A little over a year and a half has passed since Renata Sara Arnórsdóttir and I sat down for tea and coffee on Suðurlandsbraut and talked on a personal note about life, stripping in Berlin and of the porn industry.
A lot of water has flowed since then, but what hasn’t changed is her strong fighting spirit and her passion for the rights of sex workers.
She recently founded Strip Lab with other dancers, and it is the first dance group of its kind in Iceland. They held their first event in mid-April, which exceeded expectations, and Renata Sara hopes there will be more this summer.
“We decided to create this space, also to show how stupid it is that strip clubs are illegal in this country, but you can pole dance, technically naked, you can strip naked on stage , it’s not illegal. You can dance burlesque and it’s not illegal. But as soon as you dance and do sex work in a club, it’s illegal,” she said.
She says the difference between burlesque and striptease is in the service. In strip clubs, dancers offer private dances, dances in so-called champagne rooms, and other services for a fee.
“Some of us find it quite sad that we can’t work on this because it’s such an accessible way for us to earn money,” she says.
Overcrowding in Gauk
Their first event sold out and the reception was fantastic. “It went better than we could have ever imagined. It was sold out before the show started. We were also selling these fake dollars so people would learn how to throw money in a respectful way. We teach also teach people how to behave towards dancers, let’s teach them respect for sex workers and also teach them what it’s like to be a sex worker in Iceland and just in general. It’s also a lot of fun and a lot doing flips, getting some of the audience on stage and trying to teach them how to lap dance, which also shows that it’s quite difficult,” she jokes.
“It’s a common myth that stripping is ‘easy money’ but it’s not, it can be ‘quick money’ but it’s not easy at all.”
Live Drawing Event
Renata says the audience was very polite and decent. She also performed with the dance group Seiðr, then women were in the vast majority of the audience, but there the gender ratio was more equal.
“We just saw people having fun, really enjoying watching us dance,” she says.
Strip Lab also held a fun artist event where people could come and practice drawing the dancers in the different poses.
Two events will take place this summer. On June 4 there will be another drawing event and on July 21 the strip group will show off their skills. You can watch Strip Lab on instagram where the events will be announced in more detail.
Renata Sara Arnórsdóttir Photo/IG/@3w50
Fighting for the rights of people in sex work
Renata is also a member of Red Umbrella, an interest organization fighting for the safety and rights of sex workers in Iceland.
The Red Umbrella was founded in 2016, but began to take an active part in the struggle of sex workers in 2021. Over the past eighteen months, the organization has been more visible in society, and Renata says that they went on various podcasts, TV shows, such as Kompás, and interviews.
“There has been a lot of discussion and we are very happy to be heard on a lot of things, we are also being talked about getting training in different workplaces that can work with marginalized people. It has taught us a lot and also showed us how necessary this resource is,” she says.
“We also went to a conference on sex workers in Brussels organized by the European Alliance of Sex Workers, which we are now part of, and it was just amazing. I went to an incredible number of conferences and I met an incredible number of different sex workers. It was amazing.”
ethical porn
The debate over ethical porn only faded into the mainstream after OnlyFans skyrocketed in popularity in 2021. But what is ethical porn and why does it matter?
Renata says that in the porn industry there can be hidden dangerous individuals and big corporations who abuse actors and mistreat them, especially porn actresses. Many horror stories have emerged over the past few decades, but with the advent of media such as OnlyFans, there has been a trend.
“Ethical porn, you know who you’re buying it from. The money mostly goes directly to the person creating the content,” she says, adding that with the introduction of such media, power is being taken away from the big porn companies and put back into the actors themselves.
“It means that the actor himself has a lot more control over what he does, how everything is done, how he wants to market the material, how much he wants to make, etc. A person can control his own image on Internet, and there’s been a big change, a positive change, in those areas.”
Renata Sara Arnórsdóttir Photo/IG/@3w50
The community reacted badly
In August 2022, the OnlyFans community reacted strongly when an industry insider offered to advertise other pornstars for a fee. This particular entity quickly shut down the business following the criticism and sent DV a short statement of apology.
“We were very quick to take him down,” Renata says of this.
The person who advertised himself as an agent said he would take 20% of his client’s earnings, which people said was an exorbitant amount. OnlyFans takes 20%, which Renata thinks is very fair compared to other similar sites.
Protect each other
Renata says she and others thought it was a very questionable business practice, but luckily the community caught on quickly. The OnlyFans community in Iceland is built in such a way that members help each other, protect each other and share their information with each other.
“If someone is new and has questions, they can always get in touch and we try to guide them or help them with the problems they are having,” says Renata.
“We were quick to shoot him down. Also teach people not to trust someone who promises everything beautiful.”
Doubtful people
This isn’t the first time the OnlyFans community has come together. In an interview with DV in April 2022, pornstars and couple Ósk and Ingólfur accused another couple in the business of crossing other people’s boundaries.
“We’re very good at warning others, so people don’t blindly jump into a partnership that could harm their health,” Renata says when the conversation shifts to the couple.
“It’s just that you don’t want to take any risks, especially in this industry. If there’s someone who’s done something questionable, you don’t want to risk that they’ve learned from the experience. You do this work very closely.”
Renata is still on OnlyFans, but recently lowered the price of her subscription, as she is not very active on the support. There is plenty to do, she finishes her studies, takes care of the Red Umbrella and works in the service.
Renata Sara Arnórsdóttir Photo/IG/@3w50
The Swedish method
Red Umbrella wants sexual services to be decriminalized in Iceland. “The Swedish method is what we have now. This legislation has proven to be unnecessary and downright harmful for sex workers,” says Renata.
The Swedish way is that it is legal to sell prostitution but illegal to buy it. It is also illegal to advertise prostitution. This makes it more difficult for sex workers to conduct a safe activity in a safe place.
“A lot of research has also been done on the Swedish way of talking to sex workers from countries that have this legislation and it has consistently shown that it puts them at greater risk. Amnesty International also agrees that decriminalization is the best way to protect sex workers.”
You have to talk to people in the industry
Renata says the politicians who make decisions for this group know little or nothing about this industry, have no experience themselves, know no one who has worked in sex work, have never read research on this industry, with the exception of old and obsolete research. That’s why Red Umbrella offers an education, which Renata says could be put to better use.
“Because in Icelandic law there is no difference between sex work and violence, no distinction is made between them, so some people just want to talk to Stígamót,” she says.
“We put a big question mark on that because Stígamót showed no willingness or understanding towards sex work or people who work sex. It’s just kind of like that if you don’t come in from that victim perspective, you’re just indoctrinated or something, you don’t have independent thought.”
“It’s a sad situation where you have to fight with people who should be supporting you. But it’s more like being thrown in front of a car to save our own skins.”
See also: Renata Sara was a stripper in Berlin but now works on OnlyFans
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