Looking to cash in or ‘entertain’

THERE ARE allegedly two kinds of women who parade nearly naked through Times Square for tips: street artists and pure capitalists.

Count Saira Nicole among the first group.

“We’re about female empowerment, not sexualization of the female body,” said Nicole, 29. “We are entertainers. These other girls are just getting the money ... I never thought this was degrading work.”

The Lower East Side woman started working last September as one of the body-painted attractions, and is quick to defend her profession as legitimate.

“People come up to us sometimes and say what we do is disgusting,” she said.

“But what is disgusting about the female body? They shield their kids sometimes, and I think, ‘Kids come from the female body.’ ”

Some of her more moneyconscious colleagues, though they bare almost everything in the Midtown tourist trap, didn’t reveal very much else.

A pair of painted ladies shooed off a Daily News reporter asking about their jobs.

“No questions, only pictures and tips,” explained one woman, gesturing to the wad of rolled-up bills in her hand.

A Colombian immigrant named Nicole said she usually makes about $100 a day.

“Like $10, $20,” she said, naming her price for a picture. “Who will take my photo?”

The artsy types tend to be native New Yorkers, while the women focused more on the cash are often immigrants. In March, as spring arrived, there was an influx of women.

“We were a little bothered, because people think now we are all the same, and that’s not true,” said Amanda Roman, 23, of the Bronx. “We aren’t being sexual out here. We’re beautiful and natural.”