Student Jenny Heineman Went Undercover to Examine the Strip Club Industry
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This is a partial transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," June 6, 2007, that has been edited for clarity.
BILL O'REILLY, HOST: "Back of the Book" segment tonight. A report that may offend some viewers, so please be forewarned.
If you want to make some fast money in the USA and have the physical requirements, disrobing in clubs is one way to accomplish that.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}At the University of Nebraska Omaha, Jenny Heineman got a job as a stripper and used the experience to write her thesis, entitled "Gender at Work: An Ethnography of a Midwest Strip Club."
Ms. Heineman joins us now from Omaha.
Ethnology, I thought that was an alternative fuel that we're trying to get. No, I'm sorry. What is ethnology?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}JENNY HEINEMAN, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA: It's actually ethnography. And it's a study of a culture that you may be part of or an observation of different types of people.
O'REILLY: OK, ethnography. I'm sorry. So it's a study of a culture. And in America, there are 300,000 women working in strip clubs. So I guess you could say it was a culture. What did you find out? What is the headline?
HEINEMAN: Well, I believe that this job is still stigmatized, although the industry has been around for centuries. And it's this stigmatization that is dangerous for women.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}O'REILLY: How so?
HEINEMAN: Because it prevents us from gaining the social and legal rights that we deserve.
O'REILLY: Well, you have to be more specific. Now, you're dancing in this club. You're making money. You're going to college. You actually graduated from the University of Nebraska in Omaha. So it doesn't look to me like you've been stigmatized.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}HEINEMAN: I did with honors, actually.
O'REILLY: Well, that makes my point. Doesn't look like you've been stigmatized or held back in any way at all.
HEINEMAN: Well, thank you very much. But there is an aspect to the job that is socially stigmatized, which prevents these women from, for instance, starting a union, getting access to health care. The kind of rights...
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}O'REILLY: I don't know anything about that. The stigmatization comes from people who feel that this is morally wrong. That's always going to be there.
HEINEMAN: Indeed.
O'REILLY: Any kind of sex in public is going to engender that kind of a feeling. It's always going to be there, no matter how many papers you write. Now, the women themselves, what did you find out about them?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}HEINEMAN: The women themselves are the most brilliant, wonderful women I've ever met. They all have their own stories. And they're all there for very different reasons.
O'REILLY: And other studies have shown high levels of drug use, abuse. Some women take flight in this industry to make fast money because it's easy. Did you find any of that?
HEINEMAN: I can't say that I found a lot of that, no. And I think that that's true of all jobs, actually.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}O'REILLY: I don't know. I mean, all I know is that there have been studies on this industry.
HEINEMAN: I believe that there's drug use in many jobs.
O'REILLY: OK, so your experience is positive. Now, why do you enjoy doing this? Obviously, you got the big tattoo on the arm. I mean, you're rebel. You enjoy it. What is it that...
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}HEINEMAN: Sure.
O'REILLY: What is it that makes it fun for you?
HEINEMAN: Like I said before, I think the best part of my job is the wonderful women that I get to hang out with.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}O'REILLY: But you can hang out with wonderful women in a law office or here at FOX News. I mean, there are all kinds of places you could hang out with wonderful women.
HEINEMAN: I suppose that's true. That's very true. Are you hiring?
O'REILLY: Well, I don't know. The tattoo is going to be tough. But what I'm trying to say is you like doing this. Come on. Be honest. You like it. Why do you...
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}HEINEMAN: I do. Of course.
O'REILLY: Why do you like it?
HEINEMAN: That's part of the point. But because it's just like any other job that you could enjoy. I enjoy my job at the coffee shop. I enjoy my job at the strip club. It's a very normal job.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}O'REILLY: OK, Ms. Heineman, I got to break this to you.
HEINEMAN: It's part of the point I'm trying to make.
O'REILLY: It's not just like any other job. You're getting naked in front of guys. That's not what most job descriptions are. But anyway, congratulations on graduating. And we appreciate you coming on very well.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}HEINEMAN: Thank you very much, Bill.
O'REILLY: Good luck.
Watch "The O'Reilly Factor" weeknights at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET and listen to the "Radio Factor!"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Copy: Content and Programming Copyright 2007 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2007 Voxant, Inc. (www.voxant.com), which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon Fox News Network, LLC'S and Voxant, Inc.'s copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.