Should strip clubs be banned?
Iceland is bound to be the world’s first country to ban all strip clubs for feminist (and not religious) reasons so that no employees are exploited for their nudity. I am curious about this decision – why do we, as a society, believe that banning strip clubs is problematic? Do we truly believe that most sex workers are doing this for other reasons than poverty and a need for quick money? I know some obviously choose to do this as a career but they are in the minority. On the other hand, does a legal ban mean an uptick in illegal and unregulated business where the women would have even less of a voice? To some degree I agree with those who say some sex work is empowering and I am, in certain cases, for legalizing prostitution but in my ideal world (and this isn’t going to happen) this is just picking the lesser of two evils given the evidence for improved health of sex workers when their work is regulated
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If they’re banned, they’ll just go underground so if the goal is to get rid of strip clubs in America, that wouldn’t work.
I think they’re sleazy places but I’m not interested in banning them just because they’re not my thing. Around the Tenderloin, news of shootings at strip clubs are frequent so I can understand people not wanting to live too close to one.
It’s intensely difficult to parse out an all or nothing answer here. The advantage of legalized sex work is regulation – much like legalized drugs, less exploitation will come inherently, as we can’t regulate what’s already illegal, so for that reason, I’d say, no, banning any sex work is a mistake. The built in sexism, should be addressed from the source of that problem as opposed to the result.
I thought feminism was the belief that all women had the right to do whatever they want with their own bodies, include “sell” them for sexual favors.
Why is one type of employment “exploitation” but another isn’t? I’m “exploited” by my employer for my knowedge of COBOL, CICS, DB2 SQL, and Quality Metrics. Why isn’t that exploitation wrong?
Yes, I’m being faceteous. Personally, I believe that whatever occurs between consenting adults (whether money is exchanged or not) should be legal.
I think if other women want to strip for money, then let ‘em.
Just as long as there’s some male strip clubs too. ;)
But anyways, like @Captain_Fantasy said, if they’re banned they’ll just go underground.
I mean, imagine if we legalize prostitution. We could actually have clean, safe facilities, the girls would be paid well and there would be more oversight to make sure that everyone stays disease-free.
Sorry, that went off-topic.
I’d consider myself a feminist, but in all honesty I don’t think strip clubs should be banned.
Okay, let’s say that Strip Clubs are places where girls will work when they fall on hard times.
Without them, the girls will surely fall further, and end up prostitutes.
@HungryGuy You’re correct – as feminists, many of us do believe in that all women have a choice but we shouldn’t be blind to the very real fact that many women simply do not have all the possible opportunities for economic growth open to them – system sexism exists above any of us, individually – this isn’t about this or that particular woman, this is about patterns and the patterns stands that in many places stripping isn’t something women want to do but have to do or, comparable, don’t have anything better to do.
@filmfann What of the claim that strip clubs are a gateway into prostitution as is?
I want to immediately say “Hell No!” They have 1st amendment rights and protection! Why would you want to prevent a woman from making a living like any professional model or dancer?
They are certainly not a gateway to hooking. That’s like saying that pot leads to heavy drug use.
I have been to some very fine establishments of this nature in the L.A. area. These establishments were owned and operated by L.A. County Sheriffs, LOL.
@davidbetterman I said it’s just a claim, not a fact. Any evidence to the contrary, though?
Things that don’t harm other people should never be banned; the only problem that people have with strip clubs is a matter of morals, something that is not unpreventably damaging.
@cbloom8 Can you elaborate on the last portion of your statement?
It’s not about sex. It’s about power and shame. Banning it only adds to the taboo and makes it more alluring though so I’d say no. But anytime the human body’s natural allure is used as a means to hoodwink another or gain power over another this is inherently wrong by nature but human beings do many things inherently wrong. It’s the nature of ignorance.
@Simone_De_Beauvoir Evidence to the contrary would include the obvious evidence that these sorts of establishments are constantly being banned in the US, and yet they just crop up right across the county line…often run by law enforcement officers.
