It's a busy Monday night at Whispers strip bar in the oil boomtown of Williston, North Dakota.
A man in overalls drains his glass before showering money on a pole dancer.
By the side of the stage, a half-nude woman is building a miniature house out of folded dollar bills.
Strippers can earn $2,500 (£1,500) per shift here, says a bouncer.
But one employee, who goes by the name of Alexis, isn't feeling especially motivated tonight.
She's wearing a woolly sweater because whenever the front door opens an Arctic draught slashes at the pleather booths. It's -31C (-24F) outside.
"I do this work back in Illinois," says the mother of two, sipping a Sprite.
"But the men here are 100% worse. It's horrible. They're animals.
"I've only been here a week, but I'm done with Williston. I'm going home next weekend."
Fortunately for Whispers, there's no lack of applicants eager to take her place.
Exotic dancers are flocking here from as far away as Russia for the same reason as everyone else - to make their fortune in a place known as Kuwait on the Prairie.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25983917
A man in overalls drains his glass before showering money on a pole dancer.
By the side of the stage, a half-nude woman is building a miniature house out of folded dollar bills.
Strippers can earn $2,500 (£1,500) per shift here, says a bouncer.
But one employee, who goes by the name of Alexis, isn't feeling especially motivated tonight.
She's wearing a woolly sweater because whenever the front door opens an Arctic draught slashes at the pleather booths. It's -31C (-24F) outside.
"I do this work back in Illinois," says the mother of two, sipping a Sprite.
"But the men here are 100% worse. It's horrible. They're animals.
"I've only been here a week, but I'm done with Williston. I'm going home next weekend."
Fortunately for Whispers, there's no lack of applicants eager to take her place.
Exotic dancers are flocking here from as far away as Russia for the same reason as everyone else - to make their fortune in a place known as Kuwait on the Prairie.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25983917
