I have been quietly watching the lively exchanges regarding the religious issue in a post that I will not mention, as I believe it has now been closed… and would like to add my two cents worth. First, I should introduce myself, as none of you are familiar with me. My name is T, and I have been married to Gynger (who many of you know) for the last 11 years. Let me start by saying that this is not an avenue for me to defend my wife. She can take care of that herself, as all of you lovely ladies (and guys) on this forum can do yourselves. I would, however, like to make a couple of points regarding dancers in general, and the people that they associate with. I would also like to state to the religious girl who started this whole string of exchanges that I understand where you are coming from and where your convictions are.
As Gynger has stated, we BOTH grew up in similar households as yours with the religious influence and pressure. We have both tried to be like you, I more than Gynger. So please realize that I understand your feelings and desire to make everyone conform to "the right way in God’s eyes". I would ask you in return that you try to understand where we are coming from. It was mentioned that women who do this kind of work degrade themselves and other women. Allegations and innuendos of prostitution were hinted at in previous posts. As with anything in life there are exceptions to the rule.
There are always a few bad apples giving everyone a bad name. Even in your "circle" there are religious zealots who give Christians as a whole a bad name. But (to borrow a quote from Mr. T) I pity the fool that tries to physically touch my wife when she is performing or assumes that because she is a stripper that it’s OK to touch or expect more. Not because of what I would do but because of what she would do. Gynger demands respect when she is entertaining. And she usually gets it. I would bet that most of the girls on this forum would tell you the same thing about themselves.
Because, you see, dancers have a certain air about them. A confidence. Dancing makes them into strong, powerful, self sustaining women. But it also makes them more understanding, caring and loving. They take what they do VERY seriously and it’s not just a hobby or a last resort for most of them. Most girls who dance for a living are intelligent and hard working. Many of them have college educations or are working toward a college education.
The question they probably get the most tired of hearing from customers is, "What’s a smart, beautiful girl like you doing stripping?". I’ll tell you what they are doing - they are doing something that they love to do and making a damn decent living doing it. They are building their self esteem and self worth. They are building trust with their friends and their mates. They are becoming powerful, beautiful women who can do anything and be anything. It is anything BUT degrading. Yes, we have had some bad experiences with people from the religious right who claim to love everyone but don’t "walk the walk". Even family members have shunned some of us because we are different or wrong in their eyes. Probably the reason that most of us - and I say "us" referring to anyone who is on the fringe of society because yes, we on this forum are all freaky in more ways that one - shun the religious folks is because of the treatment that we have received or seen others receive. The "I love you as long as you are interested in my beliefs and as long as it appears that you are believing the same thing that I do" mentality doesn’t cut it with most of the real people who frequent this forum.
And yes, we freaks are the normal people and when it comes right down to it we are the majority. If you were to take all of the "dirty, sinful" fringe lifestyle people out there - your strippers, your gays, lesbians & cross-dressers, your BDSMers, the swingers (OMG! You people really exist??? Yes we do, in greater numbers than you can imagine!) - you would realize that we’re not really the fringe at all. We are the people standing next to you in the grocery line with a box of Froot Loops and a gallon of milk. We are the parent sitting next to you at the PTA meeting. We are the mom helping her daughter deliver your Girl Scout cookies. We are the family that you see Sunday afternoon riding our bikes through the park.
We are the people that are out delivering a Christmas presents and a warm meal to a co-worker who wouldn’t have had anything otherwise, while you sit in a warm church and pray for those people on Christmas Eve. Sometimes we are the answer to your prayers and you don’t even know it. In short, we are caring friends and parents who always looking out for others just as much as ourselves.
Our children are taught respect and love. For ALL people, not just people who are like us. And you might be surprised to learn that in some aspects we are a lot like you. We have dreams. We have morals. We have values. Some of us are even pro-life like you. Some of us have read the bible several times and a few might even know their way around it better than you.
My point is, just because our walk with God is different than yours doesn’t mean that it’s not correct. We can respect that you have different opinions than us. We can respect that you have different morals and values. But please don’t judge our relationship with God. I am quite comfortable with my relationship with God and I know where I stand in His eyes and in His heart. We should all take a lesson from the story of the woman at the well. Yes, Jesus said to "go forth, and sin no more.". But before he told her that he told some other folks who thought they were doing "the right thing" to basically mind their own business until their own back yard was cleaned up. I am not saying anything about YOUR back yard.
I know nothing about you other than what you have said here. I just think the best plan at this point is to agree that we disagree,
respect each other’s beliefs and respect each other as humans and leave it at that. I am sorry for the length of this post and I appreciate everone’s patience. God Bless us All.


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