@davidbetterman No, I want evidence that strip clubs aren’t leading to prostitution.
@Simone_De_Beauvoir They don’t lead to prostitution because the girls/women were already prostitutes before hiring on at the strip club (men too). If anything, prostitution leads to strip clubs!
I’m not sure which solution is the most “feminist”: to assume that sex workers are damaged somehow, and to stigmatize their profession, when they very well may be making an informed choice about their own bodies, or to allow all such things to be legal, and perhaps implicate ourselves in the woes of “damaged” women.
@davidbetterman That is way more outlandish to suggest than what I was saying – maybe you define prostitution more broadly.
No, not banned, but regulated as to location. Most people don’t want one down the street from their home. I did say “most people.”
Prostitution: exchange of sex for money.
@thriftymaid If there was a strip club down your street, would you want it to stay there?
@Simone_De_Beauvoir Yes, stripping quite often turns into sex for money and/or sex for drugs or other payoff(s)/payout(s).
@davidbetterman Okay, so then you just contradicted yourself – before you said it is unnecessary to claim that stripping is a gateway to prostitution.
@Simone_De_Beauvoir I believe they represent a danger for girls to continue their descent towards such things, but I knew several girls who did strip, and never became tutes.
@dpworkin
It’s not so much the people as much as the system of conditioned thought based on behavioral roles. Both men and women are both inherently victimized by this. Strip clubs are not prostitution. I actually think they’re worse. It’s like luring an animal into a trap with bait, never giving him the bait and then releasing him after having shaved off his fur
(ironically the bait often has shaved fur also.)
At least with prostitution both parties benefit more clearly.
@filmfann I am wondering which happens more often – the progression into prostitution or the progression out of stripping?
@Simone_De_Beauvoir It is no contradiction. the stripper was already a prostitute. Ergo, the strip club job did not lead to prostitution.
Stripping per se is not a gateway to prostitution…mainly because most of the ladies stripping were already prostitutes before becoming strippers. How do you think they got into stripping?
@SeventhSense I don’t know – one can say the woman benefits more with stripping alone given that her not providing sex to the ‘animal’ at least affords some dignity in the process which is overall a sexist one – when one gives up sex (if they value it) then there’s no leverage left.
@davidbetterman Oh I see – then why did you liken it to pot being a gateway drug to cocaine, for example? Do you mean to say that pot is already cocaine?
I don’t know enough about the issue. I have never patronized a prostitute or a strip club, and I don’t understand the appeal or the dynamic. My intuition is that someone is being badly hurt, and that the someone is the woman, but I don’t know I I would set about to prove that.
If there are data, and it can be proven, then I suppose I would be in favor of making sure that the women had psychological and medical help available to them if they wanted it. I don’t think making such a thing illegal can possibly be ameliorative for the people who are being most hurt.
The saying that prostitution is the world’s oldest profession, indicates that all of society’s efforts to subdue or eliminate the sex industry is a moot point.
@Exhausted I wasn’t aware there have been efforts (other than religious ones) to eliminate the sex industry. Can you give me a time period and an example?
@Simone_De_Beauvoir ”Do you mean to say that pot is already cocaine?”
Wow..Wouldn’t that have saved a bundle back in the 70s? But alas, those days are over. I enjoy strip clubs. I always have. I enjoy women’s bodies in motion and dance and would always be sure to talk to the ladies and get to know them. I worked with many ladies of the L.A. evening in the wayback, and they are all human beings trying to support their families as best they can.
@davidbetterman So talking to them and ‘getting to know them’ helps you do what, alleviate the guilt? And of course they are all human beings trying to support their families – as I’ve said before, there are more people like that doing stripping than people doing it just for fun and for empowerment – that’s the problem.
@Simone_De_Beauvoir
Yes a woman does benefit more. It’s an unequal exchange. A man is just fleeced of his cash.
