wooÐs

I came very close to choosing this as means of making money a couple years after graduating high school. Instead, I got my cosmetology degree which I no longer use. Then I chose college and ended up dropping out a few years later. Around the same time, I chose drugs full time and have since struggled with addiction issues. I'm not sure if I made a good choice or not, as who knows where I'd be today if I went the 'dancing' route. I kinda like to think it wouldn't have been a happy ending (no pun intended.)

How do you view strippers?

Do you see them as regular ol' gals just making a living? Maybe they're pure entertainment for you? Are they trash? Would you have any problems with your 18+ daughter choosing this as a career? Perhaps you'd disown her? Support or encourage her? Discuss -

Shauk

I don't know any real strippers, just some go-go dancers and some bikini bar dancer/waitress types

I've asked a good grip of them why they do what they do, some thrive on the attention, some do it to piss off people who they feel are overly judgmental and feel they're being compensated fairly in the process, some just love their bodies and know they're equipped to make something with it.

To categorize them all under one heading wouldn't really work for me. Some of them just really like dancing, a lot, and they feel it incentives them to stay in shape since they actually get a decent workout from the job as well.

I dunno, might be a different moral line to cross when you head in to full on stripper territory though. I've only been to one strip club ever my entire life and they just badgered me for money... err.. private dances the entire time and acted pissy when I said I wasn't interested since I was there with a bunch of friends who dragged me there.

I enjoyed the experience though, I love the female form, I love good music, and I've always been comfortable with sexual environments/topics. (I mean, fuck, i'm here aren't I?)

I don't think their jobs are so much the problem, just the social stigma.


the only problem I have with them is the nature of their job requires deceit in order to bilk people for the most money. I mean I can watch a girl go try to fleece some old grampa for his 20$ private dance get turned down and then come over to me and feed me so much shit about how she thinks I"m super hot and wants to dance all over my face etc..." and all I can think is "get the fuck out of here with that noise"

give me your phone number and I'll believe that shit.

World's King

They provide a service.



And by that I mean, giving me something to strangle while coked up in an alley behind a 7-Elven on a Sunday morning.

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heavy is the head that wears the crown

Martian

Strippers fall under the 'live and let live' heading for me. I'm not sure what drives someone to that particular career choice (and as Shauk noted, suspect it's different for each one), but they're not hurting anyone else in doing what they do. Nobody that I know has ever been bound up and dragged into a strip club against their will; if you don't like it, don't go.

Mind you, I have no moral objection to prostitution either. My input might not be what you're looking for.

I will say, however, that if you're prone to addiction you likely wouldn't have fared any better as a stripper. I'm not saying that all strippers are addicts, but it seems like a prominent part of that particular culture, from my limited dealings with it. Someone who is predisposed to drug or alcohol abuse stands a very high chance of getting hooked in that sort of environment.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

wooÐs

Yeah I think I was doomed with either decision.

But at least I do have some schooling under my belt. It's not like a stripper can remain one for the rest of her life. And I'm just guessing, but I seriously doubt these clubs offer a 401k.

I have held 'real jobs' since back then - addiction or not. But I do feel I'd be much worse off if I went that route. I do believe stripping leads to prostitution if you don't get out of it fast enough. And once you see that cash after one night of fake movie love, like Lay's potato chips, you can't have just one.

I voted I'm 'in between.' I'd be furious if my daughter wanted to try this. Yet I considered it at one time. A lot of strippers claim they're doing it to pay for college but that line works on men like my Father - he feels bad for them so he tips higher. And of course, lemme see if I can get the line right..... "no good self-respecting woman would put her body on display like that"......... or something.

Daniel_

I have a daughter (currently nine) and if she grows up to be a stripper, I'll try to be understanding.

I see it as a job - a type of dance - a method of expression.

The clients on the other hand are often sleazy, nasty people in certain types of establishment, but I know that many places are fine and good (as are their clients) so if she goes down that path I hope she chooses well.

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╔═════════════════════════════════════════╗
Overhead, the Albatross hangs motionless upon the air,
And deep beneath the rolling waves,
In labyrinths of Coral Caves,
The Echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand;
And everthing is Green and Submarine
╚═════════════════════════════════════════╝

Scorps

I dated a stripper once they are normal people just trying to make a living (at least this chick was normal). Now if my daughter(s) went this route I would have to discourage her to take a different career path but try and be supportive at the same time, but I would never disown a child.

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A.K.A. PainTrain

telekinetic

No "They Enjoy it" option, or was that implied in your "Filthy Sinners" choice?

