Julie Bindel of the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit, London Metropolitan University, prepared this report on strip clubs in 2004 for the Glasgow City Council. Beyond the impact on the direct participants, the passages below suggest that strip clubs have “secondary effects” on their surroundings (e.g. blight, harassment). Club management typically maintains that their dancers are independent contractors, yet exercises a high degree of control over how and when they work. Porn is deployed as advertising. Download the full 64-page report here (PDF).
Profitable Exploits: Lap Dancing in the UK
…Four clubs in Glasgow and two in London were visited in order to observe and interview dancers, customers and staff…
Twenty dancers and fifteen customers were interviewed in the six clubs visited.
Public opinion was polled in Glasgow and London. Club owners, police officers, women’s groups, journalists and licensing officials were also interviewed…
Clubs have managed to gain a certain air of respectability, partly due to endorsements from a string of celebrities, including Robbie Williams and Sophie Dahl. The National Westminster bank has a corporate account with a lap dance club, as do other city firms in London (Eaves Housing, 2003)…
What is Lap Dancing?
A variety of dances are offered in lap-dance clubs and are performed both in the main areas and, in the majority of venues, in a more private area that is often curtained off. ‘Pole dancing’ refers to a ‘cabaret’ performance in the main club area and is the element most commonly used in TV and film representation. ‘Table dancing’ is performed near the customer’s seat, with the dancer’s breasts eye level to the customer. ‘Couch dancing’ entails the dancer standing over a customer sat on a couch, hanging her breasts over him. The US version of ‘lap dancing’ requires the woman to straddle the man’s lap and grind or brush against him. A variation involves the woman dancing between the customer’s legs while sliding down in the chair so that her thighs are rubbing the customer’s genitals as she moves. This is also known in the US as ‘friction dancing’ (Frank, 2003)…In the UK, pole dancing is becoming popular amongst some female celebrities as a form of exercise. Daryl Hannah, Heather Graham and Kate Moss are all apparently taking pole-dancing lessons, and Sarah Cox and Zoë Ball have had their own poles installed at home[18]…
Gantt (2002) describes the relationship between dancer and customer as a form of ‘counterfeit intimacy’, and focuses on how dancers create an illusion of being attracted to the customers in order to gain advantage of them, both financially and behaviourally…
A report by the Lillith Project (2002) focused on seven lap-dance clubs in the London borough of Camden. It concludes that the existence of lap-dancing clubs has a negative effect on the community, that areas where lap-dance clubs operate have become ‘no-go’ for women who feel uncomfortable walking by, and that men have been harassed by personnel offering them sexual services[24]…
During another tribunal hearing lost by Spearmint Rhino, a former manager at the chain, Lee Freer, claimed he saw a pole dancer perform oral sex on a co-owner of the club, in a private booth. The former manager said sexual relationships between bosses at Spearmint Rhino branches and the lap dancers were commonplace, as was the sale and consumption of illegal drugs[30]…
In 1997, three Lithuanian women were deported after being trafficked into the UK to work in an Edinburgh lap-dancing club[32]…
All clubs promised ‘luxury’ in their advertising, and appealed to potential clientele as a ‘better class’ of person than those who frequent strip clubs, for example, by using the term ‘gentlemen’s club’…
Several of the dancers reported that they were sent text messages by the ‘management’ on the days they were needed to work. One dancer noted (GD2) that this meant she could not arrange other work, either in clubs or elsewhere. All dancers interviewed paid money to the owners in order to rent a space to dance; the amount varied across the clubs. Although the women are self-employed, they are required to perform pole and cabaret dances in the main club area at the request of management…
