Okay, bit of an awkward question, at least from my point of view.
What do you guys think of strip clubs?
We had our work Christmas party at one last night, and the whole thing was sort of bizarre. It was fun for what it was I guess, and an interesting experience, but I wouldn't be too keen on going again. Beyond the whole sitting and watching aspect, the whole idea of women pretending to be interested in me in order to make me happy is just a huge turnoff. I think it requires either a big ego, or a powerful suspension of disbelief, neither of which I have in adequate quantities.
Am I weird? Or are other guys weirded out by strip clubs?
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
Strip clubs are usually lame. A former co-worker of mine used to be the coke dealer for one of the higher-class local strip clubs. Though a total criminal, he was actually pretty intelligent. He called them "beautiful idiots" LOL.
That's not to say that I think all strippers are dim bulbs. Some are probably pretty smart. Maybe not the majority, though.
Posted by Dogbreath (Member # 11879) on :
Never been to one. (afaik, you need to be 21 to get into most of them)
That said, the idea is both appealing and repulsive to me. Appealing because I certainly love boobies. Repulsive because I have a friend who used to be a stripper, she said it was a pretty rough job, and she never enjoyed it. I realise there are probably some women who genuinely enjoy stripping, but the knowledge that there's a likelihood the woman taking off her clothes for me is disgusted by what she's doing is too much of turnoff. I'd just feel pity or disgust, not lust.
I doubt I'll ever go to one.
Posted by Launchywiggin (Member # 9116) on :
My only experience in a strip club was the opposite of awesome, and I have no interest in ever going to another one.
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
I'm kind of amazed that a workplace would have a party at a strip club. What kind of work do you do Lyrhawn?
Strip clubs are where everyone gets some of what they want and gives up more than they want to in return.
I've experienced them to an extent I'm a bit embarrassed about.
Posted by malanthrop (Member # 11992) on :
Agree...strip clubs suck. My wife looks better than most the workers so I might be skewed in my perception. Even before I was married, I didn't like the idea of paying extra to share a drink with a woman. Strip clubs are for losers.
I've discussed this topic with my wife before. Often a man cheats with a woman who is less attractive than his wife. He cheats not due to his attraction, rather hers to him. Men want a woman to adore them; at a strip club, you're a king if you have enough money. Stale marriages are destroyed by a lesser women who show an interest in the man.
Posted by Dobbie (Member # 3881) on :
quote:Originally posted by scifibum: I'm kind of amazed that a workplace would have a party at a strip club. What kind of work do you do Lyrhawn?
Let me guess. Professional golfer?
Posted by malanthrop (Member # 11992) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dobbie:
quote:Originally posted by scifibum: I'm kind of amazed that a workplace would have a party at a strip club. What kind of work do you do Lyrhawn?
Let me guess. Professional golfer?
Tiger Woods? Don't judge golf for his behavior. Multitudes of NBA and NFL athletes have behaved the same. NFL and NBA athletes have dozens of children in dozens of states. Tiger only made the news since he's a golfer. He's the firsts golfer to break the racial mold. It's unfortunate he brought with him the stereotypical behavior of an NBA athlete.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I work at a restaurant actually. The party wasn't paid for by the restaurant, we all just went there and called it the Christmas party.
And I'm relieved to hear you guys talk about it. Everyone else there seemed to be having a really good time, but I just felt so awkward. And when girls came over to try and talk, my only thought was "what do you say to a stripper? And why bother when you know she's just going to pretend to find you funny or attractive?" The whole thing just felt incredibly disrespectful (probably because it IS disrespectful).
The whole thing sharply brought into focus for me the role that genuine emotions and feelings play in attraction. It's not all, or maybe even mostly about looks. There were a couple of very, very attractive girls there. But the insincerity of the situation ruined almost all of my actual attraction to them.
Posted by Tara (Member # 10030) on :
quote:Originally posted by scifibum: I'm kind of amazed that a workplace would have a party at a strip club. What kind of work do you do Lyrhawn?
Dunder Miflin?
Posted by Dobbie (Member # 3881) on :
There are strip clubs in Scranton?
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Actually, if anyone has seen the movie "8 Mile," that's where I was. Wasn't the nicest part of town.
Posted by Sean Monahan (Member # 9334) on :
I went to one once. Meh. I was not sufficiently impressed enough with the experience to return. I wouldn't avoid it either, I just don't really hang out with the kind of people who go to those places.
It was a bit awkward at first. I loosened up a little after a couple drinks, but it wasn't the kind of place I was interested in continuing to frequent.
I don't particularly have anything against them on principle, it's just not for me.
And I live in Vegas.
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sean Monahan: I wouldn't avoid it either, I just don't really hang out with the kind of people who go to those places.
I don't know about everybody else, but that pretty much sums up my position on the issue. I personally find real conversations with real women (who aren't buck naked when we first meet) more stimulating. What's hotter than a woman who has even more bookish geeky knowledge than me? Well, not some random stripper. Posted by Dogbreath (Member # 11879) on :
How about a geeky stripper?
Posted by dabbler (Member # 6443) on :
I've been to a decent number of strip clubs for a girl. Been to about 7, one of them maybe 10 times. Two of my friends have worked in a strip club, one of them for several years. I visited her to keep her company on her slow nights, sometimes.
I like watching them dance, and I like talking with them. I really like the classic atmosphere of some of them (not the sleazy room-in-a-basement feel). I've only gotten one lap dance though (my friend). I think the price and the germs(cooties) would prevent me from getting more lap dances.
If it matters to the discussion, I'm somewhere on the spectrum of more-straight-than-lesbian. And my friend is a super geek stripper.
Posted by malanthrop (Member # 11992) on :
Geeky strippers might be kind of sexy. I always had a thing for the four eyed librarian. Maybe that's why I married a nerdy English teacher with a nice body. Posted by 0Megabyte (Member # 8624) on :
To oversimplify things grossly:
Why pay to just look?
Of course, depending on the place it wouldn't be just looking anymore, but I'm thinking of the pure "strip club" part as a platonic ideal, not any of the variables.
Posted by dabbler (Member # 6443) on :
quote:Why pay to just look?
