# Bill the feminist, sex workers speaking for their damn selves, and assorted feminist issues........
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [August 1, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112 "2011-08-01T23:55:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/1 "2011-08-01T23:55:51Z")
(Didn’t wanna go right to the Pit with this, but if you think it needs to be there, mods, I defer to your judgment.)
I feel only a momentary twinge of guilt putting this guy on the block (Bill, not Argent, haha). Allow me to introduce you guys to Bill, the feminist, and his oh so enlightened blog…[http://billsprofeministblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/i-hate-strip-joints.html#comment-form](http://billsprofeministblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/i-hate-strip-joints.html#comment-form)
Those who know me here probably remember that I have a pretty long history as a stripper, I’m a “lifer” if you will.😛 It’s not all that often I wanna take on morons when they say stupid crap about us, but this was just beyond the pale. My comments are under Andygirl, and, well, I’ll just copy/paste because I really am that proud of myself, lol.
> [@](#):
>
> Ask Men? Why not ask strippers? I don’t know who these forlorn souls are that you are talking about here. The hundreds of women I’ve worked with in strip clubs large and small over the last 15 years or so do not resemble this sad little portrait you’re trying to paint.
>
> Pimps? Really, Bill? Have you ever met a stripper? I ask because not only do we have a tendency to be outspoken, opinionated, and fiercely protective of each other and the people we love, most of us are happy to tell you all about it if you ask. My friends and co-workers are some of the most intelligent, articulate, and educated women out there, regardless of what your “feminist” theorists have told you.
>
> Have some strippers been victimized? Of course, but so have cashiers, telemarketers, executives, hotel maids, and really anyone with a vagina and a job, or not a job. See where I’m going with this?
>
> I haven’t had the pleasure of reading through your extensive blog postings, but something women hate more than anything is a man who tries to come along and “tell it like is is,” but gets his facts wrong. Now, that club very well may have been a pimped out brothel gone wrong, but I think it’s more likely that it’s like any other small strip club. And the small clubs like that I’ve worked at typically have dancers who work there for years, who have customers they’ve known for years, and yeah Bill, they support their kids on that titty money. But they aren’t pimped out, and the vast majority of them do their job very much by choice, as distasteful as you may find it.
>
> And “trying to get by,” “get back on their feet,” honestly Bill, I’ve got to introduce you to my girls, because those things don’t describe them at all. They get by just fine, and will no matter if that club gets shut down. Because if one thing holds true in this great country of ours… there is always another strip club to work! And the great thing about being a dancer is that I’ve got everything I need to work damn near anywhere in this country in a little duffel bag. And honey, if that’s not freedom, I don’t know what is.
>
> And if you are interested in learning more, I invite you to come and respectfully learn from my sisters at [www.exoticdancernet.com](http://www.exoticdancernet.com). We will teach you everything you want to know about sex work and more. Just Ask Strippers, you will get an earful, but we’ll dress your welts after we whip you. 😉
>
> Andygirl
This gave way to a 50 comment thread on FB and some pretty solid discussions this weekend, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t share it with my Dopers. I don’t think any of us would ever deny there’s a darkside to sex work, but we don’t need a guy like Bill to make us into victims, or speak for us. I do think his heart is in the right place, which is why I didn’t just rip him a new one, but I don’t think I’m done schooling him.😃
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### Author:  [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/2 "2011-08-02T00:07:27Z")
On second thought, if a Mod could go ahead and move this to the Pit I’d be much obliged.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/3 "2011-08-02T01:21:33Z")
But, Indy, you don’t understand. Bill only wants what’s right for you. Because he’s a feminist. So you should let him make the decisions.
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### Author:  [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/4 "2011-08-02T01:36:57Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> But, Indy, you don’t understand. Bill only wants what’s right for you. Because he’s a feminist. So you should let him make the decisions.
he probably also has a mountain of “cites” and “reports” to prove his point. Don’t you know that 150 million American women are at risk of being victimized while stripping? The time to act is now! Think of the strippers :eek:
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### Author:  [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/5 "2011-08-02T01:40:59Z")
Moved at the request of the OP.
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### Author:  [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/6 "2011-08-02T01:44:31Z")
> [@Indygrrl](#):
>
> I’ve got to introduce you to my girls
Not on the SDMB, thank you. 😛
(We don’t host photos.)
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### Author:  [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/7 "2011-08-02T01:50:32Z")
WHAT??? You mean vagina /= victim???