Also, I love that this my husband’s q are next to each other on the home page – they nicely reflect our interests
@SeventhSense What is the benefit? Does money have more value than dignity? Does dignity come into play? Should it? What of sexism? Does it matter?
The legalization of prostitution to The outlawing of strip clubs isn’t very comparable. When you legalize something like prostitution, the demand for that service increases, and therefore the amount of underground attempts to skirt the law increases. With stripping, the market likely will not increase if it is banned. This change in demand is something that should be taken into consideration when answering this question.
Outlawing either profession will not eliminate it, it will just increase underground activity. Personally I would rather see it regulated and in the open than illegal and corrupt.
Should porn be banned?
Sure, slightly different but close in premises. Illegalizing this kind of stuff will not stop it, it will only get worse.
That is, of course unless these fine gentlemen and ladies are willing to change themselves for the better.
@Hexr I do know that legalizing prostitution leads (sometimes) to a very unfortunate increase in trafficking across borders of people (which would be the only issue with my supporting legalizing prostitution). But we don’t know for a fact (let’s see how Iceland plays it out) what would happen if strip clubs were banned.
@ChaosCross It’s a good extension and question – should porn be banned? I do agree that those who take advantage of people (mostly of women) will always find ways to do this.
Every society in this world should have freedom of choice for anything, except for than those that are destructive/violent/lethal. It makes no point to ban strip club, or prostitution in general, as doing so will not solve even one hair of the problem. Regulation makes more sense in this respect, so why not continue until someone can come up with a better option?
—I stripped at 17 because I was destitute, I paid my way through college and grad school by being a call girl- it’ll always be around, I don’t know if it’s a bad thing or a good thing
I lean towards regulation in the sex industry when active unionizing is also taking place: http://www.iusw.org/ It seems to be a way of providing some sort of checks and balances. Regulations protect the sex worker and the sex worker looks after the quality of the job and limiting human trafficking.. I am not suggesting this would be a easy thing.
In my experience with women leaving prostitution there are no simple and easy answers. The reasons for staying in and the reasons for leaving are as varied as the women and men involved.
@citizenearth Well Iceland, a whole country, believes it should not be tolerated based on a human rights ground? Let’s say we give humans the benefit of the doubt (reallly go out on a limb here) and let’s say the situation won’t get worse – should strip clubs exist?
@Simone_De_Beauvoir
First off I have no interest and the handful of times I’ve been to these places it felt like a one way fuck and the friends I was with didn’t seem to enjoy it anymore. It’s not even titillating for me. I want to play not be tortured.
What is the benefit?
She makes loads of cash for very little work and supports her drug habit or puts herself through college. He gets to entertain his eyes and empty his wallet.
Does money have more value than dignity?
I don’t think so but the allure of easy money is quite a draw.
What of sexism?
It exploits preconceived ideas about sex but in a strange kind of way. On the one hand it says if you are a red blooded male you should want to see this and on the other hand if you express your natural inclination and touch this object of desire you will be punished. It’s kind of like a Mommy on stage saying “no no no”...must be a good boy. And if you keep pumping money at me I will smile and pretend to love you. And then you have the club owner overseeing the whole facade like a pimp controlling his product. Yes its inherently sexist but in complex ways.
@SeventhSense Obviously the allure of quick money is a draw – don’t I know it, myself! But and it varies from person to person whether they think this but is important…but, should there be easy money in this to begin with? In many instances, women who strip can’t make equal money doing something else – WHY..why shouldn’t they be able to make the same amount of money doing something else? It’s about placing value – why, even though they make money (which affords power) does it feel like they’re being stripped of power? (pun intended).
@Simone_De_Beauvoir they should be able to make as much money doing something else but that something else would require a post grad degree or a lucky break as an artist or designer- most people fall into it because there’s nothing else.
@SeventhSense To me, the fact that men have toppled empires for the draw of an organ does not indicate accomplishment.
@trailsillustrated I know – that’s why it’s not just about each woman’s free will or individual choice.