But we accept and do this all the time. Artwork. Erotic photography. Erotic literature. Depending on the state/local laws, it may be more than look. The tease is its own draw as well.
Posted by malanthrop (Member # 11992) on :
Bar flies are cheaper. They'll likely have sex with you for buying them beers.
People don't pay prostitutes for sex, they pay them to go away afterwards.
Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :
Why don't you want to know what women think of them?
Posted by malanthrop (Member # 11992) on :
People don't pay prostitutes for sex, they pay them to go away afterwards.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I guess women can participate too, but I'm trying to see where I fit into the spectrum of male opinion. A lot of the other guys I've ever talked to in person are really into strip clubs, so I was thinking I was some weird oddball for not really being into it as much.
The female opinion doesn't really help me measure myself against guys in general.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Meh.
My best friend use to DJ in a few, and he made great cash. He also booked DJ's for two of them, and I was one of the only people he knew who had DJ experience.
I also am one of the only ones who never DJ'd for him there.
I also never ended up in the ER, had a stripper try to kill me or run me over with a car, or anything else like that. All of the other guys I knew who ended up working there DID, believe it or not. A lot of the strippers get drunk or high before going on stage, particularly if they are new to it.
I know a lot of women who did that type of work to get financially secure, or raise a kid, or even finish their Masters degree ( 2 of them for that, actually). But most of the ones I knew started off as good people but ended up somewhere on the trash heap of life. Most of them got into drugs, and almost all of them ended up being a liability as an acquaintance, let alone as a friend.
I don't object to strip clubs, and have no issue with anyone who wants to go to one, but it is a waste to me. A waste of time, of money, and even of desire.
I know not everyone agrees with me, but I am not claiming to speak for everyone. Just for me.
I'd go if a friend really wanted to, I guess, or for a bachelor party, but other than that I don't like them.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Heh...this reminds me of a story, one that explains part of why I love my wife so much.
I live in a small FL town these days, and there is (to my knowledge) one strip club in town. It's called Body Shots, or something, and is a little out of the way but on a main street, so even people who don't go to it know where it is.
I play pool. A LOT of pool, although not as much as I use to. I am trying to get my game back to a respectable level so I can compete in serious tournaments again, and part of the problem is finding good compitition wihtout losing my shirt. I hate gambleing, because you never know if someone is stringing you along, and half the time people get pissy when you beat them.
But tourneys are great. You know how much you are risking right up front, people want to win so they plan hard, and no one gets their noses out of joint if you beat them.....not usually, anyways.
Body Shot's has a tournament, and despite being in a strip club they draw a really good, talented crowd on that night. Some of the players there are serious money players, and I couldn't play them for less than $20 a set, or more, something I will not do.
I had one of the really good shots invite me to go once, so I went.
Once.
Unlike MOST people there I told my wife where I was going. She laughed, and wished me luck. I went, and did OK. I beat the guy who invited me, and came in second, I think.
My wife was telling someone at work that I play, and that I had taken second place the night before, and the lady she was talking to at work asked where I had played. My wife told her, and she got a horrified look on her face. She himmed and hawed, then said " Honey, I hate to tell you this, but he was at....a STRIP CLUB!".
Without missing a beat my wife replied " Oh, don't worry, it's OK. He was only there for the POOL!", and walked away. In her mind she knew that's the only reason I went.
She knows me well, my wifey does. Posted by Shmuel (Member # 7586) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: Or are other guys weirded out by strip clubs?
My feelings on the matter are complex, and I grapple with them from time to time. I don't often go to strip clubs, in part because I can't afford to; on the other hand, the limited extent to which I'm in touch with my sexuality at all owes everything to paid professionals.
There are certainly healthier options, though, and if those are available to you, then I can't see any reason not to opt for them instead.
Posted by malanthrop (Member # 11992) on :
I dusted off my Cuetech the other day. My wife let me play with our neighbor at a local club. It that local club was a strip club, she wouldn't have let me go.
Posted by Hedwig (Member # 2315) on :
quote:Originally posted by malanthrop: I dusted off my Cuetech...
Is that what they're calling it these days?
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
I've only been to a strip club a few times in the last 5 or 6 years. All for bachelor parties, where I didn't have any choice in the matter. They don't really interest me these days. Mostly because I feel there are better things I can be doing with my time and money, but also because I can't help but think about the girls dancing, and what their reasons for dancing are, and how they're being treated, etc...as well as the fake nature of the whole experience.
But when I was a bit younger, though I never went to strip clubs regularly, I certainly enjoyed myself when I did go. And worth noting, my enjoyment was directly proportional to the amount of alcohol I had imbibed. So I certainly understand the appeal of the places. This type of entertainment is certainly not new, and it shouldn't be a shocker how prevalent it is.
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
I'm kinda intrigued by the obvious sampling biases here. So far we don't have anyone coming out and saying "Yeah they're AWESOME" and a whole lotta people saying they're awkward, but Hatrack demographics are prefer far outside the norm in terms of bookishness, and I assume that even those of us who are perfectly outgoing at this point would have been pretty introverted during formative years when you'd have been likely to have been acclimated to strip clubs in the first place.
So... reassuring as it may be to know you are not alone, it doesn't say a lot about how you compare to the general population.
I don't have any relevant experience here, and I suspect that if I did end up a strip club I would probably default to an awkward "fourth wall breaking" defensive strategy, asking the strippers probing questions about how they got into the business and what percentage of the guys they deal with are remotely attractive. Which would probably ruin the experience for whatever guys I ended up in a strip club with. Dunno what the girls themselves would think.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
quote:Originally posted by malanthrop: I dusted off my Cuetech the other day. My wife let me play with our neighbor at a local club. It that local club was a strip club, she wouldn't have let me go.
Well, my wife doesn't "let" me go anywhere. But all joking aside, if she was uncomfortable about it I may not have gone, for her sake. That's why I made sure she knew what type of place it was, and why I was not sure I wanted to go.
Of course, if you use a Cuetech, you might not know anything about "real pool". ...
(I had one, it was a great breaking cue))
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
Yeah they're AWESOME
Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :
Totally not a guy (and I hope you know that by now) but I think there is a class of striplcubs that is ok and then a class that is disgusting.
