Susannah Breslin is asking men why they go to strip clubs. She is one of the more reasonable writers on the subject so I shouldn't complain too much but what exactly needs explaining here? We're men, we want to see women naked. And women want to be appreciated for their sexual worth. Adding money transactions to the mix cheapens things a bit (usually it cheapens them a lot) but it doesn't change the basic dynamic at work.
For a long time, people used to think that it was thedemand supply side of the sex trade that needed explaining. Why would a girl do a thing like that? Well, money is a big part of it.
But not just money. I used to work in a downtown hotel that a lot of hookers used and it was kind of tragic to see how much of their sense of self was wrapped up in their rather feeble sexual power. You won't appreciate just how sad that is if your idea of what hookers are like comes from Hollywood. In real life hookers tend to be low status women.
Nowadays, the balance has shifted the other way and it is the demand side that people feel needs to be explained: Why do men go to strip clubs? That is to the increasingly small number of people who care.
Before moving on, there is one important difference between the two. Become a customer of the sex trade and odds are pretty good you'll still be okay. Becoming a stripper, prostitute or porn star is like getting on a one-way road to living death. (It's funny, by the way, that we call them porn "stars"; in its entire history, the porn industry has turned out fewer genuine stars than professional badminton has and that should tell us something.)
Either way, though, there isn't much we can do about the sex trade. It will always be with us. It can be controlled to some extent and it should be. Even the most fervent decriminalizers would quickly lose their enthusiasm if it meant living next door to a brothel. The trade dehumanizes everything it touches and any sensible person will want to minimize their contact with it.
But there is nothing to understand here beyond the obvious surface explanation.
For a long time, people used to think that it was the
But not just money. I used to work in a downtown hotel that a lot of hookers used and it was kind of tragic to see how much of their sense of self was wrapped up in their rather feeble sexual power. You won't appreciate just how sad that is if your idea of what hookers are like comes from Hollywood. In real life hookers tend to be low status women.
Nowadays, the balance has shifted the other way and it is the demand side that people feel needs to be explained: Why do men go to strip clubs? That is to the increasingly small number of people who care.
Before moving on, there is one important difference between the two. Become a customer of the sex trade and odds are pretty good you'll still be okay. Becoming a stripper, prostitute or porn star is like getting on a one-way road to living death. (It's funny, by the way, that we call them porn "stars"; in its entire history, the porn industry has turned out fewer genuine stars than professional badminton has and that should tell us something.)
Either way, though, there isn't much we can do about the sex trade. It will always be with us. It can be controlled to some extent and it should be. Even the most fervent decriminalizers would quickly lose their enthusiasm if it meant living next door to a brothel. The trade dehumanizes everything it touches and any sensible person will want to minimize their contact with it.
But there is nothing to understand here beyond the obvious surface explanation.
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