The Stripper and the Confederate Flag

This weekend I was talking to some friends of the male nature and they were laughing about a comment they had recently heard while on one of their many oh-so classy late night romps in one of SF's finest strip clubs. From what I can piece together from what they managed to piece together, one of them said something blatantly rude to one of the strippers. Her response (and the line they thought was the funniest thing they had heard in a while) was:

"I'm not a prostitute. I'm a stripper."

I don't think I would have ever really found their story and the resulting comment funny but now that I know a few people who were at once in their lives strippers I definitely have a better understanding of the culture and thus a stronger revulsion to the boy'z* resulting laughter.

My very basic understanding of the stripper world tells me that there are many types of women who have arrived there for many different reasons. Some needed money, some just wanted to try it and some were looking for a much deeper sense of empowerment by butting up against established cultural beliefs head on. I'm sure every woman has a different reason but those are the basic reasons that come off the top of my head...a head that has never been a stripper, so take it as you will.

I felt the urge to ask my boyish buddies why they felt the statement was so hilarious yet resisted realizing that a dose of reality would not be appreciated, let alone noticed in their drunken haze and as a subtle form of protest refused to participate in the laughter.

For me there is a distinct line between being a stripper and a prostitute, yet for most there is little to no distinction. This was one of those many moment where I saw how often our cultural understandings override every argument regardless of the degree of logic involved in it's development. In some ways it's comparable to how people think of the confederate flag. For some it's a symbol of oppression and hatred, for others it simply hints to our nations past, and for a few it purely represents regional pride. For me it is a symbol of a time in our past that we should never glorify and it doesn't matter how people argue their "innocent" reasons for still flying the flag I still choose to steer clear of them like the plague...and you know I'm probably right when I say I'm sure they don't mind that one bit.

My point is that there are often cultural ideas that are so strong they may never change. Yes we can make our efforts to raise awareness and pass knowledge, but with some things people are fighting the change too much for the movement to make any ground. With the confederate flag I refuse to allow it's connotations change. I want it to serve as a reminder of racial oppression forever and I'm okay with knowing that by doing this I'm not allowing others to carry on their traditions or use it to freely represent their love of Lynyard Skynyard. The same goes for many people's (specifically men in this case) opinions of strippers. They see them as women who are there to serve them. Whether they dance for them or sleep with them they are there for the man's pleasure and use. As a result most of those who often step foot in a strip club will never think there is a strong distinction between a stripper and a prostitute...at least not until they sit down and have a conversation with someone who believes there is a difference and even then, much like myself and my feelings about the confederate flag, it probably won't change a thing.





* I often use the term "boyz" instead of "boys" or "men" when I feel they have acted in a troublesome fashion. Be that hilarious drunkenness or dumping me.