For what it’s worth, @SeventhSense, it’s not necessarily “very little work.”
From the FAQ of a stripper whose blog I read from time to time, her answer to the “it’s not very hard work” comments:
“It doesn’t seem like very hard work…
It is. Part of being a dancer is also being an actress-you have to seem glamorous, happy, and act like you’re having fun; even if your dog just died and you didn’t get any sleep last night and you’re coming down with the bubonic plague. Doesn’t matter – you have to act amused, happy, and at your ease.
And the actual dancing is hard too. You’re up on miniature stilts, basically, for ten to fifteen minutes per set of constant dancing. You mustn’t fall. And it’s not just dancing-its dancing in a sexy manner. By the end of the night, your toes ache, your arches are killing you, and the muscles in your legs are painful, throbbing jelly. Your arms and shoulders are likely messed up too from the pole. Throw in any other possible injuries sustained (twisted ankles, messed up knees, bumped heads, scratches), and then tell me it isn’t hard work. And that’s not even taking into account the fact that you’re half to fully naked in a bar full of grabby assholes.”
Why isn’t writing COBOL code for money immoral? That’s nerd exploitation! And ought to be illegal, too!
@Simone_De_Beauvoir still, it is. You see beautiful young women waiting tables at shari’s and working fast food for minumum wage, and being grocery checkers and all other kinds of low paid but non- sex industry jobs. It’s very much about choice maybe not the right one
@Simone_De_Beauvoir are you thinking that, maybe, better jobs would be available to women if sex industry jobs were not?
@Simone_De_Beauvoir
It is what it is. I’m not making a distinction either way.
although I’m a victim o’ that little cooter
@liminal I don’t know that for sure (isn’t that sad?!) but maybe if the option wasn’t part of our collective understanding, none of our teenage daughters would grow up thinking that when desperate, they can take off clothes.
@Simone_De_Beauvoir the idea is to make sure none of our daughters ever gets that desperate. I for one will never, ever, even if she’s 35, let my daughter get that desperate
@trailsillustrated Some people don’t have mothers like you and some people don’t have the money to help out their daughters. And, otoh, to a degree this is about letting women choose this step, this work. That’s why it’s complicated – when it hits close to home, we want to say ‘no, find something else’..yet, when we say ‘ban strip clubs’ people discuss having the right to them. Yet when they go and see the strippers, those strippers are someone else’s daughters, sisters.
@HungryGuy because that’s contrary to our morality. COBOL (although torturous) isn’t the same as debasing oneself. You chose to do COBOL, it is probably not your last resort.
@JeanPaulSartre – Actually, it is my last resort. I’d much rather be home sleeping late every day, writing stories, and playing video games :-p
@HungryGuy if you lost your job, or if COBOL suddenly stopped being needed overnight… you’d find something else to do before stripping.
@JeanPaulSartre – And if I was a stripper, and stripping suddenly stopped being needed overnight, I’d have to find something else to do. Probably get a job flipping burgers at McDonald’s or stocking shelves at Try-N-Save for a fraction of the wages I made as a stripper.
@Simone_De_Beauvoir More power to her. It’s still not the same as just not liking a coding job.
@Simone_De_Beauvoir I can only think about my own daughter- I know what it was like for me and for all the women who choose to strip, I say I hope you invest your money wisely. I can’t worry about all daughters and sisters. It’s a choice, like anything else. I wouldn’t choose it for my daughter. I have no say about anyone else.
Maybe that’s the jist of the problem with your example @HungryGuy. Stripping isn’t valued.
Banned? What will I do for my lunch hour now?
@trailsillustrated I think we do. To a degree. Or at least I want to have a say. The world, to me, isn’t just about my family – something my own mother never understood. Anyway, that’s certainly a tangent
@JeanPaulSartre – Of course stripping is valued. I believe strippers make pretty good money. actually!
yeah… nothing like a little binary to get the blood boiling
@HungryGuy Yeah, that’s a resume builder right there.
