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“My only job in life is keep her off the pole,” Chris Rock has famously joked when it comes to his daughter’s future professional choices. But a new documentary series on Netflix, appropriately titled Strippers, just might give him a new perspective. I mean, he still won’t want her stepping on stage in clear heels, let’s be honest. But it does show a new side to the sexy dancers that’s worth witnessing and considering.

Strippers follows women across Scotland who spend their evenings in dim lights and on the laps of men. The three-episode series should be watched with subtitles on because the accents are strong but the words are worth hearing just as much as the gorgeous bodies are worth seeing. We meet the women who have entered into this career, and not always out of desperation, and gain a bit of insight into why, but more importantly what they get out of it. Mostly money, yes, but that’s not all.

While exotic dancers haven’t always been considered royalty, per se, they deserve more respect than most people are willing to initially give them. These woman are making that cash, and in the process, gaining power over their on-lookers and customers. It’s also an interesting look at how much money they, and the club, pull in per performance.

The series doesn’t shy away from showing the sadder side to their lives, of course: the women who are scared to tell their family about their line of work, and those that have other ambitions, and those who still do get their feelings hurt by an unwarranted touch or the feeling of objectification. But then there are those other women who are a bit more desensitized to their work, and have created a distance between the emotional side of it. They’re focused, they’re persuasive, and they’re leaving with their rent money (hopefully).

It also becomes clear throughout the series that there are much more toxic HR environments in corporate companies, and yet these women are learning, just like any businesswomen, to stand up for the respect they deserve at their job, no matter how many layers of clothing they may shed over the course of a work day/night. There’s something hopeful and empowering and certainly resilient about the women who are able to put their nightly customers under a spell, as they describe feeling powerful, independent, womanly, and in control.

Strippers gives a fair, realistic, and thoughtful look at the women who writhe around for work, as well as the observers who take it all in. It’s a peek into the private lives of these women, who share what brought them to Scotland and landed them, scantily-clad, on stage. Bosses, boyfriends, family members, and even religious leaders weigh in with their thoughts, making the series an eye-opening and legit look at the ladies who earn their livelihood this way. While it tends to lean skeezier than sexy, Strippers succeeds at addressing the stress and stigma of the job without getting overwhelmingly sad. In all honestly, the series would’ve benefitted from a titillating scene or two more that shows off the skills and athleticism the dancers put into play each night. But from the women who have bigger dreams to the ones quite pleased with their current occupation, they all share a determination that just might make you tip a little better for your next lap dance.

Where to watch Strippers