Much more fun to hang out at home with someone not wearing a shirt, possibly while reading TKAM.
Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :
Kwea, where are you living now? I thought it was Ocala and I can't imagine they only have one strip club.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
I could see a fantasy/scifi themed one potentially being interesting like those maid cafe's in Japan only for adults only. But the waitresses would need to be "into" the source material and be talkative.
Posted by dabbler (Member # 6443) on :
Ray, from my experience, many would lie to you. They deal in fantasy. In general, they're there to make money in an anonymous fashion. The experienced ones will answer in a way that protects their identity and sounds appealing.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
Yeah, a strip club is a totally unappealing concept, to me. I might as well go to a place that only allows you to look at food when you're really hungry.
Posted by Tuukka (Member # 12124) on :
Generally strip clubs are boring.
And you can usually sense that the girls are not having much fun with their work, and don't really want to interact with the customers. Feels too fakey to me.
I don't find the concept of a strip club to be degrading for women (or for men, if you have male strippers) by principle. There is nothing essentially wrong with titillating people sexually, as a job. But the atmosphere in these place is just usually pretty joyless and boring.
I've known a few strippers over the years, and some have been very exhibitionist people who have enjoyed working on the stage. I've also known some porn actors, who had similar motivations.
I've had some positive experiences with go-go bars in Thailand, despite being well aware of the social problems and poor backgrounds of most workers in them. Sometimes the girls are just clearly having a blast on stage, and they can genuinely enjoy your company when they sit down with you.
Girls can't undress in go-go bars, but on the other hand a lot of them are very, very beautiful, and sexy lingerie is often more visually pleasing than nudity, IMHO.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
In Hong Kong they have a street called Lockhart Road and it's essentially where tons of bars, and strip clubs are located, prostitutes hang out there. It's legal to enter a strip club once you are 18 years old, but it's not remotely enforced. They even have dancers (they don't dance out front they just talk to people) who sit in front of the establishment attempting to get the passerby to come in.
I never went into one when I was younger, I'm not interested if a girl isn't genuinely interested in me. While I would probably refuse to go to a strip club, unless it was an extenuating circumstance, (somebody is going to die if you don't go inside) if I was inside one and strippers were talking to me, I'd probably indicate I wasn't there for their more exotic expertise but that I'd be happy to talk as friends.
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
Ray, interesting thought re: the sampling bias.
Personally, I have been to a handful of strip clubs, and my experience has ranged from "a lot of fun" to "dreadful". It depends on a whole host of things, from the atmosphere of the club to the crowd you're with to the reason you're going.
I mean, going to a strip club with the characters from "40-Year Old Virgin" is going to be a totally different experience than going with the characters from "Big Bang Theory". And if you really don't like House/Trance music, then a club that only plays that at blaring levels isn't going to be any fun regardless of who you're with (whether it's a strip club, or a dance club).
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
That's something that really frustrated me about the one dance club I went to - the freakishly loud music. There is a decibel level at which louder stops making it more awesome and starts just making it stupid. I did have fun dancing (even if I wasn't very good at it) for about an hour. Then I was like "okay... I'm tired now. I wanna sit and talk to people." But you can only talk to one person at a time because you have to lean all the way into their ear. And you still have to yell.
Also, while I have no particular problem with Techno musc, I'd like some variety. I hear that there are some clubs who will, say, play Techno on Fridays and Country on Saturdays and Classic Rock on Sundays, but that doesn't help the fact that I'd like some of each.
Of course, what I'd like even more is a club that played Weird Al. (What really drove me nuts was a very narrow range of "silliness" that was expected at the club. You were allowed, perhaps encouraged, to act a little silly, but go beyond a certain threshold and suddenly everyone looked at you funny. I figure a Weird Al/Barenakedladies club would attract the right people, but I have a feeling there isn't enough population density of the people in question to make it profitable.)
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Quite apart from the sampling bias from Hatrack's intellectual level, who is going to admit enjoying them, especially after forty posts saying they're kind of awkward?
That said, I do quite like looking at naked women, but that's not exactly what a strip club offers, or not only that. You have to take the experience for what it is, to wit, you're paying these women to do very intimate stuff and get nothing personal in return. I think it's a dominance fantasy as much as plain erotica. After all, if you just wanted plain nekkid women, there's any number available for free on the interwebs. (Although there is a difference between pictures on a screen and actually being there, of course.)
There's also perhaps some attraction of forbidden fruit. I recall I was rather nervous the first time I walked into one; there's an illicitness (illiticity?) that adds some spice, at least the first couple of times. I've sometimes thought that having taboos on sex is useful not so much for their old purpose of controlling pregnancies as for the fun of breaking them.
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
I think unreserved enjoyment might actually be quite rare. Unless you're rich the expense has to be a downside for just about anybody.
I've done some people watching (outside the expected kind) in those places, though, and there are guys that seem to genuinely enjoy talking with the dancers, and the dancers seem to enjoy it as well. I can never hear what they talk about, though. I wonder if it's all some kind of flirtatious Dirty Talk Lite, or if they are going on about sports games, or what. I can never think of anything to say, not that the environment is particularly conducive to conversation.
It seems to be a lot more common, though, for guys in there (including myself) to seem kind of joyless, as Tuukka noted. Guys who will smile at a dancer if she makes eye contact, but otherwise just kind of sit and stare. Dole out the singles on cue. (Or sit further back and just do nothing but sit and stare.) Not really looking happy - hypnotized, maybe, but not cheerful. Judging by my own mindset, sitting there feeling a little foolish, slightly titillated, and frustrated.
Drunk guys in groups always seem to have more fun. But I have never had friends who would go to a strip club in a group, so I don't know whether that would hold true for me. Guys in there with women in their party might be able to synthesize the visual entertainment with more genuine interactions with women, which I suppose might work out for them.
^above all about the look but don't touch variety.
quote:That said, I do quite like looking at naked women, but that's not exactly what a strip club offers, or not only that. You have to take the experience for what it is, to wit, you're paying these women to do very intimate stuff and get nothing personal in return.
