I’m sure we’re all familiar with those nights where things don’t exactly go as planned. First you’re casually hanging out with your friends and then the next thing you know, you’re somewhere you never thought you’d be. For me, this somewhere was a female strip club. All we had planned to do was go to dinner in West Hollywood for a girl’s night out. You know the usual – dress up, take cute pictures, have a couple drinks. Nothing crazy – that is, until one of my friends spotted the small hole-in-the-wall strip club starring at us from across the street. I wasn’t exactly dying to go, but we had nothing better to do so it was into the strip club we went.
Aside from little clips I had seen in movies, I really had no idea what to expect. All I know was that I certainly was not expecting to see what I saw throughout the 20 minutes that we were there. Before we could enter the room, each guest had to pay $10. Because we didn’t have much cash, we talked the guy into giving us a discount. Regardless, I still felt extremely uncomfortable that I was supporting the objectification of my own gender.
The main room was relatively small. There was a runway stage down the center of the room that came fully equipped with a couple stripper poles. While there were seating areas surrounding the stage, there were also private tables on the edges of the room for a more intimate experience. Off to the side were doors where people went for an even more intimate experience.
The first thing I noticed when I walked into the main room was how little (if any) clothes that the girls were wearing. There was everything from crotch-less thongs to full lingerie sets to completely topless girls walking around in heels. I guess I couldn’t be that surprised being that it was a strip club. What did surprise me, however, was the range of body sizes of the girls. There were skinny girls, curvy girls, girls with small breasts, girls with big breasts, girls with small butts, girls with big butts, etc. It may sound weird, but, in a way, I was inspired to see each girl being so comfortable with their bodies, especially in such a superficial city such as L.A. It allowed me to realize that you do not need to have a thigh gap and abs in order to feel sexy. Feeling sexy comes from within and it is possible for anyone, regardless of their size or shape.
My friends and I decided to sit at one of the tables in the corner, so as to observe the whole thing. Aside from us, the only other guests were males ranging from around 18 to 55 years old. The older men appeared to have come alone, while the younger men came with friends. The girls would walk around the room and sit on the men’s laps, while doing other stuff with their hands. Because the tables were fairly close together, I could hear the conversations being had which were surprisingly very normal. Questions like “how was your day?” or “how’s work?” were quite frequent. I felt extremely uncomfortable watching these middle aged men almost using these woman as objects. At that moment, I was completely disgusted by the entire male species. I felt personally victimized and devalued as a woman.
Despite how I felt about how these women openly expose their bodies, I knew that I could not be judgmental. The truth is that I have no idea what each of these women’s lives look like or why they chose to do this. As seen in an article on Buzzfeed, there are many reasons why girls choose this job. Some reasons mentioned include supporting a child or a sick parent, paying off student loans, and “to work in a space that allows them to interact with men on their own terms.”
All in all, I am glad I got my strip club experience. While I may not be returning any time soon, I do believe that I learned some important lessons during the process.
1) Sexy comes in all shapes and sizes
2) We shouldn’t judge or belittle people based on their career choices
3) Men are gross
So with that, Happy Strip Clubbing!