I’ve gone to strip clubs on a number of occasions and I do so for the obvious reason; I enjoy looking at naked women.
And for anyone who’s interested in checking one out, the best strip clubs in the world are in Ontario.
Diver,would you not mind if your wife just had sex with some other guy??
Whoa there, killer. That topic deserves a whole other thread all by itself.
orangecakes.
Diver,would you not mind if your wife just had sex with some other guy??
Being a firm believer in the double standard, of course I would. (TIC)
I used to have a stripper girlfriend. She worked in several places, so I visited the gamut of classy clubs to sleazy joints. For me, the thrill is gone after about 15 minutes. I might admire a particularly good dancer, but I often worked crossword puzzles at the bar while waiting for her to get off work.
I’ve beem amused, impressed, sometimes titillated at strip clubs. But yes, Boris, I find the places rather depressing overall. I’m about to make some generalizations that I have observed. Yes, there are exceptions to these:
A lot of the women are supporting drug habits, either their own or that of a boyfriend.
Some of the women suffer such low self-esteem that they truly believe that their naked bodies are all they have to offer the world.
A lot of the women see it as just another job and are not particularly fulfilled by it. There is the added burden of having to act like it is a lot of fun.
Now, about the men who go to these places. Some are curiosity-seekers or guys who go once in a blue moon for a change of pace. The regulars seem to fall into certain categories:
Some really do seem to love women, but only when they are safely on that pedestal. These guys don’t know how to relate to ordinary women in daily reality. They may be nice, but commitment to a stable relationship is a foreign concept to them.
Some are just plain immature. They are still living at the frat house. “Fun” is sports, booze, and hooting at the titties.
Some are just very sad, lonely men. They may be ugly and poor; they may just be terribly shy and have low opinions of themselves. This is as intimate as it will ever get for them, and they know it.
Finally, there are the creepy ones. These guys hate women, period. They may see the nudity as a degradation, they may be fantasizing about raping them. My girlfriend used to talk about certain ones that had a look in their eyes that said they could just as easily tip her or kill her. Scary.
Well, that’s my take on it. Do I like strip clubs? Naw. Am I “against” them? Hell, no. I can think of worse ways to make or spend money.
I have been to a strip club many times. A good friend of mine was a dancer and a group of us would go watch her dance. There were nice looking girls (except for the anorexic/junky/tired looking few). I think the thing that would bother me the most would be a few of the drunk, creepy, slobbering, perverts.
I have been in a male strip club more times than I can possibly count. For 6 years, I would meet friends every Wednesday afterwork and we would go to the 6:00 ladies night show. I am not one to stand and scream, but I have groped a few and slipped a buck or two in a g-string. Now me and a few friends go about every 3 months just to get our fix.
I have hired two strippers to perform in my home for two different wedding showers. They were great guys and hung around afterward for a few drinks.
I dated a stripper a few years ago and would also go watch him dance. It does give you a little ego burst to watch the faces of the women as you walk out the door with one of the guys on your arm.
>^,^<
KITTEN
Coffee, chocolate, men . . . Some things are just better rich.
Yeah, I gotta admit that was an ego boost (if not an ego burst)…
Now, since the subject of male strippers has been brought up: how do you like them, ladies? I’ve heard that the experience is just weird for several reasons:
- Men’s bodies are not all that attractive.
- The carnival atmosphere and all the
giggling and screaming kills any possible sexual buzz. - The way they dance is kinda…well…gay.
- The whole scene is not liberating, but somehow insulting to the audience.
Women, speak out!
See my reply to Shadowfox above - third message in the thread.
In answer to your questions:
- Oh yes they are! Chests! Thighs! Arms!
- It takes a Hell of a lot more that screaming and giggling to kill a sexual buzz in me.
- The dancing I saw was not effeminate at all. Manly, sexy… Oooh!
- I didn’t find it to be insulting.
To each their own, I suppose.
To summarize, I loved it! I thought it would be hilarious, but the guys that danced for me and my friends were gorgeous and sexy and muscular… I just wanted to jump on their bones.
I worked as a dancer for about 1.5 years in an upscale bar in Detroit.
Detroit is a tad weird with dancers. I had to be licensed yearly, which included going through a traffic court clearance (so you’d pay your tickets, LOL) and a felony court clearance (so you didn’t have criminals working there).
