Don’t let the money make you

I know everybody has watched talk shows and wished they could be in the audience to take a shot at the guests. About three weeks ago, I was at home watching The Ananda Lewis Show and I was ready to jump through the television. The topic of the show was about exotic dancers. Many of the women who were on the show stated that they stripped to support their way through college and some did it to support their children. Despite the professionalism and intellect the panel members displayed, audience members continued to put them down for what career path they had decided to take.
I was appalled at some of the comments I heard. I could not believe the audacity of what was being said. I had to ask myself the question, “Who are we to judge?” and I came up with this conclusion:
Exotic dancing is a profession that is generally looked down on as being degrading, morally wrong, and raunchy. Society had placed these stigmas on the industry that provides many women with the financial stability to support their kids, obtain a college degree, or to build up self-esteem.
I know I have probably shocked a lot of people with my opening statements. I am not a stripper and I don’t plan on becoming one. No fellas, I will not dance at your next party and ladies please don’t take my words out of context (you know we have a tendency to do so). Back to the subject at hand. I don’t see anything wrong with a woman who wants to provide the best for herself and her children. If stripping is the route they decide to take, more power to them, just because exotic dancing is not a conventional 9 to 5 job.
One audience member even went as far as quoting the age-old phrase, “You can’t turn a whore into a housewife.” I wanted to ask her what was her definition of a whore? The World Book Dictionary defines a whore as “a prostitute; unchaste women.” To go even further the Bible in Exodus 34:15 states that a whore is one who “commits an act of idolatry and to be guilty of unfaithfulness to the true God.” Let me break it down for all us who are a little confused. A prostitute is one who engages in sexual intercourse for money. Exotic dancers simply provide entertainment. Ladies, we would throw our money at the Black Chippendales and the Midnight Express Dancers just as quick as a brother would tip ladies, think about it. When we go out to the club with little to nothing on and dance like we are in Luke’s Freak Show or when we make that 2:00 a.m. creep, do we have the right to call a woman who is trying to make a living a whore? Fellas, when you are sneaking a different girl up the back stairs of Jones or Moore Halls every other night, or you and your suite mates run a “train” on a girl who has had a little too much to drink. Do you think you have the audacity to even degrade someone on the basis of their job? You be the judge. Can we truly label a stripper as a whore if she is not engaging in whorish activities? Just because a woman dances for money doesn’t mean she would do other things to make money. It’s true that some girls are prostitutes but most are decent people.
We are so caught up in the negative images the media has depicted that we can’t see beyond the glamour, sex, and raunchiness. Every strip club is not as corrupt as the Player’s Club and every stripper is not as scandalous as Trixie and Roni. Many take their jobs seriously and keep things strictly professional. Exotic dancing is a profession that requires dedication, discipline, and hard work. The dancers use their beauty of the female body to rake in over $50,000 a year. Dancing is an art form and art doesn’t stop being art because it’s erotic. It’s about freedom. The freedom a woman has to bare her body. To bare her soul.