There is also evidence of negligent security from former staff members. In 2003, a former security chief at the Spearmint Rhino club in Uxbridge, West London, Johnny Singh, gave evidence at a tribunal stating that management at the club took the attitude that:
Anything went as long as it made money…bosses turned a blind eye to girls fondling each other on stage, groping men and committing sex acts. During my time there, I saw constant drug abuse, prostitution and sexual misconduct. I couldn’t do anything to stop it.[39]
Club management tend to place responsibility for the breaking of house rules solely on the dancers…
The private dance is the only legitimate way for the dancers to make money in the clubs. The intermittent ‘cabaret’, and individual pole dances by selected dancers that take place in the main club area, serve only to advertise the dancers and entertain customers. The dancers are not paid for these activities… There is no guarantee, even on busy nights, that the dancers will earn enough to cover their costs, let alone generate income…
None of the dancers interviewed in the Glasgow clubs were satisfied with their working conditions… There were no water coolers or fridges in which to keep drinks, even though this is a condition of the license for Seventh Heaven, Diamond Dolls and The Truffle Club. As a result, the dancers have to purchase drinks from the bar at full price…
All dancers in lap-dance clubs are self-employed, relying on tips and income from private dances. Dancers pay between £35 and £100 per night to the club management for ‘rent’ of the facilities[40], such as the poles, cabaret areas, private dance booths and VIP suites. Weekend rates are higher… All of the women interviewed reported that they had often lost money by working at the club when their earnings failed to cover rent, clothing, travel, drinks and childcare. Some club owners allow debt to accumulate, which can leave the dancers desperate to ‘catch up’…
In addition to daily expenses, dancers at the four Glasgow clubs, and Spearmint Rhino, London, are advised to purchase specialist clothing from an individual visiting the club who runs her own business[41]. In at least one club, the women are explicitly told that they should not buy clothes from anywhere else or make their own, in case they do not fit the ‘house style’. Most clubs also specify particular shoes that several of the women refer to as ‘porn shoes’. They are tall platforms with spiked heels that are apparently ‘very uncomfortable’ to dance in…
Two of the dancers stated that management regularly chose their outfits, and that they were given no choice about wearing them. “I have two children, who I have to support by doing this. I feel really yucky prancing around in a school uniform, because I feel I’m encouraging perverts who come to the club to abuse children”…
All club owners denied that the lap dancing business was part of the sex industry, but all, without exception, accused other club owners of running disreputable clubs offering sexual services. Their own clubs, in contrast, were seen as part of the leisure industry…
Two of the ‘students’ also did ‘glamour modelling’ and said there were other dancers who did this. GD5 explained that the club owners encouraged the women to model for ‘adult’ publications, as it is good for business. “If my picture is in the Sunday Sport and it says I work at a certain club, the men who like the look of me might decide to come and see me in the flesh. Therefore, the club only allows you to do it if you can guarantee mentioning the club”…
One woman talked about being “pressurised” into glamour modelling by management. She also spoke of “some of the girls” being upset at discovering that photographs of them had been used to advertise the club without their knowledge or consent (GD15). There was also evidence of some customers having used their mobile telephone cameras to take pictures of the women whilst naked…
A dancer at Legs’ n’ Co said that some of the dancers suffered from bulimia and/or anorexia, and have low self-esteem. “If anyone has a tiny bit of cellulite, or is slightly overweight, she is pulled by management and told to do something about it. That can make you feel like shit. It’s as if they own our bodies. We’re even told when to shave our public hair” (GD11). Six women overall across the four clubs had breast enlargement scars under their arms.