If there's something other than nekkidness going on, then I think I'd find it a lot more enjoyable while it was going on. A lap dance or being allowed to touch makes it a lot more similar to a john/prostitute interaction. In some places there is unequivocal prostitution. Of course, this also introduces new downsides and magnifies others. More cost, more risk (of disease, of fallout in existing relationships), more stigma/guilt/whatever. So while I'd enjoy it more while I was there, I'd also feel quite a bit worse about it when I was done, and might have other consequences too.
quote:Quite apart from the sampling bias from Hatrack's intellectual level, who is going to admit enjoying them, especially after forty posts saying they're kind of awkward?
So yeah, this is me admitting that I could definitely enjoy it, and more so the more intimate the interaction with the entertainer is. But not unreservedly, and not without corresponding downsides. And at the point where if I was feeling really lonely and flush with cash I might want to go ahead and do it, it would not be OK with my wife, generally speaking [she might be OK with authorizing a lap dance on very rare occasions, but it'd require explicit and precisely delineated permission].
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
Strip clubs, in my mind, are a closed environment that allow for behavior not generally acceptable in public.
In a way, they are akin to paintball fields. You can't go out dressed in camo with a gun and shoot people on the street, but you can pay money to do it in a controlled environment with people who are expecting to be shot.
If you were go to the beach and stare at scantily clad women and ask them to dance while sitting on your lap, that's not exactly socially acceptable behavior. But, you can pay money to do it in a controlled environment with women who are expecting that sort of behavior. There is no shame in staring - as it is no longer a social transaction, but a financial one.
You're not going to make an exotic dancer uncomfortable by watching her and staring at her body, though you are expected to pay for this through tips (financial, not social). However, doing the same in an office could be grounds for sexual harassment. The controlled environment of the club eliminates social costs by replacing them with monetary costs.
But again, it all depends on who you're with, where you go, and why you're there. Going out to a strip club with great rock music for a bachelor party with college fraternity buddies is going to be a very different experience than going out to a techno strip club because you're bored on a Wednesday night with your more socially awkward D&D buddies.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
quote:Unless you're rich the expense has to be a downside for just about anybody.
Well yes, but this is true of any sort of entertainment whatsoever, including going to the latest Disney movie with the kiddies. It's not particular to strip clubs.
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
Actually, I think strip clubs have a particular tendency to empty the wallet.
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
Expense is a matter of personal choice. Most clubs have a cover charge to get in (dance clubs not excluded). Once inside, it is expected to at least tip singles to any dancer you watch - but anything beyond that is choice.
I've seen guys drop $300+, and I've seen guys walk out after only paying $30. To be honest, I've been out with guys whose bar tabs have been in the $150+ range, too.
As with anything, it's best to set a budget going in - whether you're going to a casino, a bar, a strip club, the track... or even a shopping mall.
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
I've probably been to strip clubs about 10 times in my life. The experience does seem to vary quite a bit depending on the type of club, the people you are with, and the amount of alcohol you drink.
The most fun I've had was probably when Niki and I went to one together and we had consumed a fair amount of alcohol. There were quite a few women there, probably 30% of the crowd or more. That seems to improve the atmosphere.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
quote:Originally posted by scifibum: Actually, I think strip clubs have a particular tendency to empty the wallet.
Ok, so you keep fifty bucks in your wallet, or whatever you're going to spend. You could maybe argue that it's expensive per unit time, but then so is eating at a really good restaurant. For any given entertainment, you go in with some expectation of what you're going to spend and what you're going to get out of it.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
quote:
quote:That said, I do quite like looking at naked women, but that's not exactly what a strip club offers, or not only that. You have to take the experience for what it is, to wit, you're paying these women to do very intimate stuff and get nothing personal in return.
If there's something other than nekkidness going on, then I think I'd find it a lot more enjoyable while it was going on. A lap dance or being allowed to touch makes it a lot more similar to a john/prostitute interaction.
I'm of the opinion that being naked where others are clothed is of itself an intimacy. The customers are getting a position of power even without any touching going on; to wit, they dictate what the stripper shall wear, and they demonstrate their power by making her wear nothing, breaking the nudity taboo. Indeed, they literally strip her of the power of clothing. Naked is vulnerable.
Of course, this is all about perception. It might be just as valid to argue that the stripper is exercising power by taunting the customers, charging them for the privilege of merely looking at her body. This actually is a case where both views can in some sense be right, because they are referring to experiences taking place in different brains; for social structures like this, there is no truth of the matter outside individual experience. Of course you can pile up evidence for one view of the other, for example by pointing out that the stripper is the one who gets down on all fours and offers her hindquarters in classic primate submissiveness, or alternatively that it's the stripper who goes home 400 dollars richer for an hour's work, while the customer has blue balls. But in the end it comes down to the fact that both parties are there by some sort of consent, and the power relationship is all in their heads.
Then again, maybe I'm just overcomplicating things by projecting my own kinks onto others. Posted by Godric (Member # 4587) on :
I've been to a handful, the last time over 3 years ago. Generally speaking, I'll agree with those who note it's kinda like paying for someone to pretend to be interested in me - kinda like walking out of a Hooters actually thinking your waitress was interested in you.
My favorite (awkward) strip club moment was at one in Toronto on my 21st or 22nd birthday. My friend paid for a lap dance for me. I was a little turned off by the whole thing, but also a little excited by "breaking a taboo". I had my keys in my front pocket and I think the poor girl bruised herself on them - not the hard object she had been expecting to bounce on. It was a short lap dance and we just chatted a bit before heading back to my group of friends.
I moved to Vegas about 4 years ago and have only been to 1 out here once for my bachelor party. I have no current plans to return.
I won't say they don't have a certain appeal to a heterosexual guy. But I've got more important things to spend my money on, and things I enjoy spending an evening doing more.
Posted by Darth_Mauve (Member # 4709) on :
I worked at a company in the Odd entertainment industry. While I still do--Magic and Juggling and such--before it was even sillier.
As a result I have a few strip club stories.
Like the strip club that called looking to rent Sumo suits. Thats suits people get into to fake sumo wrestle. When we informed them that there would be a mandatory cleaning bill they dropped the idea. (They bought there own Giant Boxing Gloves).