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twisted no more

ratbastid

The one woman I know who was a stripper was definitely a normal person, just doing the job because it pays well. She happens to be absolutely drop-dead gorgeous, and at some point put two and two together about a way to make some bucks.

It's not easy work. It's stressful, it's physically hard, and it's got the haze of shame around it. She can't really tell people that she did it. And she got out of it because the clubs in her town quit enforcing the "no touching" rules. For a while she was looking around for a club where the dancers were respected, and not finding one, she got out of the business. She said she can only deal with so many nasty old men trying to put their fingers inside her.

levite

I used to date a woman who'd been in an economic tight spot for a while, and had been a stripper to keep herself financially afloat when no other work was forthcoming. She told me some fascinating accounts of life in the world of strip clubs, but she and the couple of her ex-stripper friends that I met were all consistent about several key points. First, that nobody they knew chose right out the door that they wanted to be a stripper. The unlucky ones fell into it to support an addiction or a loser boyfriend. The more fortunate ones, like my ex, got into it because they couldn't make enough money any other way to make ends meet. Second, that it wasn't exceptionally fun. It also, they noted, wasn't particularly bad. It was pretty much like any other job: sometimes you had better days than others, and sometimes it sucked. Third, it was never, ever about sex. They were always aware of the guys as customers, from whom it was their job to extract as much money as possible. There was no hooking up with customers, except in a couple of situations they'd heard of, where a girl who was really down on her luck, and was in desperate straits to keep her little boy fed and clothed, made an arrangement with an older guy to go away with him for the weekend, for which he paid her several thousand dollars. But I was told such situations were very much the exception and not the rule: the girls who were into the idea of getting money for sex usually stopped stripping and started working in porn movies.

Anyway, that's some of what I was told. I don't judge strippers. I also have very little taste for the experience of going to strip clubs. I went twice in my life: once, in high school, because it was kind of a rite of passage. And once, after college, out of curiosity. I ended up getting a lap dance from a very nice girl who was a philosophy major at UCLA (stripping her way through school to supplement a Federal grant), and we had a surreal, but pleasant, discussion about the relative influence of Kierkegaard on modern Christianity, while she rubbed her boobs and butt on me. I felt slightly uncomfortable, and couldn't say I found anything worthwhile about paying a girl I didn't know at all $30 to make me sexually frustrated. Especially seeing as so many women I knew much better were apparently willing to do it for free. But if anything, my experience with the Nude Philosopher made me think that stripping is a weird phenomenon, and probably not particularly psycho-emotionally healthy in terms of sexual expression commingling with commerce in some very sharp and unapologetic ways, but I can't really call it unethical or immoral.

Frankly, my guess is that strippers would be few and far between if we had a better educational system in this country, and there were better employment, with more opportunities for women. But chances are, there would always be a few, and I just wish them well, and hope their luck turns up.

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Dull sublunary lovers love,
Whose soul is sense, cannot admit
Absence, because it doth remove
That thing which elemented it.

(From "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne)

wooÐs

I'm surprised there aren't more in between'ers.

To those who voted for the first option, if you want to come out lol, would you answer openly and honestly when the new neighbors ask what your daughter does for a living? I don't know, surely I can't be the only one who would be appalled if their child wanted to be a stripper. I grew up making a load of mistakes and I'll do anything I possibly can to avoid my child from making the same ones or worse. My parents were extremely strict growing up. It was their way or no way. And I came out a rebellious little shit. And the flip side won't guarantee I'll get an honest, trustworthy, overall 'good' kid. However I could never be supportive when it came to a lifestyle that will get her nowhere scholastically and possibly lead her down a path of drugs and loser men.

And disowning, as odd as it sounds, is accepted in Greek families I think lol.

telekinetic

Anyone who has no legal objections to prostitution/stripping in theory, but would disown their daughter in practice is suffering from a bad case of NIMBY. I'm not saying I'm not one of those people, it's just a bit of a disconnect.

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twisted no more

Scorps

I would just say shes a dancer and leave it at that.

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A.K.A. PainTrain

ratbastid

If I had a daughter who was considering stripping to make ends meet, I'd move her back into my home until things turned around for her. I have nothing moral about stripping, but I do think it's a sort of unfortunate environment, and can lead to actual unseemliness.

If stripping was a passion for her, something she had dreamed of all her life, I'd do whatever I could to make sure she was safe, and ask if her club has a dad's day.