One woman admitted there was some drug use among the dancers. “Not here, but other in clubs I worked in, some of the women would be using cocaine or amphetamines, either to keep their weight down, or keep awake during the night shift I suppose” (GD11)…
All three women at Spearmint Rhino identified having to “massage men’s ego’s all evening” (LD3) as the hardest part of the job. One dancer explained:
The dancing, and even taking your clothes off, is easy. You just cut off and become someone else. But having to plaster a smile on your face, and pretend the men are fascinating is exhausting sometimes (LD1)…
Several of the dancers used alcohol in the clubs, and in all of the clubs visited, as aside from The Flying Scotsman, one or more dancers stated that management encouraged the use of alcohol, primarily by making it a condition for the dancers to accept any alcoholic drink customers offered to buy them. Thus, management are profiting from the dancers’ alcohol use…
The dancers interviewed all expressed ambivalence towards the customers… Common complaints included:
- Drunkenness
- Heckling during cabaret shows
- Trying to grab the women during private dances
- Asking for sexual services
- Touching their own genitals
- Trying to barter down prices for private dances
…This study has revealed the complex process and set of conditions in which dancers become more susceptible to requests or suggestions to sell sex. The lack of employment rights, for some women the experience of accumulating debt, expectations of the customers, fierce competition, and a link in public perceptions between lap dancer and stripper/prostitute, create an overall climate where the selling and buying of sex on the premises becomes more likely…
One customer said that:
Now that the police are clamping down on kerb crawlers it’s easier to come in here and pick up a bird. Some of them used to work the Cross, but come here now, because it’s the same punters. Everyone knows you can get one here (LC4)…
Approximately half of the customers in Glasgow came to the club looking for sex. Four of the regular visitors claimed they had had sex with a dancer on the premises…
In order to gain a ‘snapshot’ sense of public opinion, a total of 20 individuals were polled outside three lap-dance clubs: Seventh Heaven and The Truffle Club in Glasgow, and Spearmint Rhino[57], London. Three-quarters (n=15) said they would rather not work or live in an area near a lap-dancing club. A range of reasons were given, including: “I do not want to see scantily clad girls on my way home”; “I think it is demeaning to women”; and “I do not want stag nights taking over the town centre”…
All those polled near Seventh Heaven were negative about the club’s presence. One respondent said that customers leaving the premises had propositioned his partner outside it. Another had observed a bouncer having a ‘fierce row’ with a customer outside the club…
One woman questioned worked in a restaurant near Spearmint Rhino until approximately 1am five nights a week. She walked past the club on her journey home, and said:
I always feel intimidated by the club and the customers coming in and out. I have been insulted by them, and even the bouncers sometimes. The men in groups are the worst. One of the young waitresses was flashed at by a stag group (LP5).
Another respondent lived in the block of flats above Spearmint Rhino.
I would not have bought the flat if I had realised the level of disruption the club would cause. The noise is unbearable (LP2)…
In May 2003, Glasgow CoC conducted a snapshot survey of fifty-two city centre businesses and found that three-quarters (n=39) believed that lap-dancing clubs would damage the reputation of the city. The survey also showed that almost half (n=19) of respondents were concerned about the safety of their staff in the vicinity of the clubs.
In a press release marking the publication of the survey, CoC chief executive stated: “The results of this survey bear out my initial opinion that such businesses could be counter-productive to the image of the entire city centre.[58]” The current Policy Manager at the CoC noted: “Businesses in Glasgow do not want lap dancing clubs in their city. They attract the wrong kind of business, and keep the right kind away” (Interview, May 2004)…
The Women’s Support Project (WSP) said it is regularly contacted by members of the public concerned about the effect the clubs are having on their city. The coordinator explained:
Women avoid the areas where the clubs are. There’s a very popular pub near one of them that my friends and me used to go to regularly, but since the club opened I haven’t been back since. There are tales of groups of drunken men who are all fired up to sexually humiliate women, so we don’t want to bear the brunt of it.” WSP also have anecdotal evidence of women being moved around the country to work in different clubs, in order to fill spaces created by the transient nature of the business (Interview, May 2004)…