Then there is the bright red that the owner turned every time he gets asked to perform magic at a strip club. His wife won't let him because she believes he'll die of embarrassment.
Then there was the manager who planned to take the boss to "this cool stip club" when they were at a convention in Atlanta. It was going to be a surprise. Boy was it. 5 days before they arrived the "cool" strip club was raided and closed. The management was arrested for credit-card fraud. They liked to add 0's to drunk horny guys bills, because drunk distracted guys apparently don't notice when there $100 night becomes a $1000 night. Or they are too embarrassed to make a complaint. That tactic doesn't scale well apparently. The guy who had a $35,000 bill for what was a $3,500 party figured it was worth his wifes wrath to save $32,000. So he went to the police.
Then there was the warehouse guy who called missed a bunch of work. Seems he started dating a stripper. She convinced him not to mind her job. However, when she started bringing big tipping customers home for more unauthorized services the boyfriend complained. Violence ensued. The stripper won.
Then there was the strange hippy-wanna-be who was our first warehouse person. He was big into free-love. Then he discovered that the strippers really liked the cheap temporary tattoos we used at parties. For months he was a very happy worker, and our temporary tattoo stock seemed to vanish.
But finally there was the one time I, out of curiosity, stopped in a strip club during a convention. The place was empty except for the bartender, a not very pretty woman in very little clothing--zonked out of her skull, and a bossy man with a cane that screamed "pimp". As I stepped into the room he yelled at the girl--"Dance woman". Music blared out and she zombie-walked on the bar/stage. I turned around and went elsewhere.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
Why are we talking about strip clubs on christmas eve? Do you people have no decency??
Posted by Dogbreath (Member # 11879) on :
Maybe it's a "where will you be going Christmas Eve" thread?
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
quote:Originally posted by breyerchic04: Kwea, where are you living now? I thought it was Ocala and I can't imagine they only have one strip club.
Yep, that's where I live. They may have more than one, but I am pretty sure they don't. Not that I care either way. Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
Your not really paying for boobs, as a matter of fact you are currently looking at infinite portal to free boobs.
When a guy is in a strip club hes handsome, funny, interesting and wanted... until he runs out of money. Its all about self-esteem. Someone who habitually goes needs some serious ego inflation and isnt willing to actually earn peoples respect so he buys it from an attractive woman who doesnt judge him. Ive worked the grave-yard shift next to strip club for more than a year and half, my conveniance store is a bit of a break room for the girls. Something thats not rare is for a guy to pay for private dance and just sit there and talk to the girl, sometimes even crying on the girls shoulder kinda like a topless therapist.
Its not all dirty old perverts and guys compensating with money, some people are just lonely. Think Inara from Firefly.
Posted by malanthrop (Member # 11992) on :
While I consider the customers at strip clubs somewhat pathetic, I don't blame the strippers. I'm sure there are plenty of strippers who are not whores. We have a rent-a midget company in my city. You can rent a midget to attend your party. Is this insensitive? There are probably more full sized people complaining than the little guy who appreciates the pay check. Mental midgets with a nice rack need to make money too. (I doubt the "I'm paying my way through law school" argument is really all that accurate with strippers) Good money, good chance of catching a meal ticket. I've never seen an attractive homeless woman.
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
Homelessness kind of interferes with the beauty regimen, I think. Anyway, there's nothing about stripping that demands a low IQ, you know.
Posted by malanthrop (Member # 11992) on :
You're correct. You could be a smart stripper...I would like to see those IQ results. I've seen homeless men who look better than my Project Manager who is married to a woman twenty years younger. If we are going to demonize any group in society for having won the genetic lottery...skin color is second to sex and attractiveness. The fat stupid man can't resort to taking off his clothes or marrying a wealthy woman.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Dude, I know 3 girls who got their Master's Degrees doing it, and one who got her PHD in Psychology no less.
I doubt you could READ her IQ test results.
Guys, here is a perfect example of the saying " You can't fix stupid".
Most of the ones I knew...and I knew a lot of them, just not from the club, but because they worked with my friends...were not stupid. Most of them weren't really smart, either, I'll grant you that. But they all made between $50,000 to $120,000 a year, depending on how much they worked and what clubs they worked. Even people with a PHD don't always make that much. They also, on average, payed taxes on less than 1/3 of that income, making their disposable income even higher than someone earning that kind of money at a regular job.
Most are NOT hookers, and don't sleep with their customers. Probably 80%, if not more, come from broken homes with little formal education, and a lot of them are single mothers who get little to no support from the father of the kid. I'd say most of them use it to have a good time, raise their kids, and then move on in 3-4 years to other jobs.
You might be surprised at some of the women who did this when they were younger. Might just be a soccer mom next to you in the stands, or the secretary at the local law office.
The flip side is that you can't do it forever, your income is variable, and you have to deal with people who have attitudes like Mal's day in and day out. Most of whom want you screw them, but who fail to even consider you are a human being.
They earn their money, that's for sure. It may not be brain surgery, but then most of our jobs aren't either. It's a hard life for most of them, and while I don't want to participate in that lifestyle myself, I sure don't envy them their lives.
Nor do I assume they are stupid.
[ December 26, 2009, 12:08 AM: Message edited by: Kwea ]
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
I was acquainted with a stripper, once. She was using the money to put herself through college. Since I was introduced to her in a college dorm, I was inclined to believe the story.
Anchorage, Alaska, has way too many strip clubs. I've been to a few, though it was more than a decade ago, now. There's at least one in Anchorage that doesn't serve alcohol so they can bring in the eighteen-up crowd.
I was somewhat nonplussed to hear about how the business arrangement between the club and the stripper works, or at least how it did where I went; the strippers were essentially renting the stages where they danced as a workspace. (And possibly giving the club owners a percentage, in some cases). This seemed to me rather like a movie theater expecting the studios to pay them for the privelige of having them show their movies. If there were no strippers, you wouldn't be able to sell overpriced drinks, guys. How does this work? (Actually, I guess that applies to the movie theaters as well, come to think of it...)
