User:Nataliekbaker/sandbox

Skimpy Barmaid

An Australian tradition started in gold-mining town Kalgoorlie ...kms east of Perth, Western Australia. Female bartenders would serve in lingerie, topless or even fully nude. Kalgoorlie was in the goldrush Australia's true "wild west" with single men flocking in on the promise of striking gold and became a notorious red-light district, so many of the original "skimpies" were prostitutes. One can assume the public bar shift was a great means for advertising and booking new clientele.

Today very few skimpies are prostitutes and it is an entertainment field that requires bar skills and certification in the Responsible Service of Alcohol plus skills in the art of conversation, game-playing and glamorous presentation.

In the 1980s (when exactly?) politician Pam Beggs implemented legislation to limit the dress and conduct of skimpy barmaids. Urban gossip reported she was jealous of skimpies as her husband had an affair with one.

Skimpy barmaids are a famous tourist attraction, being peculiar to Australia. Visitors from other countries have often never seen anything like it in public venues, and they might be surprised to discover the huge cultural tendency to book topless and nude waitresses and stripshows to private house and boat parties. Skimpies may or may not partake in this line of "private party" work, and it is widely known that sexual services are not part of the entertainment package, although many adult entertainers must endure being propositioned. Many young female backpackers find skimpy, waitressing and strip work to be a good source of income affording paid travel and new social experiences. They feel safe that no-one in their home country will ever find out they worked in the adult entertainment industry, which carries a social stigma.

Today skimpy barmaids exist in every state of Australia, with different state laws governing the regulations of what and can't legally go on in public licensed venues. Western Australia, although the birthplace of skimpy, has some of the strictest laws which prohibit topless, see-thru and g-string apparel in regular Entertainment License venues, while Queensland continues to allow topless g-string hostesses in many hotels, although they tend not to work behind the bar for hygiene reasons. Skimpies tend to be booked to appear in working class suburban taverns and country hotels. They are "not the done thing" in more affluent areas.