…club owners tend to absolve themselves of any responsibility if sexual services are found to be on occurring or being arranged on the premises, yet at the same time there is some indication that they encourage the dancers to project an air of sexual availability to customers. By making it difficult for the dancers to earn an adequate living legitimately, through requiring the payment of ‘rent’ for each shift worked in the clubs, and by hiring excess numbers of dancers at any one time, club owners and managers also create a series of structural conditions that can lead some dancers to offer sexual services in order to survive financially. This is not to say that there is evidence of significant numbers of dancers engaging in prostitution activities, but that the clubs are run in a way that both implicitly encourages the customers to seek sexual services from the dancers, and means that some dancers will offer them…
The requirement for dancers to ‘glamour model’ to advertise the club, and the evidence that some customers take covert photographs of the dancers whilst naked, suggests links between lap-dancing clubs and pornography…
See also:
Glasgow City Council report on the need for review of licensing legislation in the light of concerns re table dancing (PDF)
In the study ‘Stripclubs According to Strippers: Exposing Workplace Sexual Violence’ by Kelly Holsopple [link] published in 1998 (Appendix 1) it is noted that ‘100% of the eighteen women in the survey report being physically abused in the strip club. The physical abuse ranged from three to fifteen times with a mean of 7.7 occurrences over their involvement in stripping. 100% of the eighteen women in this study report sexual abuse in the strip club. The sexual abuse ranged from two to nine occurrences with a mean of 4.4 occurrences over the course of their involvement in stripping. 100% of the women report verbal harassment in the strip club. The verbal abuse ranged from one to seven occurrences with a mean of 4.8 occurrences over the course of their involvement in stripping…
Cities in countries such as Australia and USA are now seeing the impact of having loosened all regulation regarding sex industry activities. Women are being excluded from corporate functions held at table dancing venues and equality at work is seen to be under under threat. The acceptance of table dancing “is already placing an obstacle in the path of women’s equal opportunities in Melbourne. Tabletop clubs, unlike brothels, are licensed for the sale of alcohol, and offer better opportunities for men to socialise with each other. Two clubs in Melbourne are now competing with each other to attract businessmen to have lunch and hold meetings on their premises.” [ii]
Amnesty International UK: “Lapdancing is just girls having fun and being sexy, isn’t it?”
In a study by the Lilith project for the Borough of Camden in 2002-3, where several lap-dance clubs were operating, the female rape rate was three times the national average and had increased by 50% across the year. Indecent assault increased by 58%. The director for Environmental Health in the Camden Borough said that some streets had turned into “a no-go area for female shoppers and male passers-by’.
Strip Clubs: Dancers Pay to Work There
…the girls who work there, the dancers…pay $150 to $200 a shift for
the privilege of working… I asked one guy in the business, “What’s
the biggest risk to your business model?” He said if the
government stops immigration from Eastern Europe.
MSNBC Investigates Human Trafficking and Prostitution in the US; Valley Advocate Advertises “Foreign Fantasies” Where “Everything Goes”
2 years ago a 20-year-old university student [Katya] signed up with a
friend to study English abroad in a program that involved waitressing
in Virginia Beach, but the girls would never reach Virginia. And they
wouldn’t be waitresses…
…they were told that, you know what?
Plans have changed. You’re going to be going to Detroit. You need to
get on this bus… They didn’t even know where Detroit was. They didn’t
speak much of the language…
[Katya:] They brought us clothes.
It was strip clothes and shoes. And they say, you guys gonna work at
the club named Cheetah. And you guys gonna work Monday to Saturday,
double-shift, 2:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M…
[Katya:] I was threatened
every single day. When we go, go into work, in the car, he was telling
us, you’re gonna have to make 1,000 a day. If you’re not making this
money, we’ll find a way when you can make this money. That was really
scary too. He was telling us that he can sell us to any country, to any
person any time…
[Katya:] Almost every girl who I knew was sexually abused, raped…
The 12 hour shifts yielded up to $1000 a night but the women saw none of it…
[Katya:] I was even thinking about suicide many times because I didn’t have a choice to get out…
[Katya:]
Alex’s father, he knows my mom. He knows where she lives [in the
Ukraine]. And he visited a couple of times after I ran away. He
threatened her. He used very aggressive words. He said, if I will not
stop talking, that will blood come out from me…
“Waitressing, I cleaned the floors and I own a box of men’s
wedding rings that I found on the floor.”
