The Mother of All Taboos, Part 1: Stripping

Im in the uk, and I used to be a stripper. I did it because I enjoyed it, and like Jennifer, once I stopped enjoying it, I stopped doing it. I had no form of 'sexual abuse' at anythime during my childhood, nor while or after my dancing. I actually carried on with my dancing after I married, because my take home pay was more than my husbands, and once we had children, it meant both parents could be at home to look after the children and spend time with them. My husband approved of me dancing, in the end, no one ever touched me they looked and wished they could, and then I went home to him, a lot richer than I went to work. It was a great way of keeping fit, having money, and I never viewed any differently as a job. what I am trying to say is there is nothing wrong with being a stripper. It offers great opportunities for single mother and a mother in a couple. My children know I was a dancer, and if they ask if I was ever a stripper, I will tell them the truth. Its only fair

After 3 kids, if you have the body for the job go for it. Your story shows that depending on a man is no substitute for a financial plan. In our patriarchal society where the deck is stacked against women in general, if you are against women who strip/dance you are hating part of yourself. This is not a child-friendly or woman-friendly country and if you can take back your power (financial, emotional, and mental) by earning your own scratch, then GO FOR IT.

I'd like to address Mrs. Goodman's comment. According to latest statistics, 1 in 4 girls is sexually abused before the age of 18. That's 25% of the female population in this country. I'm sure that ALL of those women aren't strippers. The common misconception that most strippers were abused as children only holds true because if you look at the whole, most WOMEN were abused as children. Take a corporate office building and survey the women working there. In most cases, you'll probably find that the same rate of abuse to female children occurs there as it does a strip club. The fact is, most people like to sling these kinds of common stereotypes around to feel better about themselves and their own lives. I don't strip, never have, never will. But I am a cocktail waitress. And I work with nurses, engineers, chemists... you name it. The point is, by continuing the oft-false and unfounded 'ideas' of what strippers are and come from, you're hurting women as a whole.

I would Like to Make a comment on Mrs. Goodmans comment. I was brought up in a practicing christan household, I was never sexualy abused. not all strippers have issues. Some of us like the author simply found a way to live and function as a single parent/student with out putting themselves in financial ruin.

When I read your story I was amazed It was as if you wrote my biography to a T.