EDIT: I also can pretty much second everything levite wrote. The ex-stripper I know didn't for a moment blur the line of the financial transaction that dancing is. She assured me that if a stripper ever seems like she's actually enjoying the work itself, you can be certain she's not, she's just a very very good stripper. Stripping is show business, and the specific show they put on goes better (read: makes more money) if they look like they want to be there.

wooÐs

eeeww! lol

Shauk

Tangent. The bikini bar here is very popular (probably 2nd most popular venue in this town) It's not the kind of place I see myself ever going by myself without feeling a little out of place.
They get up on stage and pole dance just like a stripper would but they only strip down to like bikini/lingerie type clothing. That said, you put a dollar up on the bar and they pretty much give you lapdance style attention for a good 30 seconds to a minute, depending on how good you smell.

This is how I proved that old spice was better than axe (k i made that part up but cmon, it was funny)

Martian

If I had a daughter and if she was dead set on stripping as a career, I would tell the neighbours that she's a dancer. Some might say that it's not completely honest, but it's the most tactful answer; the neighbours may not be completely comfortable knowing how little Suzy makes her living, and she may not be completely comfortable with people from her private life knowing either. If she wanted to fill in the blanks, that'd be her business.

I wouldn't want a child of mine in that environment mostly because I've known people who've been associated with the lifestyle and am well aware of the unsavoury aspects of it. It's nothing to do with the act of a woman taking her clothes off in front of a bunch of strangers, and everything to do with the associated dangers.

Of course, I'm childless, so the whole thing is necessarily an abstract discussion for me.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

Craven Morehead

Been to a few strip clubs over the years. Just like anyone else in any other job, some strippers are decent people and some aren't. Some were stoned, some were drunk, some never touched either. Some were happy, some weren't. It was pretty much like the rest of life but without clothes.

raging moderate

Exactly.


I've known a few, two really well. One is now a lawyer, the other is now a prostitute. Both got into it b/c they were hot and needed money.

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These are the good old days...



formerly Murp0434

pan6467

I fall somewhere in between. In Norfolk while I was in the Navy guys would date a few and the women always seemed to be after their money and usually cheated.

Working in the drug field, I see a lot of users that turn to dancing to support their "habit".

Overall, it's like any profession though, there are some there short term, just to make money and work towards bettering themselves... and there are those who fall into the games and the lifestyle and don't want to get out because "it's easy money."

__________________
I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

Titan_Uranus

Work's ,work right.

GreyWolf

If my daughter were thinking of stripping, I'd do my damnedest to talk her out of it. There are certain professions that I simply do not feel are appropriate for my children. Stripping and politics (seriously) are 2 of them.

I do not object to the profession, and in my younger days even went to a few strip bars. And enjoyed them immensely, but they were strictly for entertainment, with my friends. It was like watching a movie or a sporting event... fun with the guys, and no more about sex than any other social, drinking activity with them. (I do have a friend who stripped for awhile, strictly for the money and the fact that HE enjoyed it immensely... not quite the same thing)

The risks are great for women stripping, even those who are in it strictly for financial reasons or because they just like to do it. Drugs and prostitution are two of the obvious ones, and the "Pretty Woman" outcome is vanishingly rare. Drawn into stripping, if they don't get out quickly, these woman do not move "up" the scale towards call girl/elite escort. It just doesn't happen. Stripping itself is not the real problem, it's the ancillary conditions it brings... drugs, prostitution (not itself necessarily a bad thing), crime, sex trafficking, etc. There are solutions, but North American societies are not prepared to accept them, and organised crime is doing all it can to maintain the status quo.

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The secret to great marksmanship is deciding what the target was AFTER you've shot.

SSJTWIZTA

i used to live next door to a stripper. she never did drugs or drank. had 4 kids and was single. she worked the sky coaster at a local place called old town in the day and stripped at night. she was one of the nicest people i knew. trashy, but nice. oh, she was a bit of a whore too >.< (explains the 4 kids no father thing) but she was a good friend of mine and we would sit in the yard all the time and shoot the shit.

while strippers are working, however, i view them as evil. only something made of pure evil would make you pay all that money for blue balls.

__________________
First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for me And there was no one left to speak out for me.
-Pastor Martin Niemoller

derph65

spindles

I voted option A, but would probably discourage a daughter from doing it (in theory, given I have sons...). If they couldn't be convinced I'd try to give my support as best as I could.

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who hid my keyboard's PANIC button?

Xerxys

Insightful, I couldn't have gotten your point if you hadn't emboldened the font.

SSJTWIZTA

what the fuck is wrong with you!?! (big font makes my drunken eyeballs hurt.)

__________________
First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for me And there was no one left to speak out for me.
-Pastor Martin Niemoller

ratbastid

You know, every now and then I'm struck by how glad I am that the convention around here is to leave text unstyled.