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### Author:  [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/8 "2011-08-02T01:56:59Z")
Why this blog in particular? I mean, aren’t there tons of people who feel this way?
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### Author:  [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/9 "2011-08-02T02:03:21Z")
“Strippers with degrees holla!” made me lol.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/10 "2011-08-02T02:07:32Z")
Indygrrl, can you tell me how much [this comic](http://www.pinkpartscomic.com/?id=53) accurately describes the situation with strip clubs blurring the line towards being a brothel?
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2011, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/11 "2011-08-02T02:10:45Z")
In some areas, all (or at least most) the strip clubs are also brothels. The Detroit area is notoriously well known for this.
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### Author:  [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/12 "2011-08-02T02:21:38Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#):
>
> Why this blog in particular? I mean, aren’t there tons of people who feel this way?
Well, I follow a sexual abuse survivor group on Facebook, and normally keep my mouth shut because I’m not an abuse survivor, but I’m there to be supportive and shit. Then this got posted the other night and I knew I couldn’t or shouldn’t say everything on my nasty mind right there, so I just sort of thought about it. Then I posted it for my strippers to read, then I couldn’t stop formulating a response and got out of bed and went to town.
If I took the time to respond to every person who “got it wrong,” that’s all I’d ever do. But something about this guy calling himself a feminist, getting it all wrong, and framing us as victims just trying to feed all of our illegitimate babys and drug habits, and abusive baby daddies… It just got my brain going and my writer’s imagination workin’, which hasn’t happened in awhile so I figured I better roll with it.😉
And I really want to share the thread that came when I shared this with my girls, but I need to figure a way to do that so a few thousand people don’t all get their names and shit, haha. That would not be ok.
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### Author:  [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/13 "2011-08-02T02:26:28Z")
Let me also add that even though I’ve made some statements here, I don’t speak for all strippers, nor do I deny there are dirty clubs, and negative aspects to sex work. But I’ve known 15 years worth of real life strippers, and over 10 years of online ones, from two different sites that are both pretty big. So it’s not an overstatement to say I’ve got some pretty solid data, however informal.
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### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/14 "2011-08-02T02:28:50Z")
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with women being strippers nor do I think they are inherently “exploited” as some people seem to think. It’s a job. Whatever. It does take some nerve to do it, I think, because many people in our society _do_ look down on it.
Did you see _The Wrestler_ and did you think it was a good or bad portrayal of a stripper (Marisa Tomei’s character)?
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### Author:  [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/15 "2011-08-02T02:30:35Z")
Why do you say “my girls” and things like that? Do you run a strip club?
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### Author:  [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/16 "2011-08-02T02:32:22Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#):
>
> Did you see _The Wrestler_ and did you think it was a good or bad portrayal of a stripper (Marisa Tomei’s character)?
I thought it was ok, until the scene where the fratboy is rude to her and she starts kissing his ass. Everything up to that, his words, rang true, but I’ve never seen a stripper beg and plead and make nice like that. It made me want to shake her and say “snap out of it!”
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### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/17 "2011-08-02T02:34:22Z")
Could you refresh my memory on exactly what was said in that scene? I can’t remember. Didn’t she get mad because the guy said she was too old, or something like that?
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### Author:  [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/18 "2011-08-02T02:34:48Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#):
>
> Why do you say “my girls” and things like that? Do you run a strip club?
My girls, my strippers, my sisters…not mine as in I own 'em, but mine as in we, us, sex worker solidarity.
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### Author:  [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2011, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/19 "2011-08-02T04:07:52Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#):
>
> Could you refresh my memory on exactly what was said in that scene? I can’t remember. Didn’t she get mad because the guy said she was too old, or something like that?
He said something about her age, trying to dismiss her or something and she pretty much groveled and kissed his ass so he’s “let” her dance for him. In a packed club, looking like Marisa fucking Tomei.
Loved everything except that 10 secs of The Wrestler, it really pulled me out of it for a minute.
Honorable mention goes to Jessica Biel in Powder Blue for two or three of the sexiest on screen stripper dances of all time. Realistic? Not entirely, but I liked it. I liked it a lot.😉
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### Author:  [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2011, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-the-feminist-sex-workers-speaking-for-their-damn-selves-and-assorted-feminist-issues/591112/20 "2011-08-02T06:18:45Z")
I’m seeing a lot of these “male feminist” blogs popping up, and I don’t like these passive-aggressive little pussies one bit.
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