The blog called Alas, a Blog is dedicated to feminism and being comfortable with your weight. It also purports from time to time to be progressive.
I've enjoyed some of the posts in the past but there seems to be a disturbing trend in recent posts to demonize the strip club atmosphere.
Here a recent post reviews Norah Vincent's book A Self Made Man. Norah recounts her story of passing as a man for a year. The supposed feminist review of Norah's recant of her visit to a strip club stated:
"Vincent’s description of the emotionless, mean sex played out in strip clubs is particularly affecting, and repulsive. As an aside, before reading this book I had no idea that men are actually supposed to ejaculate inside their pants during lap dances. (At the risk of seeming naive, I really didn’t know what a lap dance was - TV had given me the impression that a lap dance was just like a stage dance, only much closer). Let me just say: ewwww!"
While I don't doubt that Norah could have experienced this, one can question her intentions based upon the responses brought about by other authors.
I thought the tone of the post did not accurately reflect the nature of the SC's I've been to and wrote some thoughtful responses which recounted my positive experiences in SC's.
My prose drew some vehement criticism from a self acclaimed authority of our culture and feminism.
Richard Jeffrey Newman is an english professor who apparently thinks that strippers in Arizona are assisting with his self acclaimed South Korean sex trade. He further demonized strippers.
I tried to appease Richard with some affirmations of the quality of his work but affirmed my stance that strippers were not bad and that he should get to know one before relishing in demonizing them in a broad brush.
His response:
"... but this does not change the fact that, in the larger view of things, the stripper who became your friend is seen not as someone who performs a valuable social service–which is what your original take on strip clubs implied–but rather as a “slut” or “whore” or whatever epithet you choose."
I tried to open his eyes by sharing my own experience being caught too judgmental of strip clubs and how I now see their value due to the friendship I found in a stripclub.
His response:
"I have no doubt that the stripper provided you with a valuable service; that does not mean that our culture truly values her or the service she provides; nor does your story in any way critique the cultural values that devalue her. The hooker with a heart of gold (or, in this case, the stripper) is still a hooker, with everything that implies about how she is seen by the culture at large."
Earlier tonight I responded by claiming his views to be regressive and not supportive of the progressive feminist cause.
Any thoughts?
The thread at Alas, a Blog: http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archive...cent/#comments
Richard's personal website:
http://itsallconnected.wordpress.com/



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