@Simone_De_Beauvoir I can’t say if my present circumstances would be different if I hadn’t, I think they might, so I feel if that’s what someone wants to do, I could only hope they are smart about it
@Simone_De_Beauvoir
If the situation doesn’t get worse, then there is no need for strip club, topless bar or prostitution den to appear on the streets or underground. The reality is these outlets have been around since antiquity. The reason – fulfill human needs? I am not very sure. The point is you can’t stop something which is natural or impossible…
The way it is valued now is that it has become something people look to as a last resort, not as a viable alternative.
@citizenearth We can conceive of stopping it – it’s not that it’d defeatist to say ‘since this has been going on since antiquity’...it’s more like…is it relevant? What does it prove?
@liminal – I don’t think it was ever different.
@JeanPaulSartre – All jobs have some value. Be it coding COBOL, or flipping burgers, or shouting bad poetry to the sound of a beating drum at a million decibels in a crowded stadium, or stripping…
@HungryGuy But some have value that you can build on. And others do not. For example, I’m a stay at home dad. Now I’ve done all kinds of computer database work in the past, but the next time I get a job, employers will say I have a gap in my employment history, even though being a stay at home dad is way way harder, it’s not valued.
@HungryGuy I sincerely hope then that when your teenage daughter aspires to be a stripper in your local strip club, you will support her just as much in this pursuit as you would if she’d want to be a cryptoanalyst. I applaud your views – you are more feminist than some!
[removed by my slow typing self again]
@laureth
I’m sorry but I just couldn’t stop laughing about the tremendously hard work strippers do. Of course you forgot peeling the thong out from ones ass at the end of the night..
I’m sure there are Iron Workers who are playing the violin.
@HungryGuy Well then your girlfriend (I’m assuming your sexuality…apologies if you’re not into women).
@SeventhSense How can you be so sure until you’ve tried it? I know you can’t do this.
@JeanPaulSartre – Right. Some jobs have more growth potential than others. A corporate manager can rise to CEO. A burger flipper can become eventually manager of the restaurant, and maybe even regional manager. I suppose the career path of a stipper could eventually lead manager of the club. Why not?
@HungryGuy Because that’s not the usual trajectory.
no the stripper marries the ceo
@HungryGuy What strip club is looking at resumes and sees stripper and thinks, “They can manage a strip club.” That’s not very logical if they do.
@Simone_De_Beauvoir – The same can be said of a mid-level manager at a mega corporation. There are thousands of managers, and only a few will rise to CEO during a given generation. Few mid-level managers will ever reach CEO, or even get to the executive suite. And when corporations are hiring mailroom clerks, they aren’t looking for future CEOs either, but one in several thousand will rise through the ranks of mid-level management and ultimately become the CEO in 30 or 40 years…
@HungryGuy Okay – but a mid-level manager is a ‘respectable’ member of society and a stripper is not – if and only if you’re advocating for a values revolution and to place credibility and integrity with stripping, then I agree with you. As it stands now, here in reality, that’s not the case.
This is a loaded ques. all men will say no.lol
@Simone_De_Beauvoir – “respectable” is in the eye of the beholder. Our society teaches us that certain professions aren’t “respectable.” But within a given club, why couldn’t a manager see an employee with a head on her shoulder and offer her a promotion to supervisor or something. I don’t see why that’s so unbelievable.
@slick44 That’s a generalization – all men above can say no and I know plenty that would say no and not just to please me.
@HungryGuy Of course it’s not unbelievable – I’m sure that has happened and I’m all for it (not that I’m for strip clubs but if you at the least get to run it and you didn’t like stripping, fine, whatever) but this is about exploitation – do you not believe that any of the elements involved in stripping are exploitative? What do you think drives women to strip? 3rd wave feminism?
@Simone_De_Beauvoir No. I probably would not want to live down the street from a bar or any other commercial establishment.
@thriftymaid What ethical qualms do you have about commercial establishments that equal that which you have with strip clubs?
