The recognition of this world is not the invention of it. I wanted to present an account of the girl show that portrayed what I saw and revealed how the people involved felt about what they were doing.

…If the viewer is appalled by what follows, that reaction is not so different from the alienation of those who participate in the shows.

-Excerpts from the introduction by Susan Meiselas published in her first book, Carnival Strippers, July 1976