Rated REAL: Strippers & Vixens {Guest Post}
Disclaimer: Please note that this post is purely of my own personal opinion, and it is not meant to offend anyone. However, if any of the words in here DO offend any of you, please know that I really don't give a damn.
social stigma - severe social disapproval of personal characteristics or beliefs that are perceived to be against cultural norms.
We are seeing a complete reversal of that definition in this generation when it comes to the two "professions" I am about to detail.
In the last few years, I, as well as many others, have noticed a strange increase in the number of women that have decided to make exotic dancing (aka stripping) as their professional occupation. Many women resort to it because they have "no other option." They may have a child (or children) to support or have outstanding student loans that may need to be paid off. Some see it as a means to get money at an easier and faster rate. That minimum wage 9-5 at McDonald's isn't enough for those women with tastes for the "finer things" in life.
I have also noticed something even stranger: the increasing number of women that get what they want by occupying the oldest profession in the book. That's right, they're prostituting. Or, for lack of a softer word, vixens. We read and hear about these women all the time in the media; Karrine Steffans, Miss Hawaii, Candy Deepthroat, Kat Stacks, and some could even make an argument for Kim Kardashian. Some of you may know some local, lesser-known vixens. They sleep with any famous music artist, athlete, or actor they can find in order to get money and make a name for themselves in the entertainment industry.
And that isn't even the strangest thing. Perhaps the strangest thing about both of these "professions" is that...people are okay with this. People actually support these women and contribute to their wealth. I'm sorry, but....WHAT!?! People actually find it cool to support strippers and vixens, yet they try to down the girl in college trying to respectably make something of herself? It's okay for a woman to degrade herself by stripping off her clothes and showing off her voluptuous body to perverted old (and most likely, married) men!? It's okay for her to sell her vagina for a quick paycheck? "But Michael! She's doing her and making money, so what's the problem? She's keeping her paper up, so it shouldn't matter who she's sleeping with or showing her body off to, right?"
No, FUCK THAT. Why can't that same aspiration to be a stripper or a hoe be used to find a more real and respectable job or get a college (or high school) education? Why can't that undying support system be the same system used by the struggling college girl that actually wants to do something positive with her life and be a doctor or lawyer? Is the long and tiring process of getting an education or finding a respectable job THAT much of a turn-off that women feel like they have to degrade themselves in order make a living?
Let's play the blame game for a minute here. Who can we truly say is responsible for the lives these women choose for themselves? Do we blame our capitalist American society in which only the rich are truly able to survive, leaving them no choice? Or should the blame be completely shouldered on the media and its portrayal of women and their sex appeal? Truth be told, it is a combination of both those factors as well as several others, but I won't get into all of them right now. The cost of living in this country is just too damn high for people of low income to make any feasible attempt of having a good life for themselves and their family. In addition to that, numerous rappers and other music artists make quips about wanting a big booty hoe or throwing racks in the strip club in almost every song you hear on the radio, and there are also films, television shows, and videos that portray women in a stigmatizing way. But guess which of those factors people would rather put 100% of the blame on?
In conclusion, I just find it very, VERY disturbing that people support this type of degradation, and it speaks VOLUMES on how men in this society see women. And for those that are supportive of strippers and vixens, PLEASE ask yourself this question: What if your little daughter came to you and said she wanted to be a stripper? Or wanted to sleep her way to the top?