…I went back
to the strip bars to make money. I cannot tell you the lie and the
fantasy that it is for men. Waitressing, I cleaned the floors and I own
a box of men’s wedding rings that I found on the floor…
The
degradation and inferiority and humiliation of being presented as two
tits and a hole for entertainment was not as bad as the sexual
harassment I received from the management of these places. Customers
are not allowed to touch you, but management can and does. You cannot
complain to the Labor Board because they say you put yourself there
willingly, and usually it’s under the table. I felt worthless, but I
need enough money to move and complete college and get a degree.
Strip Club Tips: How to Savor an Exquisite Blend of Fantasies, Lies, Exploitation and Despair (explicit language)
…we present a selection from 37 Stripper Rants, as posted in March to gripe site Ofuzi…
4) Don’t pull my thong up during a dance and ask me if it felt good. IT DOES NOT FEEL GOOD.
6) No I will not just let you “slip it in real quick” for $50 more bucks.
7) Yeah, my tits are real. As real as my affection for you…
9) Stop asking me out. You’re a smelly, fat loser and the only
reason I’m smiling and cooing at you is because I want your money.
Outside of the club I wouldn’t even fart your way.12) Don’t bitch at me about the $10 non-alcoholic beer either. Hide
a bottle of Jack in your coat pocket next time like everyone else does.13) My horniness is in direct proportion to your income…
19) SHOWER FIRST, you nasty fuck!
20) I had a feeling you weren’t going to tip me, so I took extra
care to rub my lip gloss on your collar and wear extra glitter lotion
and obnoxious perfume before our dance.22)
Stop asking me why I do this job and try to get all psychologically
analytical on me. For the money, you moron, that’s why…24) NO, I will not take a dime sac for payment. I can tell it’s oregano anyway you stupid motherfucker!…
31) Girls–what’s with the pole smell? Can we do a little hygiene
check? Nothing than worse than twirling around the pole and getting a
whiff of stale pussy…
Former Stripper Tells Easthampton Hearing about the Life: It Stinks
The Evidence of Relationships Between Adult-Oriented Businesses and Community Crime and
Disorder
We, at the police department, have been requested to gather research
relating to evidence of the relationship between crime (including
disorder) and adult-oriented businesses, if any. This phenomenon is
also sometimes known as a pernicious secondary effect of adult-oriented
businesses…
[A Caveat: If you
are not accustomed to criminal justice studies of explicit alternative and criminal sexual
behavior, please approach the parent study document with caution.]In sum, a covert
observational study. Investigating officers found that many of employees of the
adult-oriented businesses were prostitutes who were offering private shows where
customers could, for a price, observe them performing live sex acts. For “the right
price” customers would be allowed to “touch the dancers.” Undercover operatives
also learned that customers could hire the dancers to engage in acts of prostitution,
and in some instances, these acts actually occurred on the premises with the
knowledge of the management. Underage females were also being hired to dance
nude. The report also confirmed many health-related perspectives: Adult
entertainment establishments provide an environment and atmosphere that is
conducive to high risk sexual behaviors and practices with respect to sexually
transmitted diseases (HIV and hepatitis B included).
US
Appeals Court Upholds Daytona Zoning and Public Nudity Ordinances; No
Grandfathering for Lollipop’s Gentlemen’s Club; Rebutting Daniel Linz
The Ordinance sets forth the following findings: “The appearance of persons in
the nude in public places . . . increases incidents of lewd and lascivious behavior,
prostitution, sexual assaults and batteries, attracts other criminal activity to the
community, encourages degradation of women, and facilitates other activities
which break down family structures and values…”
Langston testified that live nude and seminude entertainment
businesses “promote and perpetuate urban decay” and that “adult businesses have
impacted on crime in the area surrounding Daytona Beach.” Id. at 547. Smith, who
as an assistant state attorney had prosecuted drug and prostitution offenses in
Daytona Beach, concurred that “there were more drug and prostitution offenses in
topless bars than in other bars.” Id. at 548.