Seems like every other board I look at looks like this! LOL!!!11

Oop. Just made myself throw up in my mouth a little.

flat5

Why can't we just get hostel and beat each other up?

Went to such a place in Thailand (1992) once in a two week stay.
Enjoyed looking at the young girls. That's all I did.

Worked with Go Go dancers in 1966. I was impressed how long they worked without a break! Don't remember talking to them.

LordEden

(Edited for use of font and size for no good reason)

That's actually a plus side to the failing economy, better looking strippers. Most of the women who are really good looking but would never strip for moral reasons, now are stripping because of lack of high paying jobs. Yeah, the economy is in the crapper, but that hot single mom down the street is now stripping 3 nights a week! Get down to your local strip club and check out those nice sweater muffins while you can.

*****

Personally, I don't care if a girl strips, it won't change my opinion of her. Now if she sucks dick for money or snorts coke on a regular basis, that would change my opinion. I've known a few girls who have stripped for money, but I didn't yell "WHORE! JEZEBEL! SINNER!" when I saw them. I could care less, it's a job. I usually stay away from the local strip clubs as they have expensive watered down drinks, ugly strippers (remember I live in redneckville NC, if she has all of her teeth, it's amazing), and idiot redneck clientele (see previous point).

If my daughter wanted to strip, I would talk her out of it because of what Greywolf said, it's a bad environment. Drugs, sex (the bad kind), and abuse runs rampant in those places. If she was DEAD set on it, I would support her the best I could and hope it was just a phase. Same with a GF who would strip, I would try to talk her out of it and then support her the best I could. Trust would have to be there, but if I did trust her more than I should another person, it wouldn't be a problem.

I do agree with SSJTWIZTA about working strippers, EVIL! My balls be BLUE!

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Vice-President of the CinnamonGirl Fan Club - The Meat of the Zombiesquirrel and CinnamonGirl Sandwich

kutulu

No "I love them" option?

They are people like everybody else. I wouldn't want my daughter to be one but if she was I'd support her. People always try to put strippers in a box. The job varies a lot from club to club, city to city, and state to state. In some places customers will expect to be jerked off in a private dance while others have strict no touching rules. You will find many personality differences between those extremes.

ratbastid

You've been spending too much time with World's King.

MissMary

I actually have no quarrels with strippers. I know a few, and I even thought about being one once too. All that dancing, heck, could be my new yoga replacement.
Really though, I don't think I could cut it, I don't like my boobs enough. Most strippers I have met (oddly enough I've met them all outside of their workplace) were all pretty cool people. They seemed to not be bothered by what other people think along the lines of exposing themselves. It's pretty cool. It also helped me get over a few of my own insecurities, "It's my body, that's all. Look, tada! A body like everyone else's." It's a kind of relief.

Crack

I used to date a stripper. I didn't notice the soul-less eyes until a few months in. It was like something inside her died. Something innocent, something that is rightfully supposed to be there in every living creature. It looked familiar at first, but I couldn't quite figure it out. One day, I just happen to be at the zoo, and I locked eyes with one of those exotic cats, the ones that look like they could be house cats, if not for the sign telling me differently. The cage it was in was small, and there was not much more than a rock and an old branch that someone had thought might make for good exotic cat furniture. It paced back and forth, wanting to run, wanting to hide, wanting to do something other than pace back and forth all day. Like I said, we locked eyes for a second, and I knew right then where I knew those eyes... this poor cat had stripper eyes, soul-less and empty. So I did the only thing I could think to do... I dropped a dollar in front of it's cage and went to get some pizza.

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Crack, you and I are long overdue for a vicious bout of mansex.

~Halx

Xerxys

^^ I was a hundred percent SURE you would have ended that with "I took it out back and shot it!"

SSJTWIZTA

damn-it crack.

__________________
First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for me And there was no one left to speak out for me.
-Pastor Martin Niemoller

MSD

Sorry, I'm having trouble controlling the volume of my voice!

wooÐs

I wonder how drastically the poll would change if I used 'diseased whores' instead of 'strippers.'

Xerxys

^^ Don't talk about my girlfriends like that!!

lulu_mq

Exactly. It's all about them having self control. Being a "stripper" doesn't make you a bad person. It's the decisions some make while they are using stripping as a profession. That's what gives them the weak moral structure.

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What kind of bee's make milk?! ..............BOOBEES!!!

Love grows by giving. The love we give away is the only love we keep. The only way to retain love is to give it away.
-- Elbert Hubbard