I contrast Barthes' and Debord's theories of striptease and spectacle by tracing the alternative "striptease" narrative in several competing texts in cyberspace and in novels. I look at how the striptease becomes narrated as part of the Las Vegas spectacle, legitimating commerce and consumption, but also a rags-to-riches storyline. I begin by analyzing the possession of the body by commerce and consumption, and end by suggesting that stripers cross the boundary between life on the "Strip" and in community.