The police came in regularly with a female cop to make sure no funny stuff was going on. There was the added protection of some very beefy bouncers who wouldn’t hesitate to throw out anyone who misbehaved in any way. That included propositioning the dancers, touching inappropriately, etc.
I was topless only (hey! I have standards! 
), and gave lap dances for $10 to $20 (per 3.5 minute song) depending on whether they were on the regular floor or in the VIP room. I had to make one circuit of the stages (four, approximately 15 minutes total) every two hours where I was free to accept tips.
I was paid nothing by the bar to work there, but had to pay them $20 to $40 per night depending on when I arrived. I also had to tip the DJ, I usually tipped 10% of what I made. Tipping the bouncer was optional, I made it a habit to do it anyway, it made them much friendlier. Oooh…I almost forgot, I also tipped the valet. We were responsible for our own taxes, essentially like an independant contrator.
I met my husband there. Weird, yes. Unlikely, very.
I was next to go on stage and I was leaning against the bar making sure my thigh-high fishnets were straight when he caught my eye. He was wearing one of those “duh…half-naked woman” looks and I laughed at him. He turned red and laughed back. He caught me on my was up to the stage and asked me to come sit with him afterwards and I did.
It was a slow night so we sat together all night (never did a lap dance for him, but he tipped me on stage). We had dinner, laughed and commiserated about our respective divorces. He was funny, intelligent and I gave him my phone number without his ever asking.
It took him 2.5 weeks to call, but we’ve been together ever since. If you want to see what he looks like, look here: www.sammivision.com
I miss it occasionally, but won’t ever go back to it. It was a part of my life that was great fun, but is over. (Well…maybe I’d do an amateur night )
Oh, and I’ve never been to a place where men strip.
Oh yeah… I almost forgot about the whole paying thing. Most guys assumed we made big bucks just for working there. They didn’t realize we had to PAY to work there, and made ALL our money on thier tips… heh. We had to tip the DJ and bartender 10% too…
>^,^<
“Cluemobile? You’ve got a pickup…”
OpalCat’s site: http://opalcat.com
The Teeming Millions Homepage: fathom.org/teemingmillions
As a guy who has patronized strip joints in many different states, here’s my take on the whole deal:
I was a good friend of the wife of a guy in a band; another band member was dating a stripper and knew the owner of the local club (Nibbles in Lubbock) really well, so, since we got in free, for a while all of us (including the wife) went to the club every weekend. The stripper, a wild sort, once gave the wife a lap dance. The look on her face when she looked up and saw a pair of panties dangling from a shoe right in front of her face was priceless. Overall, she didn’t mind the club at all; she even tipped the stripper-girl when she went up on stage later. The only thing that bothered her was when I pointed out the spray-glitter on her face the next day. Never will I forget her realization that night: “Women are soft.” Well, duh.
Women, in my experience, think gawking at naked women is just some silly thing guys do, kinda like fantasy football; they roll their eyes, shake their heads, mutter something about immaturity under their breath, and go on with their lives. That’s an appropriate and realistic reaction; I don’t know any guys who think that a strip club is more than it is. No one goes with the notion that they’ll be taking someone home or making the Beast With Two Backs in the back room. As long as you accept it for what it is, everyone goes home happy.
My pick for best strip club is the Ice House in Albuquerque, although I haven’t been there in years. One caveat: for the most part, you have to be accepting of tattoos and piercings. But the girls are real friendly, and the private dances are, far and away, the friendliest I’ve ever encountered. The Palomino Club in Las Vegas is okay, but way overpriced.
When I tip or accept a table/lap/couch/whatever dance, I try to engage the girl in actual conversation. You know, learn a little about them and such. They are people, after all, and although they shrug off pickup lines, they welcome questions and comments that aren’t leering. I also collect a peck on the cheek from dancers I tip; I try to be a touch more memorable than the shadowy lurking figure in the stained trenchcoat.
Incidentally, I think tipping a stripper may well be the most honest exchange between man and woman. The dancer knows what the guy wants (a gander at her goodies), the guy knows what the dancer wants (a couple bucks), they exchange, and both go away happy, with no lingering regrets or expectations. The only difference between tipping a stripper and dating is that dating deals in commodities. But then, I may be bitter.