@Simone_De_Beauvoir I like living away from commercial areas where it’s quiet, little traffic, and safe for the kids.
@Simone_De_Beauvoir – “What do you think drives women to strip?” The same thing that drives anyone to need a job: the need to eat and pay bills. It all boils down to what your willing to do for what amount of money they’re offering you do to it. If you have no “professional” skills that can be put on a CV, you can get a job at McDonalds or Try-N-Save for minumum wage—or you can get a job in a strip club and make $500 a night.
@HungryGuy It’s not the same for all people – men don’t see this as an alternative no matter how desperate.
@thriftymaid So you have no ethical qualms with strip clubs? It’s just that they’re noisy?
I’m out for the night, friends. I’ll tend to your words tomorrow. G’night
I’ve known a few men that do
lets all go to a strip club. im bored
@Simone_De_Beauvoir I have no reason to patronize one. If there is one on the outskirts of town or in an entertainment area where lots of bars and restaurants are located, that’s fine. Some people assume that a strip club is a front for other sex professions, gambling, drug sales, etc.; I have no idea. All of the strip clubs and adult type stores in my area are located in one section of town (I think). I never go into the city or to that part of the city.
No. Strip clubs should continue to be legal and regulated, as should prostitution. It’s none of my business what a women chooses to do with her body, I just feel she should do so safely. As you already pointed out, making them illegal would result in an unregulated business where the dancers wouldn’t have much of a voice, which could easily lead to abuse, rape, murder (just like illegal prostitution does), not to mention the amount of underage girls who would now probably have a job.
Banning them, will never put a stop to them. It only makes them unsafe.
And maybe it’s just me, but I have a hard time finding anything morally wrong with stripping.
Great question, btw.
No, this would result in deaths. Truck drivers stop at strip clubs. If they did not maybe some would fall asleep and jack knife! Strip clubs are just enough incentive to pull the rig over!
hey i got an idea. lets all take are clothes off. that will solve everything
@Vunessuh Abuse, rape, and murder still happen though even if stripping and prostitution aren’t illegal. Not making these industries illegal is virtually saying we support this continued abuse and degradation of women.
How about the government find ways to get these women back on their feet and earning stable incomes (since the number 1 reason women strip and sell themselves is lack of money.) Banning these clubs is one step in the right direction though.
I don’t necessarily believe that the moment something becomes illegal whole new, violent underground systems and cultures start forming. (Btw why is it always the Nordic countries that are ahead and leading the rest of the world, in almost everything? Gosh the rest of us suck.)
I guess the big question is whether Iceland’s neighbouring countries will follow suit.
@HTDC “Abuse, rape, and murder still happen though even if stripping and prostitution aren’t illegal.”
I think it would lessen the abuse if these things were legal and regulated as well as help prevent underage involvement.
“Not making these industries illegal is virtually saying we support this continued abuse and degradation of women.”
If that’s how you feel, then it doesn’t matter which side of the fence you’re on. You can’t accuse only one side of virtually supporting this abuse. You would be doing the same damn thing if you made them illegal.
“How about the government find ways to get these women back on their feet and earning stable incomes.”
A lot of dancers are already on their feet and do earn a stable income from stripping. You can’t imply that every stripper is a fucked up mess and only stripping because they have nothing else to turn to. I happen to know plenty of dancers who do what they do because they enjoy it, they’re good at it and it provides a decent income as they attend school.
You also mentioned that stripping degrades women. I don’t know if you mean that stripping itself is degrading or can be degrading. I feel that someone’s view on stripping being degrading is an opinion, not fact.
I’m honestly not really interested in debating this topic, but I appreciate your response. I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in and I’m firm on my opinion. Making strip clubs illegal only makes them unsafe. It won’t stop them.
I’m not for banning them because I also think there would be abuse of women who would still find venues (illegal) to work through. They’re not my thing though I’ve known plenty of people involved in the business and some who’ve benefitted from it.