I enjoy looking at attractive women as much as the next guy, but I have to agree that there's something really plastic about the whole experience, and the more you know about it, the more unreal it seems. And from what I've read from some strippers' accounts, it becomes pretty easy to start thinking of people as potential sources of money rather than people. The dehumanizing process can go both ways.
The only time I can say I've ever exactly "enjoyed" a strip club was when two female friends came along and kind of joked and flirted with the strippers. That was sort of fun and sexy. The rest of the time... The experience was deadening, if not uncomfortable.
My bachelor's party took place largely at Wizards of the Coast and an Irish bar. Like I say, I haven't been in one in more than ten years, and I don't feel like I'm missing out.
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
Wizards of the Coast... as in, the game company? Did/do you work there?
Posted by dabbler (Member # 6443) on :
It's true that for the majority of clubs, the stripper pays to work there. The numbers vary for the low-to-upscale but it's along the lines of: pay $30 to work the shift required set of stage work x times your shift minimum bar purchases by customers say, $4 of every $20 lap dance tip the bouncers every shift tip the DJ every shift tip the bar every shift
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
quote:Originally posted by Raymond Arnold: Wizards of the Coast... as in, the game company? Did/do you work there?
In days of yore... Which is to say, about a decade ago... WotC not only was a game company, but had a number of stores that sold games. Many of these same had back rooms for people to gather and play various games; the crown jewel of this little enterprise in Seattle's University District also had a restaurant, a video game arcade, and a large network of rentable computers.
...And then Hasbro, in its finite wisdom, decided that it wasn't generating enough cash and closed them all down. Alas.
Posted by SoaPiNuReYe (Member # 9144) on :
Strip clubs are a place you go to once and then never again. Its entertaining for the first few minutes you're there but then when you start looking around at how the other guys there are behaving you kinda ask yourself the question if you're really as misogynistic as they are and then you get up and leave. I couldn't imagine going there for work.
Posted by rollainm (Member # 8318) on :
quote: I don't object to strip clubs, and have no issue with anyone who wants to go to one, but it is a waste to me. A waste of time, of money, and even of desire.
This.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
It seems to me that those of you who complain about the artifice might wish to remember the phrase "willing suspension of disbelief". There are many experiences that are not enjoyable if you focus too strongly on their artificiality; but nobody uses that as an excuse for opinions which just happen to coincide with the socially acceptable ones in the case of movies and books.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
quote:Originally posted by dabbler: It's true that for the majority of clubs, the stripper pays to work there. The numbers vary for the low-to-upscale but it's along the lines of: pay $30 to work the shift required set of stage work x times your shift minimum bar purchases by customers say, $4 of every $20 lap dance tip the bouncers every shift tip the DJ every shift tip the bar every shift
This is the most common set up I have heard of, although most places have a minimum tip out for the DJ, as a lot of dancers try to skate without tipping them out at times.
My friend who DJ's often made between $300 - $500 on a weekend night, including his $45 shift pay and tip outs, but those clubs usually have 20-40 girls working., and I think the minimum tip out was either $15 or $25, depending on if it was a double shift or not.
A LOT of the girls did tip out better than that, as a DJ could wreck their night if they were too rude. Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sterling: Anchorage, Alaska, has way too many strip clubs.
Of which I've been to only two, but I'll just come right out and say that I actually enjoy them. I don't find them awkward at all.
A lot of people complain about the falseness of it, but that never bothered me. Of course it's fiction. So is the movie you just went and saw. No, this stripper doesn't really find you attractive. But that guy on the screen didn't really just kill that other guy, either.
As with any form of entertainment, a great deal depends on what expectations you bring to it yourself. Even at my loneliest, I never pretended the strippers were interested in me, or ever had a need or a wish for it. And while it's sad how many guys go to such places thinking they're getting more than they really are, it's really their own fault for not distinguishing reality from fiction.
A strip club, to me, is sort of a combination of theater and art gallery. I'm there to appreciate beauty, and in a social context where it's okay to look continuously. (Nobody complains if you stare at a stripper or a painting, but at a shopping mall or city park, it makes people uneasy.) And there is an element of fictional theater involved when the beautiful girl, in exchange for a fee, gets naked and crawls on top of me and pretends that she thinks I'm cute and have interesting things to say. She knows it's fiction, and I know it's fiction, so no harm is done.
That said, it is obviously a very sexually-charged form of theater (as it is meant to be), so I have stopped going since I'm no longer single. Fiction though it is, I don't think it would be appropriate now. And I don't want to give the impression that it's something I did often, either. I doubt I've been even a dozen times in my life, or not much more than that anyway, and when friends suggested it, it was always something I could take or leave. But when I did go, I didn't turn red and cast my eyes downward, either.
Posted by Dogbreath (Member # 11879) on :
quote:Originally posted by King of Men: It seems to me that those of you who complain about the artifice might wish to remember the phrase "willing suspension of disbelief". There are many experiences that are not enjoyable if you focus too strongly on their artificiality; but nobody uses that as an excuse for opinions which just happen to coincide with the socially acceptable ones in the case of movies and books.
I think it's the uncanny valley effect. TV, books, movies, and pornography require total suspension of disbelief to have much effect.
It's hard to express... but imagine a lonely man watching a movie about a perfect family celebrating Christmas to help alleviate that loneliness. Now imagine him hiring a group of people to pretend to be his family on Christmas morning, so he can simulate that feeling for a day.
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dogbreath: imagine a lonely man watching a movie about a perfect family celebrating Christmas to help alleviate that loneliness. Now imagine him hiring a group of people to pretend to be his family on Christmas morning, so he can simulate that feeling for a day.
Seriously, what is up with that? Posted by Shmuel (Member # 7586) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dogbreath: It's hard to express... but imagine a lonely man watching a movie about a perfect family celebrating Christmas to help alleviate that loneliness. Now imagine him hiring a group of people to pretend to be his family on Christmas morning, so he can simulate that feeling for a day.
Are you implying this would be a bad thing? I kinda like the idea.