The City also relied on several controlled studies conducted by Dr.
William
George about the relationship between drinking alcohol and sexual
conduct. Thus,
for example, one study found that exposure to erotica led male subjects
to drink
more alcohol than did exposure to non-erotic materials.[27] Another
study found that
young men who believed they had consumed alcohol — regardless of
whether they
had in fact done so — displayed greater interest in viewing violent
and/or erotic
images and reported increased sexual arousal than young men who
believed they
had not consumed alcohol.[28] Still another study found that study
participants perceived a woman they believed had consumed alcohol as
being “significantly
more aggressive, impaired, sexually available, and as significantly
more likely to
engage in foreplay and intercourse” than a woman whom study
participants
believed had not consumed alcohol.[29]
Footnote 34 from the PDF of the court’s opinion: In addition to crimes against persons, crimes against property, and sex crimes, the
study that focused on Ordinance 81-334 also analyzed “miscellaneous incidents that share in
common that they involve violations of social norms . . . ., includ[ing] drunkenness, disorderly
conduct, drug offenses, liquor law violations, and weapons complaints.” (Experts’ Report 27.)
The study found a statistically significant increase in these so-called “norm violations” in areas
with adult theaters compared to control areas, (id. at 33-34), which could be read to support part
of the City’s rationale for Ordinance 81-334. See Ordinance 81-334 § 2 (seeking to reduce
“undesirable behavior” and “dangers to the health, safety and welfare of the public”). Similarly,
the study that focused on Ordinance 02-496 found a statistically significant increase in drug
related offenses in areas with adult theaters compared to control areas. (Experts’ Report 80, 105
tbl.10.)
Crime, Nuisances Motivate Cities to Regulate the Location of Adult Entertainment Uses
…The City of Kent, Washington had similar experiences with the Roadside
Inn Tavern. Prior to its forced closing, the Roadside Inn offered
topless dancing and table dancing in conjunction with its selling of
alcoholic beverages. Kent police investigations conducted in the summer
of 1981 revealed a very high incidence of criminal activity at the
Roadside, related primarily to sex crimes (prostitution) and drug
related offenses. As a result of 57 hours of on-premise investigation,
162 charges were brought against 21 persons by the Kent Police
Department. The report filed by the police stated: “The total time
involved, and the number of charges, break down to a time expenditure
of slightly more than 20 minutes per charge, attesting to the relative
ease by which the subject of prostitution arises within an environment
such as the Roadside.” In September, 1981, the Roadside Inn Tavern was
closed by the City of Kent.
Seattle, WA, 1989
Seattle had eight such dance halls (termed “adult cabarets”), six established since 1987…
The
increased number of cabarets resulted in citizen complaints, including
phone calls, letters (from individuals and merchant associations) and
several petitions with hundreds of signatures. Protests cited decreased
property values; increased insurance rates; fears of burglary,
vandalism, rape, assaults, drugs and prostitution; and overall
neighborhood deterioration. The report noted that patrons of these
cabarets most often are not residents of nearby neighborhoods. Without
community identity, behavior is less inhibited. Increased police calls
to a business, sirens and traffic hazards from police and emergency
vehicles are not conducive to healthy business and residential
environments.
Report to the Rome City Commission–Adult Entertainment, Police Department, City of Rome, Georgia, (March 6, 1995) (PDF)
This
report includes crime data from the city of La Grange, Georgia…
Located in that small suburb of Atlanta, is a three-year-old “adult
nightclub.” In just one year (1994) that single adult-oriented
nightclub generated 141 calls-for-service, with thirty-five of those
calls being criminal in nature. Those crimes included such violent
crimes as: eight criminal batteries and eight aggravated assaults
(knives, baseball bats, and firearms with shots fired). The report also
includes many of the other municipal studies articulated elsewhere in
this digest.