Anyway. Tear me to shreds, sexist male pig that I am. I like the unclothed female form. Sue me.
Not a hige fans of strip clubs. My reasoning was (to me) logical. In NYC, I knew guys who would blow hundreds of dollars a night at these places. If I EVER spend that much money on a girl, I really don’t want to have an orgasm that is self-induced afterward…
Yer pal,
Satan
<font color=“red” size=+2>Why am I just now finding out that UndeadDude and Opalcat are a couple???</font>
Because you haven’t been paying attention.
I’m afraid I’ll have to confiscate your username now.
Yes,Tenn,that was true.I was supporting my boyfriends drug habit.Youre right.It’s a lousy life.It doesn’t dawn on you that you are being degraded until after you’ve retired.
Lol Omni! We’ve been married 8 years and counting, and posting on the SDMB for about 3.5 years. If you go to http://fathom.org you’ll see us (of course he goes by “Storm” there, not UndeadDude) both on the front page 
>^,^<
“Cluemobile? You’ve got a pickup…”
OpalCat’s site: http://opalcat.com
The Teeming Millions Homepage: fathom.org/teemingmillions
Vanillanice, that reminds me of a stripper joke. You’ve probably heard it:
What does a stripper do with her ass before she goes to work?
She drops him off at band practice.
:::Thank you, I’ll be here all week. Remember to tip your waitresses and bartenders, and drive safe, now.:::
Livin’ on Tums, Vitamin E and Rogaine
OpalCat: I just read your webpages on dancing and I was wondering about your Houston experiences. I’ve been to several clubs in Houston over the years and I’ve never seen any of what you were describing (and dammit I’m a good tipper). The most physical contact I’ve had with a dancer there was one on stage who gave me a French kiss when I tipped her. (I’ll admit I put my hands on her ass during a private dance afterwards. She didn’t object but the bartender was watching and threatened to throw me out if I did it again.)
The “sleaziest” club I’ve ever been in was Big Daddy’s in New Orleans. It advertised as a bottomless club but was in fact topless only. There was no cover charge but I planned on buying at least a couple of drinks and tipping the dancers and waitresses (as I usually do). As soon as I sat down the waitress came over and took my order. Before she returned with it the dancer on stage asked me if I wanted a private dance when she was done on stage. She was good looking and I had planned on asking her for a dance, but I was surprised because I’ve never before had the dancer on stage interrupt her act to hustle up some business. When the waitress brought my drink she asked me for a tip before I could give her one, again surprising me. Meanwhile the dancer on stage was also openly asking other customers for tips. Another dancer was going around asking customers to buy a private dance. When she stopped at my seat the first dancer told her I had already agreed to buy a dance from her.
At this point, I had only been in the bar for about five minutes and had been hit up for money by three different women. I was considering leaving but decided I should stay for the private dance I had agrred to. The waitress came back again within five minutes and asking me if I was ready to reorder. I pointed out I hadn’t finished half of my first drink yet. The dancer on stage finished her set (without ever stripping fully nude) and came over to collect me. She took me to the back of the bar and told me the price of a lap dance and that I could get a “really naughty” dance for five dollars more. I paid for the full version. She then started dancing to the song that had already been playing for over a minute. Her “really naughty” dance consisted of a no contact dance with her top off. Towards the end of the song she stripped down to her g-string. She then asked me if I wanted to buy another dance. I had already decided to leave. Twenty minutes at Big Daddy’s was enough. The ironic part was that if they hadn’t all been so intent on seperating me from my money I would have stayed for an hour or so and they all would have gotten three or four times as much as they did.
My first experience with a strip club was also Big Daddy’s in New Orleans. My unit was about to ship off to Saudi Arabia for the Gulf War, and I wanted to at least see one strip club before who knows what was going to happen over there.
A couple of buddies and I went in, and the first thing they did was collect our driver’s lisences. I guess they knew they were going to rip us off, and didn’t want us walking out without paying. This was very clever of them, because it was the biggest rip-off, just as Mike King described. I certainly would have stiffed them based on how they scammed us.
The fact that they wanted your driver’s license was not enough of a tipoff? Here’s a tip: when someone tries to take away your ID, your keys, or your clothes, you’re about to be scammed.