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
I suppose it's always going to raise some questions when one gets something (or a fantasy of that thing) for money when the "normal transaction" for said thing involves time, attention, and affection. For some, both inside and outside the process, it might lead one to inquire as to what the purchaser is lacking that leads them to go take the "short cut". I'm not saying this in judgement of the act, only to suggest that there may be qualms that go beyond cultural puritanism.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
See, the first few times I did go to one, I DID turn a little bit red, and stayed away from the stage until I felt more comfortable.
Unfortunately, this got me MORE attention from the girls. They all thought it was funny, and tried to make me blush MORE.
Of course, it didn't help that I ran into an ex the first time I went to one, either. She wasn't doing THAT when we dated...hell, I hesitate even calling her an ex, as we went out maybe 10 times total.
But still, it was a little surreal....
Posted by Dogbreath (Member # 11879) on :
quote:Originally posted by Shmuel: Are you implying this would be a bad thing? I kinda like the idea.
I didn't say anything about good or bad, it's just something that would make most people uncomfortable. (I know I'd be freaked out by hired family members doing fake family moments) I was trying to explain to KoM why so many people here find strippers at least mildly disturbing. If you like it, more power to you. It doesn't mean you're bad, just that you're able to enjoy something that others can't.
steven: Strangely enough, this isn't the first time I've had a random disturbing idea that I later find out is common practice in Japan.
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
As a slight aside from the hired family bit, one can also make other comparisons between television/live suspension of disbelief for enjoyment.
- Watching Braveheart vs. participating in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) - Watching Glory vs. participating in Civil War reenactment - Playing Modern Warfare 2 vs. playing paintball - Playing a first person shooter video game vs. going to a firing range - Watching Apollo 13 vs. going to Space Camp
It's fairly common for people to pay money or go to extra effort to have a live simulation of something rather than watching it on television or reading about it. The big difference with strip clubs is that they involve nudity and simulated sexual attraction/contact, which run against the fairly Puritanical grain of many people.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
hahahahahaha
extending those comparisons, actually having sex is 'going to war' or 'being an astronaut.'
Posted by Dogbreath (Member # 11879) on :
"being an astronaut."
Wanna ride my rocket?
I think there's a point where analogies start to break down.
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
quote:In that case, you'd just be... Japanese!
Someone in the comments there linked [url= http://"http://www.creatingextendedfamilies.com"]this[/url] place. Rather than renting out fake families, the site matches you up with other people in your area who are in similar need of companionship. (If you need a mother figure it matches someone who wants a child). You pay a one time fee for the service and then make whatever relationship you want out of it.
I'm not sure how well it works but it sounds neat.
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
My point is that it's not an uncommon human behavior to pay money to participate in a live simulation. Strip clubs simply carry more moral stigma - the motivation to pay money for fantasy fulfillment in a general sense is not uncommon at all.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
And there ARE stigma's attacked to each of those as well, despite those activities having no sexual connotations.
The stigma's aren;t as widespread....but no one playing MW2 THINKS it is really war, or a firing range.
Quite a few of the guys in strip clubs honestly think, no matter how mistaken, that being there gives them a chance at getting a girl IRL. Many of them have trouble distinguishing between their fantasy of the "perfect" girl and the reality of a RL relationship.
I am not saying you are wrong, simply saying that there are plenty of people who aren't puritanical about their sex lives who still feel discomfort with strip clubs , or renting a family to pretend you aren't alone for the holidays.
There IS a difference between RL and fantasy, and some situations blur the line a little bit too much for comfort.
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
quote:There IS a difference between RL and fantasy, and some situations blur the line a little bit too much for comfort.
True, but the same can be said for LARPing. I mean, there are people who have problems with the distinction between RL/Fantasy even with television programs. I think that blurring depends on the individual more than the situation.
And yes, there are stigmas attached to many of those examples above. But the stigma of being viewed as a "geek" or "dork" for participating in the SCA (or LARP) pales in comparison to the stigma of being viewed as a "deviant" or "pervert" for participating at a strip club.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I don't know about that. Being labeled a geek used to be a fairly strong stigma, at least when I was a young adult.
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
It hasn't been for quite some time. People have gradually caught on that we're running the world now. Also, the way and reasons that people make fun of people in high school have changed somewhat. So long as you are confident and have generally good interpersonal skills you'll do just fine, and if you are made fun of it won't be for being a geek so much as a loser.
Posted by Eaquae Legit (Member # 3063) on :
I have to admit to some bewilderment here. I always assumed that going to a strip club was a rather straightforward money-for-boobs transaction. I never really imagined there was a fantasy-roleplay vibe expected. I mean, paying to see naked bodies twist in interesting ways, well, that's not my ideal use of money but to each his own. The fantasy aspect is what I find kind of weird.
But then, I've never been to a club, so I really don't know.
Posted by malanthrop (Member # 11992) on :
Kinda like kids who join fraternities. Pay your dues, have friends and parties with women.
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
I really don't think mainstream America views geeks in quite the same light as they did in the bad old days, with two-dimensional portrayals in John Hughes movies and so on. We may not be quite the norm, but we aren't as mysterious and "other" as we used to be. These days, everybody knows and is friends with geeks. Heck, I think the large and growing numbers of female geeks in my generation and later is a sure sign of something.
I don't know that there's really a social stigma to going to strip clubs, either, in the sense of people who do it having to hide the fact or risk becoming outcasts. Perhaps in heavily religious communities that may be the case, but strip clubs aren't exactly clandestine these days.
Here in Anchorage there's a strip club downtown that stood right next door to a family restaurant for a long time. I don't know which was put in first, but I never heard anyone complain about it. (The family restaurant isn't there anymore. There's a porn shop there now.)
Of course, farther down the same street, there's a preschool right next door to a tobacco and knife shop. That's not "a tobacco shop and a knife shop", by the way. It's the same shop. Next door to the preschool. So yeah. Maybe it's just us.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Alaskans really ARE different!
