2000-04-10

One time, when I was taking a women’s studies class, at a women’s college, I decided to stir up the discussion and play the devil (not even his advocate) on the week we were exploring the issue of pornography, stripping and so on. Never one to believe that a consensus was a good thing, I decided to say I supported the right for women to be in porn mags and strip without "feminists" decided what is best for them.

I must say, that was one of my favorite class sessions. It is considered the inappropriate thing to support both women’s rights and their exploitation through pornography. This was serious feminism I was messing around with, but even I have to draw the line of how far female oppression goes. Like my grandmama once told me, every girl eventually figures out what it feels like on top (she never did, but I think that sounds pretty cool).

But apparently, to some of the more orthodox fem’nists I was amongst, my opinion, to be for the rights of women AND porn, was nearly the same as those people that support the death penalty and oppose abortion. Eh, whatever.

I figured if one wanted to, why stop them. There are markets for a lot of things I don’t support, like say Abercrombie and Fitch and the Gap, but I’m not going to stop people from wanting to participate in those markets. And, better yet, if you can use what you have, if you can be a successful stripper, why not?

Of course, when my bestest male friend asked me if I would go to this strip club with him, I wanted to say no. Just because you support things and recognize their right to exist doesn’t mean you want to be a part of them, like professional wrestling.

Sometimes, though, I am simply too nice. He wanted to diffuse the stigma of going to this strip club by taking a girl with him. He was interested, wanted to join the league of men. He felt it better to give people the appearance of an explorative couple over a perverted man. I understand, and like I said, sometimes I am simply too nice. (Plus, I made him go with me to buy a strap-on for my bestest female friend as a trophy, and that implied situation was a bit more, um, risky, and I think I owed him one for that).

So anyhow, we go into this place, dark with a stage on each floor. Mirror behind the stage, the cliché metal pole in the middle and, of course, naked girls with nice boobies. It wasn’t a bad place, it wasn’t exactly high class either. It was your run of the mills strip joint (I make myself sound well seasoned on the strip club scene), even though it was in the nation’s capital. Regular guys from suits to jeans, multi-racial all watching girls dance to our favorite pop music.

One thing it surely wasn’t was sexy. Or provocative. At least not to me who thinks sexy is in some way related to attitude rather than just existence. It made me happy to have supported the right of women to do this. Sure, they were completely naked and all had the same southern-most hair style, sure guys were staring at them. Most of them preferred to look at themselves in the mirror and some, occasionally, looked bored. I mean, wouldn’t you? Night after night dancing to the same stupid music, waiting for Britney Spears to die while men walked up to place money on your leg. Biggest thing was to wait for the next song to come on and hope it’s not Christine Aguilera (I spelled that pretty well for someone without a clue).

Everyone just sitting watching a naked girl. She’s technically on display, but she’s doing it to make money, lots of it. She stands there and dances, barely so; all the dancing is the same with no variance to the musical type or beat or anything of the sort. Men watch her and giver her money for begin there. Men do this on the street to dressed girls and they don’t get paid. If we did, life would have a totally new twist to it. I don’t even want to go into that what if.

There is nothing wrong with looking at another human being and admiring it. If men are willing to pay to look at a female naked, rather than the free, dressed viewings in public, I say go ahead. If a girl has the guts to dance naked in front of men, I say go ahead. If men wanted to dance naked in front of women, I might have been more wililng to go to this place. Maybe co-ed strip bars should be created? It’s just bodies.

I didn’t feel as if the women in there were being exploited. I didn’t feel strange being in there as a female. As a matter of fact, several females (probably a 1 to 8 ratio) went forward to tip the dancers that evening. There is market for people who want to go, respectfully, see naked women. Go ahead. (I have also shopped at the Gap).