This whole subject is a Thing(TM) upon which I have strong opinions, which agree with what I've seen of your opinions on the same subject.
I am reminded of back many many years ago when I occasionally worked as a stripper at a lesbian club. The shows were wild, dangerous (to the dancers as well as to the audience, but there's another sidestory for another day... when are we gonna have that cup of tea, anyway? :) ), over the top, sometimes really really fun, and for me at that time, a supplement to my income while I was temping and job hunting and couch surfing (having just ran away from home). I was approached by a woman after my set one night, who for some odd reason decided she needed to justify and explain herself to me. She said basically she was anti-pornography, but felt that it was really important that she Respect Women's Art and Erotic Expression. Which is why she didn't tip me while I was dancing. Like I had noticed her individual failure to tuck a dollar bill down my g-string in a tight-packed crowd of well over a hundred women in a tiny club zoned for 40.
I explained to her that I was not dancing for art or erotic expression, I was a stripper who was doing sex work for a living because I need to eat and am between legit jobs. I was furious. I told her that when you attend strip clubs where women are WORKING and you DON'T tip them, it's a disrespect to our attempts at keeping ourselves fed and housed by working for a living. And that when she chose to walk in the door of the club, she was choosing to patronize sex work, regardless of how uncomfortable that admission might make her. The fact that it was geared towards an all-women crowd didn't somehow negate the sex work aspect - stripping for cash is stripping for cash, regardless of the audience. I was... not impressed.
I don't remember whose original quote it was... but someone smart once said "Porn is the erotica you don't like" or "Erotica is the porn you do like" or something like that. There's lots of historical fiction I find offensive. I don't try and ban historical fiction on account of my personal preferences.
Sorry, will stop tirading... b/c I can keep going on this particular issue. Anyway, yeah. What you said. What Greta said. I agree.
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Date: 2012-04-09 07:09 pm (UTC)I am reminded of back many many years ago when I occasionally worked as a stripper at a lesbian club. The shows were wild, dangerous (to the dancers as well as to the audience, but there's another sidestory for another day... when are we gonna have that cup of tea, anyway? :) ), over the top, sometimes really really fun, and for me at that time, a supplement to my income while I was temping and job hunting and couch surfing (having just ran away from home). I was approached by a woman after my set one night, who for some odd reason decided she needed to justify and explain herself to me. She said basically she was anti-pornography, but felt that it was really important that she Respect Women's Art and Erotic Expression. Which is why she didn't tip me while I was dancing. Like I had noticed her individual failure to tuck a dollar bill down my g-string in a tight-packed crowd of well over a hundred women in a tiny club zoned for 40.
I explained to her that I was not dancing for art or erotic expression, I was a stripper who was doing sex work for a living because I need to eat and am between legit jobs. I was furious. I told her that when you attend strip clubs where women are WORKING and you DON'T tip them, it's a disrespect to our attempts at keeping ourselves fed and housed by working for a living. And that when she chose to walk in the door of the club, she was choosing to patronize sex work, regardless of how uncomfortable that admission might make her. The fact that it was geared towards an all-women crowd didn't somehow negate the sex work aspect - stripping for cash is stripping for cash, regardless of the audience. I was... not impressed.
I don't remember whose original quote it was... but someone smart once said "Porn is the erotica you don't like" or "Erotica is the porn you do like" or something like that. There's lots of historical fiction I find offensive. I don't try and ban historical fiction on account of my personal preferences.
Sorry, will stop tirading... b/c I can keep going on this particular issue. Anyway, yeah. What you said. What Greta said. I agree.