Posted by malanthrop (Member # 11992) on :
Alaskan's aren't any different. They have the same things as every city, just condensed into a smaller area. No one wants an elementary school sandwiched in between a bar and a strip club but every city needs a bar, elementary school and a strip club. Hold your nose up because the bar you attend is a mile away from the elementary school and the one in Alaska is next door. Every town needs: school, bar, post office, strip club. The size and segregation of the town does not change the nature of man. A small town is no worse for having these things due to proximity. The wealthy suburbanite who sends his kid to a secluded school while visiting the strip-club on the other side of town shouldn't hold up his nose.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*WHOOSH!*
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
My high school in Anchorage was (and still is, to the best of my knowledge) sandwiched between a dry cleaner that had been cited by the EPA and a couple of "escort services"- and those scare quotes are as long as your arm.
Yeah. Anchorage. Zoning... Interesting.
It's not a "condensed into a smaller area" thing, though. Anchorage is the biggest city in Alaska, with a population in the neighborhood of 300,000. And it has a population density of about 164 people per square mile. By comparison, Seattle has over 7,000 people per square mile.
Frankly, I think many Alaskans have always had a bit of a "I'm going to do this, here, and put this, here- ANYONE GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?" mentality. Comes with the whole "last frontier" thing.
[ December 30, 2009, 03:30 PM: Message edited by: Sterling ]
Posted by Clive Candy (Member # 11977) on :
I've never been to one, but here's what I'm wondering:
In this day and age of easily accessible and free pornography, why are strip clubs still necessary?
On the other hand, if the routines strippers perform are any where near as hot as that which Rebecca Ramos does in Brian De Palma's "Femme Fatale" (available on youtube) then I can see why people go to them.
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
quote:Originally posted by Clive Candy: I've never been to one, but here's what I'm wondering:
In this day and age of easily accessible and free pornography, why are strip clubs still necessary?
On the other hand, if the routines strippers perform are any where near as hot as that which Rebecca Ramos does in Brian De Palma's "Femme Fatale" (available on youtube) then I can see why people go to them.
To your first point--because people don't actually know all the different kinds of porn that are easily found via search engines. LOL
To you second point--yes, some strippers in the better-quality clubs really are gorgeous, both with and without clothes. I haven't been to a lot of clubs, probably only 4 ever, but I've been to a couple of the nicer ones, as well as one of the nasty ones.
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sterling: Frankly, I think many Alaskans have always had a bit of a "I'm going to do this, here, and put this, here- ANYONE GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?" mentality. Comes with the whole "last frontier" thing.
It's true. For all our internet connections and iPhones and DVR boxes, we are still on the frontier. You have to be fairly tough to live here, and we put a premium on individuality. I really don't know if having a family restaurant next door to a strip club would fly anywhere else in the country, but I never heard even conservatives complain about it.
Of course, we all joked about it. ("Sit tight, kids, daddy's gonna go to the bathroom . . . for about forty minutes.") And I don't claim that nobody ever complained. It's just that in all those years, I didn't hear any complaints.
quote:Originally posted by Clive Candy: In this day and age of easily accessible and free pornography, why are strip clubs still necessary?
To the extent that they were ever "necessary", I would say they still are simply because a real, live, genuinely present woman is always better than a digitized image. One may as well ask why recreational (as opposed to procreative) sex is still "necessary" in an age of free porn. Different guys with their own special kinks might arrange the following slightly differently, but I'd venture to say that for most guys, the hierarchy goes like this:
Real sex with a woman > Watching live strippers > Looking at websites > Looking at magazines > Looking at drawings > Having no visual aides at all.
Individual mileage may vary, as I said, but there are not many guys that would actually prefer to look at an image of a naked woman when they have the option of being in the presence of an actual naked woman.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
quote:Originally posted by Clive Candy: I've never been to one, but here's what I'm wondering:
In this day and age of easily accessible and free pornography, why are strip clubs still necessary?
Several points here: First, strip-club clientele is more working-class than middle-class; the Internet does not yet have 100% penetration in that income level. Second is Verily's hierarchy. Third, I think it's entirely possible that strip clubs are headed for a major downturn; for all we know they've been losing market share for a decade. Presumably someone keeps statistics on the adult industry, but I think it might be difficult to find any analysis of it.
Posted by malanthrop (Member # 11992) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sterling: My high school in Anchorage was (and still is, to the best of my knowledge) sandwiched between a dry cleaner that had been cited by the EPA and a couple of "escort services"- and those scare quotes are as long as your arm.
Yeah. Anchorage. Zoning... Interesting.
It's not a "condensed into a smaller area" thing, though. Anchorage is the biggest city in Alaska, with a population in the neighborhood of 300,000. And it has a population density of about 164 people per square mile. By comparison, Seattle has over 7,000 people per square mile.
Frankly, I think many Alaskans have always had a bit of a "I'm going to do this, here, and put this, here- ANYONE GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?" mentality. Comes with the whole "last frontier" thing.
I like that attitude..it's the attitude of freedom. That's the same reason I refuse to live in an association neighborhood. My brother lives in an association neighborhood where he pays dues and pickup trucks are banned from driveways and color schemes are dictated. While I do not like my Puerto Rican neighbor's lime green house, I like the fact that he can paint his house that color in my neighborhood. It's his house do with as he pleases.
Posted by Shmuel (Member # 7586) on :
quote:Originally posted by Clive Candy: I've never been to one, but here's what I'm wondering:
In this day and age of easily accessible and free pornography, why are strip clubs still necessary?
If you'd been to one, you wouldn't need to ask this.
I'm pretty much with Verily; comparing an actual woman with a photograph or movie is... well, you might as well ask why live theatre and concerts are necessary. Or live therapists, in this day and age of easily accessible self-help books and websites.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Without strip clubs how would I get my fix of ridiculous naming schemes like 'XTC', or suggestive slogans like 'Our girls wear nothing but a smile'?
Interesting tidbit on zoning: my Aunt used to work for 'the' city (no names please ) and when tracing out various options for how to lay out the different zoning areas their tool and test was SimCity! I always thought that was pretty neat.
Hobbes Posted by Parkour (Member # 12078) on :
I have been to a few strip clubs because my friends find them fun and they like to take their girlfriends to topless bars for their birthdays.
Men are usually tempted to ogle. Some of those girls are -super- hot. Put two and two together and....
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
All of the other guys I knew who ended up working there DID, believe it or not. A lot of the strippers get drunk or high before going on stage, particularly if they are new to it.![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)