The writer, Rod McPhee decided to do what seems to be beyond the wit of people such as Rachel Reeves, Bernard Atha and Fawcett Society member Rebecca Charlwood and actually meet some of the people that work in the clubs, in this case Wildcats.
"........A lap dancer at Wildcats on The Headrow can rake in anything up to £2,000 a week – the most any of the four women we spoke to earned was the equivalent of £60,000 a year......"
Yes I am sure this is correct and that's one good reason why everyone campaigned so hard to keep the clubs open. As I demonstrated in a recent posting, employment opportunities with anything near the same income level are non-existent in Leeds.
What was nice to see was the dancers were portrayed with humanity. The truth of the matter is that they are ordinary people just like us with career ambitions that include in the case of the girls interviewed, aspirations such as nursing, journalism and even health and safety inspection.
What was particularly interesting were the comments attached to the article. Almost all were very supportive, but still there were some that I found irritating.....
This is one of the irritating ones. Hard to know what issues Steven91 is reflecting here, apart from the fact that he can't cope with women who earn more than he does. I don't imagine they put 'lapdancer'on their CVs either, but the only reasons for that is the swarm of bigoted twats that seem keep popping up everywhere.....
Ronald Jeremy responds to Steve with maybe more tact than I.......
Sarah Covell makes a valid point about prostitution, but I really wish she had not expressed it in the same content as her comment about the clubs. But otherwise its a great comment from a sensible person.
Steven91 is soon back on the case and displaying his inability to understand or accept other peoples arguments. I say this because he makes the same point as he made before and adds an insult along with it. Steven91 really should invest his energy in making his own life better, as opposed to hoping that other peoples lives are damaged by the same ignorance and prejudice that he so willingly flaunts.
Steven91, you should written 'legalised prostitution', when you fail to write and phrase correctly you look like an arse, which actually you do when you make comments that you cannot support.
TonyN tries to reason with Steven91, but quite frankly his time and words are wasted.
So overall a great article and some great comments. We will of course be back here again next year, because Rachel Reeves and the gang aren't going to give up, but I anticipate some peace in Leeds for the time being.
Not the first time that Steven91 has commented on articles in the YEP. He continues to make himself look a fool but I did hope that with so many people commenting against him he would learn that his view is not what most people would see as normal and reasonable.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately (for the likes of him), the Steven91s of this world tend to be slow learners, particularly when it comes to absorbing new information which challenges their narrow, rather fixed world views; meanwhile, the rest of society overtakes them and eventually leaves them behind.
ReplyDeleteThe women just do it for the money. They are paid a lot of money to entice them to do it as it carries risks of family finding out, being stalked and generally looked down upon by the rest of society. The women hustle the men, i.e. take advantage of their desires in order to fleece them of their money in an immoral way. I know a lap dancer, they all call it hustling, they know it is taking advantage, they see no virtue in it. They know it would be hypercritical to do so. They would not do it unless it was for the money. That is the only reason. It offers no benefit to the welfare of society. Many of the men who go are married and ask any wife how they would feel about that, they would definitely feel it was cheating. These men spend hundreds or maybe thousands of pounds in these clubs whilst their wives are sat at home. Though the stripper walks away with lots of money individually, the boom of lapdancing clubs on a wider scale can have a negative effect of mens attitudes culturally towards women. In some clubs the women are oppressed as they create competitive atmosphere by getting getting as many women as they can on to make money out of the house fee. There is then a high ratio of dancers to customers. Women are then tempted to prostitute themselves to compete.
ReplyDeleteAnd you base this position on your experiences of the scene? Of course dancers work for money. Everyone works for the money, doesn't surprise anyone. As to the impact on the view of women by men going to the clubs that is an expectation with no proof, I can only go by the men that I have met in the 20 or so years of drink in strip pubs but nearly all the guys have been positive about women and much more likely to supportive and understanding. Remember many men who go are married, have daughters and are just normal. Society throws on labels that are expectations and beliefs and in fact have no relation to the truth.
DeleteYes clubs are paid by dancers to work there and some do have too many on. But dancers won't work if they are regularly losing money so there is still money to be made. As to tempted to prostitute themselves I assume you have interviewed over 300 dancers to get this valid statement? Ohhhh you haven't? It is just an opinion? You have any facts to back this comment up? In 20 years of the London scene I can only think of two dancers that would try solicit, both had very short careers as they got fired quite a bit from the different pubs and clubs in London. I am estimating that I have probably met over 500 dancers in the over 20 years of drinking in London.
Still people making wild statements on old articles is always good for a laugh.
TonyN