The Foxhole: Go for the pie, stay for the pole dancing
Strippers, alcohol, rivalries and pickup trucks? Behind the scenes at one of rural Ohio's most notorious nightspots
Hannah Curran
Issue date: 11/9/06 Section: Features
I turned to find a 6-foot-tall "schoolgirl" sweaty from dancing. She continues: "I hate it when they just sit and stare. It's almost as bad as when girls come."
Taking her hint, I quickly explained that I was a Kenyon student, not there to patronize the dancers but simply to report about them. Relieved, she introduced herself as "Naughty Natalia," a 20-year-old who's worked for the Foxhole for the past 7 months.
"I just usually hate it when girls come in," she apologizes. "There aren't too many lesbians around here, so usually it's girls coming in with their boyfriends. I almost got in a fistfight last week with one. They come in, knowing what's going on here, then suddenly get all mad when my boobs are in their face. I mean, it's retarded! They're the ones going home with them at the end of the night."
We sat down at one of the small round tables and watched the intricately acrobatic dances. The eight girls working at the Foxhole sported surprisingly toned bodies; working from 6:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday leaves time mostly to sleep and work out during daylight hours. Natalia shows me bruises from the pole down her arms.
"All of us have them," she said, pointing to dark spots on the now-topless young woman spinning onstage. "The stage isn't the softest place to land. But we get to choose what we want to do, which is nice, and it's way different than the club in Columbus where all the guys can touch you. Here, it's hands-off."
Apparently, the Foxhole Company-which owns another strip club in Zanesville, Ohio-is one of the classiest employers of topless dancers in the area. According to three of the girls who previously worked in Columbus, many girls in the city will start fights, snort lines and steal routines, justifying the bouncer's initial fear that we were rival dancers. At the Foxhole, a fixed work schedule gives each girl a time slot during which she can do what she pleases. No certain amount of clothing must be taken off.
Taking her hint, I quickly explained that I was a Kenyon student, not there to patronize the dancers but simply to report about them. Relieved, she introduced herself as "Naughty Natalia," a 20-year-old who's worked for the Foxhole for the past 7 months.
"I just usually hate it when girls come in," she apologizes. "There aren't too many lesbians around here, so usually it's girls coming in with their boyfriends. I almost got in a fistfight last week with one. They come in, knowing what's going on here, then suddenly get all mad when my boobs are in their face. I mean, it's retarded! They're the ones going home with them at the end of the night."
We sat down at one of the small round tables and watched the intricately acrobatic dances. The eight girls working at the Foxhole sported surprisingly toned bodies; working from 6:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday leaves time mostly to sleep and work out during daylight hours. Natalia shows me bruises from the pole down her arms.
"All of us have them," she said, pointing to dark spots on the now-topless young woman spinning onstage. "The stage isn't the softest place to land. But we get to choose what we want to do, which is nice, and it's way different than the club in Columbus where all the guys can touch you. Here, it's hands-off."
Apparently, the Foxhole Company-which owns another strip club in Zanesville, Ohio-is one of the classiest employers of topless dancers in the area. According to three of the girls who previously worked in Columbus, many girls in the city will start fights, snort lines and steal routines, justifying the bouncer's initial fear that we were rival dancers. At the Foxhole, a fixed work schedule gives each girl a time slot during which she can do what she pleases. No certain amount of clothing must be taken off.