Foxy Lady: Episode II Because of that damn $6 beer, the need to pee was coming on strong, so I went on a journey to find the bathroom. I imagined it would be lusciously decorated matching the urbane aura of the club. I was so off. It was old, rough looking orange laminate circa 1978. Goes to show you how much strip clubs care about impressing their female patrons. As I returned from the toilet, I saw my friend chatting it up with one of the strippers. I hesitate to label her "stripper," I wonder what she would want to be called. Perhaps exotic dancer? Moving on, she courteously introduced herself in a manner I suspiciously thought could be genuine. Especially compared to how the other women were interacting with us, she seemed different. She asked if we were lesbians, which she told us she was. I wondered if that made her work easier. I would imagine you could more easily cement the difference between intimacy and stripping as someone not attracted to their clientele. I felt like it was more of a legitimate business with her especially because throughout our conversation she seemed uninterested in playing the game the way the other strippers were. She was simply curious about why we showed up at the Lady, especially as two women alone. That just doesn't happen here, she told us. Usually women come with their boyfriends. Of course, I thought, they need to impress their obviously "enlightened" mates. No pressure there. This woman, whom I shall call Jean, offered us the backstage tour. She knew that we were first timers and that we were there because we were honestly curious about what a strip club was like. I think she recognized that we had to be open minded to some degree to come there without trying to impress some man. There was an innocence to our excursion that she took an almost maternal attitude about. So she took us around the whole club, from the dressing rooms and locker area to the back rooms where the high rollers sat. The high roller rooms were pimped out. They weren't being used that night. Of course the area was dark and mysterious. Nooks and crannies were created in the corners where couches, bars, tables, and fireplaces sat. I imagined nasty trysts between stripper and obnoxious male, i.e. walking ego. These were the dudes, some of whom were big name New England football players, who have the money to spend on the girls. And according to our contact, this was the area where it was condoned and expected that the women act as more than eye candy. That was a disturbing thought to have justified. Again my imagination ran away with me as I envisioned beefy athletic men ordering rounds of drinks with women surrounding them eagerly trying to vie for their affection (wallet) before the other girls got in the way. I suspected that there was more to the stripping business than just trying to get the most money lap dance by lap dance. I imagined there was an altogether too real need to trump another girl, to think that you are more beautiful or attractive, that you are better. Jean kept telling us stories about in-fighting and sexual favors that started to give more credence to my theory than I wanted to admit. She told us about the porn stars that come in and do girl on girl action, which she said was really nasty. Sisters, she told us, these women were doing sexual acts on stage and they were sisters. Double standard anyone? A brother and a sister engaged in sexual acts and it's go back home to Arkansas you hick ass sicko. But when it's lesbians, line up and whip out your wallets 'cause this doesn't fall under the category of incest. Jean told us she enjoys the work as a veteran of 5+ years she's gained seniority at this establishment and can make her own hours. She's made the decision to stick to herself, she has steady customers and remains in the front rooms doing runway stripping and lap dances. She said she didn't trust the other girls and indicated that she wasn't interested in the sexual favors aspect of the job. She also told us that the new girls try to make a name for themselves by using whatever means necessary, which basically means, trust no one. Girls give girls a bad name, too bad more women aren't strippers. We left feeling elated. We had this new experience that was really enlightening. Even though I know that every club is different and that every woman strips for their own reasons, I realized the danger of the business. So the deal is men go to play the fantasy that every woman wants him. They sit there watching the nudity created for him, waited on by women, massaged by women, flirted with by women and sometimes touched by women. They indulge in the idea that this is what women are for. The women create it. The danger of this establishment is not that men control women, but it is that women are willing to compromise themselves for the sake of the male audience. I don't want to believe that this is the underlying reality, but where is the evidence to refute it? Ultimately I would love to say that the women are empowered through this feminist enterprise. I cannot believe it is so, as these girls continue to allow this male centered sexual power to pit girl against girl. I've spent so much time telling myself that I am more than my body, that my worth does not lie in how men perceive me. How frustrating is it to see this place that could so easily erode that from me. Kate Golden

 

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