He told me that he did not want the club opening in his town because it would bring drugs, prostitution, gangs, zombies, plague, and cats and dogs living together. You know, the usual drill.
When issues get local like this, the usual Right/Left split tends to break down, but let's look at how a couple political stances think of strip clubs.
Economic Conservative - Strip clubs are a business like any other and should be allowed to exist within reasonable limitations. If there is demand for them, then they are justified.
Republican Style Conservative - Due to the religious influence of the modern Right, strip clubs are thought to be immoral, causing moral degradation and contributing to the breakdown of the American family and moral base.
Liberal - Strip clubs are misogynistic, creating an environment where women degrade themselves for money for the amusement of men.
It's an issue that both the modern Right and Left Wing movements can agree on, further opposed by the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) forces of whatever town the club is attempting to open in. It's good to know that when both sides agree, they are still wrong.
What is the end condition of either the Radical Right or Left Wing sexual agenda?
If the Radical Left had their way, anything "exploitive" would be banned: pornography, prostitution, stripping, etc. Anything deemed artistic might be safe, but only if it was not considered exploitive. If it was, the producer would probably be looking at a fine or jail time, not knowing beforehand if they were within or outside of the law.
If the Radical Right had their way, anything that they consider immoral would be outlawed. This starts with prostitution and would quickly expand to include stripping, exotic dancing (with clothes still on), and pornography. Where does it go next? Next it goes after erotic art and literature, which means any art or literature which anyone might consider erotic. Information on contraception and good sexual health and behavior is considered obscene and banned. (Which would shut down one of my favorite blogs.) Finally, people who engage in "immoral" behavior would face criminal persecution, including homosexuals, bisexuals, and practitioners of kink. (Under old Massachusetts laws, anything other than sex in the missionary position, even with your spouse, is sodomy.)
Remember back when there was a party that liked small government? Those days, as we know, have passed. Now both sides want bigger government, they just want it to do different things.
I have a fair amount of experience with strip clubs, although I have only once ever had the opportunity to step inside one. My experience is that many of my female friends have worked as strippers at a time when they lacked the skills to work other high paying jobs. These women could make between $200 and $500 a night. When one is trying to pay one's way through school or raise a child as a single mother, that beats the heck out of $320 a week for working 40 hours.
One might reasonably look at this and think that it is exploitive, but most of the women that I have spoken to who have worked as strippers, camgirls, pornographic models and in other similar fields did not feel exploited by the activity. Some felt that they exploited those who paid them, and most of them actually felt more confident for the fact that they had empirically demonstrated that they had the allure to convince men (and sometimes women) to not only admire them, but to pay considerable sums to do so.
Would it be better if we lived in a world where there were other options for poor women to make a good living without skills? Absolutely, I completely agree. However, we live in this world, and in this world, this is an opportunity that women have. I would also add that it is an opportunity that men do not have. I have certainly had times where I would have gladly shaken by tush on a stage if it would have paid my bills, and I would have felt great about it. Unfortunately for me, no one is willing to tip $20 to see me shake my hairy tail feather.
Back to the original topic, which is what a strip club does to a town that it moves into. Let us consider the concerns.
- Drugs
- Prostitution
- Lowered Property Values
- "Not What the Town Needs"
Drugs
This is an argument made by someone who has never worked at a fast food restaurant. You want drugs, someone at your local Royal McBurger will gladly supersize some for you. I knew someone who had to quit a job at a restaurant because she was trying to kick a drug habit, and it was hard to do so with all of her co-workers being drug users. I'm not saying that all fast food restaurants are dens of vice, but I am saying that you are more likely to find drugs in the back room of a fast food joint than a reputable strip club in a town that diligently enforces the law.
Prostitution
As Chris Rock said, there is no sex in the Champaigne room. People of Framingham, I have some bad news for you. There is already prostitution in your town. I don't know where, and I don't know who, but I am quite sure that it is happening, and existence of a strip club is not going to cause an explosion of hooking in the street. If anything, it might give the women who are forced by economic circumstance to solicit the chance to work a legitimate job stripping.
Lowered Property Values
This one I can understand. Take a look at this club in Oxford, MA. It is a pretty disreputable place.
And when I say disreputable, I actually mean that it looks a bit like an old courthouse out in Spencer. If the town is that concerned about appearance, they can place rules on the appearance.
Not What This Town Needs
This is a classic argument. "This town needs to focus on businesses that will bring jobs to this community, not smut shops!" Well, unfortunately, businesses that bring jobs are not knocking on your door. This strip club is. Let's talk about what this town and every town in America needs: tax money and jobs. Most strip clubs make their money on liquor and food sales, both of which can be taxed by the municipality in Massachusetts. That sounds like money, and probably quite a bit of it, to me.
As for jobs, aside from the strippers, which I spoke about above, this club will need bouncers, hosts, bartenders, waitresses, barbacks, bookkeepers, tradesmen to build the space out, advertising to draw business, etc. etc.
If someone decides that he is going to open this kind of establishment, he is going to open it somewhere, and the gentlemen of Framingham are going to find a gentlemen's club to attend. If it is in your town, a town that clearly has an active population, interested in the good of the town, then it will be well regulated. Inspections will ensure that the girls are treated properly, that there are no drugs on the premises, that prostitution is not happening there. Furthermore, the tax revenues and jobs will stay in the town.
Alternately, Framingham could block the club, force it to find another town with more lenient rules. Perhaps one with a blinder eye towards prostitution and drugs, maybe even a blind eye towards abuse of the women who are desperate enough to work there.
The phantom plagues that they imagine would become real, but they would not be in their back yard, so it would not be so bad.
I explained to my old friend that Framingham did not need a group to oppose the club, they needed a group to push for proper enforcement of laws which already exist, inspections and oversight to allow the economic benefits to occur without the blights that are so worrisome. He was a smart fellow, and he listened to me. If you live in Metrowest Massachusetts, go join his group. They are on the right track to help keep things on a properly moderate track.
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