Go Iceland, I guess. Proof that a broken watch can be right more than once a day.
“NO” because “WHERE” is my Nana gonna work !!!
No, making something illegal just makes it more desirable. The only time I have a problem with it is if a woman is there against her will. Personally I think that there should be more options/education/help for women that are likely to feel that they need to work as strippers to make ends meat so that if they do decide to work as strippersthey go into it knowing that there were other options available to them.
No. As long as there is consent. Kidnappings and force must be rules out.
I don’t think banning strip clubs solves the problem, it only tries to mask the symptom. I think all people have the right to make a living any way they please. What I personally have problems with is the fact that when some women choose to perform in this way for money, it can project an impression that all women can be bought or think of themselves as a product. (Hard to find the right words.) An example is it always seems there are numerous strip clubs and available women near military bases. I think that it makes it extremely difficult for the women who are in the military to be taken seriously when some men will see them in the same light as they see the strippers.
I can’t help but feel that a lot of strippers and prostitutes are in those jobs because they don’t feel they are able to make a living in any other way or they feel that is all they are good for. (I realize that is a generalization but is nonetheless true in many instances) and I wish that were not so. I wish that women had a better sense of their own abilities and worth.
@Vunessuh – “Banning them, will never put a stop to them. It only makes them unsafe.” Right! That’s all the answers to the question summarized into one sentence right there! :-)
I also think banning strip clubs obfuscates the sort of morality that a country is trying to uphold.
A regulated system that also supports unionization helps clear up the boundaries (I am not saying it would make boundaries crystal clear). I fear that by making certain aspects of the sex trade illegal (such as prostitution and stripping) government creates for itself an unexpected barrier. Suddenly there is extra underground illegal activity taking place that takes resources away from combating forced sex trade such as human trafficking and child pornography.
When I worked with women leaving prostitution I noticed that their reasons for involvement in the sex trade changed all the time. I should also note that I have only ever talked with one man in the service side of the sex trade.
One of the repeat things that I heard expressed was that prostitution was a means of taking control of their lives. It held the allure of fast money and power, flipping burgers meant certain death. Whether or not it was accurate, some of the women I worked with felt as if they had no choice. Sometimes, by the time a person wants out they feel trapped in a vicious cycle they can’t escape. I think many of us can identify with that feeling. As many of the women aged out of their profession they came to see their work as debasing, life crushing, and no longer a path of empowerment. There is often no retirement plan. Some were fortunate to still have their youth when they become disillusioned.
I think the level of one’s privilege and poverty directly affects one’s reasons for working in the sex trade. While some see it as the best way to make a living, some see it as their only choice. As a person living outside the life of someone who works in the sex industry it is easy for me to say that there are other choices. I suspect that for many this is simply not true and for some even the concept of having a choice remains unknown.
If a government wants to start empowering women, banning strip clubs seems a feeble way of opening up the doors of opportunity.
end rant and repeat of what many have already said
@liminal Though I do think Iceland has done a lot of other things to empower women that we, in this country, haven’t.
@Simone_De_Beauvoir I don’t want to mention the band but on a major occasion in the world in the last month, the lyrics of the song was something like “we can make it big time, if you take off your clothes, be a porn star, that’s the best way to go…” it is all men’s band. Instead of selling the clothes they are selling the idea of porn. The way women are depicted in ads is horrid. There was a video on Yahoo homepage a few days ago about the man who refused the prize of $1 million for solving math puzzle. The news anchor’s shirt was open a lot of the way down when she turned sideways. Not likely an accident. So the status of women these days is…I don’t know how to answer your specific question though. Maybe the criminal element makes too much money from the strippers, and it needs to brainwash the population that banning it is against the strippers’ free choice.
yes it’s sleazy, it’s a social evil like prostitution, i hate them, i hate how they are portrayed in movies, never been to one. never want to.
By the way, please ignore the “all men’s band”, part in my last posting, because women do enough to undermine the status of women.
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