagan

Name/Stage Name etc

Reagan

What city do you currently reside in?

Los Angeles

Occupation?

Stripper, Performance Artist, Actor, Activist

Do your on stage and off stage personalities differ tremendously? 

I don't think they differ tremendously! I think of my on-stage persona to be an exaggerated, hyper-feminized version of my real personality.

What was the process of developing your performance persona?

The process of developing my performance persona involved a lot of trial and error. I would watch other dancers and how they presented themselves on stage, and I drew my inspiration from them and experimented with different qualities. There are some dancers that are absolute pros when it comes to glowering at the audience and seducing them with a glare, almost disdainfully staring as someone drops money at their feet. I tried on personas like that, and they never worked on me. It takes a certain stage presence, look and vibe to pull that off, and I didn't have it -- or rather, no one was buying it. Finally I embraced my love of pin-up and burlesque and brought a sweet, charming cheekiness to my stage performance, and suddenly I was the top earner at the club. Since those days I have refined my style to be more of a mix of classical and contemporary energies, but it is something I honed over time to reflect what makes me feel sexy and what highlights my best features. Every dancer has a unique hustle -- some make their money with a smirk, some with a toss of the hair... mine is with a smile and a wink.

What motivates you to wake up in the morning?

Nothing. I hate mornings. Unless there is something important that I must wake up for, I sleep until the afternoon!

What is the worst song that you absolutely love?

She's a Beauty by The Tubes. The song is SO CHEESY but it's so good, I laugh every time I sing it out loud. It used to be a song I frequently danced to at the club. It's about a boy's first time to a peep show! Check out some of the hilarious lyrics: Step right up And don't be shy Because you will not believe your eyes She's right here Behind the glass You're gonna like her 'Cause she's got class You can look inside another world You get to talk to a pretty girl She's everything you dream about But, don't fall in love! She's a beauty She's one in a million girls She's a beauty Why would I lie? You can say Anything you like But you can't touch the merchandise She'll give you Every penny's worth But, it will cost you A dollar first (LOL)

Can you share a story of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat? 

I have two answers to this, because one is kind of superficial and the other is more meaningful, and it feels right to share both. First story is from tonight. Tonight was a slow Wednesday night at the club. It rained, which usually is a bad omen for LA strip clubs because Angelenos don't like to deal with the rain if they don't have to, so it often kills plans to go to a strip club. Since it was slow I ordered a salad from the club - a salad I have come to love. We call it the "Skinny Bitch Salad" because it's so wholesome; the ingredients are lettuce, raw vegetables, shrimp, and a simple dressing. Well, today, unbeknownst to me, the shrimp was bad. I finished the giant salad, then immediately started experiencing hot flashes and lightheadedness. I excused myself to go to the bathroom and within a few seconds threw up the entire salad. I then chugged some water, downed some mints, and went back to work. Even though the night was slow I managed to hustle a whole bag by the end of the night (that's stripper-speak for over a thousand dollars). Going from sitting around on a slow, rainy night, then upchucking my only meal of the day, to having a badass lucrative night was the definition of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat! Second story is the one that is more meaningful to me. The ULTIMATE story of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat is how I managed to get fired from the same club TWICE (the second time it was because I stood up for myself in regards to my safety and the safety of the other dancers at the club), and then two weeks after getting sacked and feeling really depressed about it, a majority of the dancers at the club delivered a safety petition to the boss and walked off the shift. I joined them and we started protesting. We were on strike and on the picket line for eight months. In May 2023 we reached a settlement agreement with the club and simultaneously UNANIMOUSLY won our Union election! This is only the second time this has happened in US history! Thinking back to a year ago when I was fired for trying to protect myself and feeling so unheard, scared and alone, to now making HISTORY with a fearless team of badass babes is undoubtedly a victory SNATCHED!

How do you define truth?

I love and hate this question. It's hard. On one hand, I understand "truth" to be subjective. I have heard friends say (and I sort of believe them), "There are three sides to every story. There's what he said, there's what she said, and there's what really happened." If that's true, then is there any way to really know the truth about anything, if being human and having a perspective on it inherently taints the "real truth" that is supposedly objective? "Truth" took on a new meaning for me in 2019 when a friend of mine sexually assaulted me one drunken night after a party. I would not recommend this, but I made the difficult decision to report it to the police, submit to a rape exam, and file for restraining orders against him and his girlfriend who was harassing me, calling me a liar and threatening me. The experience of seeing this all the way through meant being humiliated by the police, re-traumatized by the exam and degraded by having both restraining orders denied in court, and it was excruciating. But it also gave me an understanding of Truth that felt liberating and untouchable. No matter what anyone did to me, or said to me, it would not alter the fact that I was telling the truth. And it made me feel incredibly powerful. I had nothing to hide, and I can walk with my head held high that I stood in my truth. No one and nothing can take that away from me.

What’s your favorite part about being THE fantasy?

The powerful euphoria of being in absolute control of a room. You can really feel it; you know exactly when you have every single person's attention, and that feeling is one of the best feelings in the world. It's not just the moments on stage at the strip club either; it also happens on stage in the theatre, it happens on set when the camera is rolling and you do a "take" that is total fire, and it even happens at a party or gathering when you're telling a story and everyone stops their conversations to listen and you land the most excellent punchline. I really do believe I am an entertainer at my core; the "fantasy" is so much about telling a story and really selling it to your customer. But the cherry on top is selling the fantasy to yourself while you are onstage -- really believing wholeheartedly that you are the most powerful, sexy, impossibly beautiful goddess and that you can bring the room to their feet and summon all the money in their pockets with a single glance or switch of the hips. Those moments, when the music feels like it's coursing through your body and the moment feels cinematic and your stage presence feels effortless, when you are truly embodying the fantasy version of yourself and turning yourself on, are the best.

What is something most people don’t know about you?

Something most people don't know about me is my real age... because in both the strip club industry and the acting industry, youth and youthfulness are so heavily favored, so I constantly lie about how old I am. The funny part is, sometimes I actually forget what the real number is and I have to do the math! I thought just now about revealing my true age, but... I kind of love the mystery, tee hee. Suffice to say I am older than you think I am!

What transformation would you love to see in our society in your lifetime?

Our society is in need of so many transformations... how can I possibly settle on just one? First and foremost the struggle for Black liberation, a real reckoning with racism, and a transformation of our society from white supremacist to anti-racist comes to mind as perhaps the most important... followed closely by a transformation from a transphobic and whorephobic society to one that focuses on loving acceptance of trans people as well as the decriminalization and acceptance of sex workers of all kinds.

Any advice?  (literally about anything)

Unionize your club! There is a lot of misinformation out there about the worker status of dancers in the strip club. Strippers are workers, and they are usually misclassified as independent contractors when really they qualify under federal labor law to be classified as employees. Most (not all, but most) strip club owners are greedy, selfish, misogynistic, capitalist pigs who should never be trusted to have the dancer's best interests at heart. The only way for REAL progress and change to occur is by organizing and building collective power by unionizing. The power of unions and the power of the labor movement right now is so invigorating! It really inspires me. When we stand together and demand that things change, that's where progress begins. Also, the fact that society often laughs at sex workers and deems all our problems "hazards of the job" and blames us for wanting things to be better, while on the other hand the labor movement has wholeheartedly supported us and welcomed us into their ranks has been incredibly humbling. Solidarity is a beautiful, beautiful thing. Solidarity saves lives.

Learn more about and keep up with Reagan HERE

Read this interview and so much more by getting your copy of SW4 HERE