Springfield Republican Reports on Strip Clubs and the Mafia (7/8/07)
Soon after the meeting, reputed members of the Genovese
faction began commuting here from New York each weekend to
stake out clubs, estimate head counts and skim door profits,
the affidavit states…
“The individual stated that the owners of these
businesses do not want to pay Bruno, but that Bruno was
pressuring them to pay this money through intimidation of
organized crime,” the source reported. The affidavit
identifies the alleged payers as the Mardis Gras on Taylor
Street, Teddy B’s strip club on Worthington Street, two
other unnamed strip clubs and the Red Rose restaurant on
Main Street.
Any establishment collecting a cover charge had to hand
over $1 per patron to Bruno and the visitors from New York,
the source tells police…
…Bruno’s
plan was to get the strip clubs in line and move on to other
city businesses, according to the police source cited in the
document…
Gazette: “Strip club ouster ends with carjacking” (9/25/07)
When adult enterprises bring crime and blight to their environs, this is called secondary effects. Castaway Lounge, a strip club in Whately, just added to our region’s experience with secondary effects on Friday…
In this incident, we notice themes that have appeared in other reports
on secondary effects: rowdy patrons, patrons who don’t live in the
community, and impacts on innocent bystanders.
When secondary
effects reach a certain threshold, citizens can make a case to their
local officials that the enterprise in question should have its liquor license revoked or be shut down as a public nuisance.
The Science Behind Pornography Addiction (explicit language)
[Performers in the sex industry] have high rates of substance abuse,
typically alcohol and cocaine, depression, borderline personality
disorder which is a particularly serious disorder and dissociative
identity disorder which used to be called multiple personality
disorder. The experience I find most common among the performers is
that they have to be drunk, high or dissociated in order to go to work.
Their work environment is particularly toxic. One study on strippers
indicated that they were likely to be punched, slapped, grabbed, called
cunt and whore and to be followed home or stalked. Not surprisingly,
these women often work with bodyguards. This live form of pornography
causes violence and the customers receiving these Permission-Giving
Beliefs become carriers of these beliefs back to their homes, onto
their jobs, into the street, onto the school yard. There they encounter
women and children who do not have bodyguards.
The terrible work
life of the pornography performer is often followed by an equally
terrible home life. They have an increased risk of sexually transmitted
disease including HIV, domestic violence and have about a 25% chance of
making a marriage that lasts as long as 3 years.
Carolyn McKenzie: Undercover with the Viewing Booths; Disease, Intoxicants Prevalent Among Strip Dancers (explicit language)
I’ve had wives call me and say, “I’m reading the credit card bill, and
there’s all these strange expenses on it, places I’ve never heard of.”
Well, those places are the cover organizations for the clubs, or the
massage parlors, or lingerie services that their husbands have been
frequenting. The next question I get is, “Well do you think I need to
get a physical check-up?” And I say, “Yes, you do.” I can’t tell you
how many of them call me back and say they have turned up positive for
an STD. I also want to tell you about these 39 women that we have
helped to get out of the industry. Out of that number of 39 women, only
6% were married. 90% were single moms trying to support their kids…
75% of them had STD’s when we took them in for their medical check-ups.
16% had felony records that they were working with and 25% had
misdemeanors. 95% of them were using drugs and alcohol, and three of
them had addictions so severe that we had to put them in long term
rehab programs.
Testimony in Minneapolis: Porn and the Death Spiral of a Marriage
About this time, when we went out we started meeting his friends at wet
T-shirt contests, amateur strip nights or elsewhere–we would meet
together as a group–or pornographic adult theaters or live sex shows.
Initially I started arguing that the women on stage looked very
devastated, like they were disgusted and hated it. I felt devastated
and disgusted watching it. I was told by those men, if I wasn’t as
smart as I was, and if I would be more sexually liberated and more
sexy, that I would get along a lot better in the world, and that they
and a lot of other men would like me more…
