Is stripping Okay? Heck, it's liberating

Is stripping Okay? Heck, it’s liberating

Editorial

Scholars devoted to studying the composition and form of American public opinion will tell you that, as far as ideology goes, the vast majority of Americans simply don’t have one. That is, for all of the big talk that tends to circulate around the Sunday morning talk show circuit about the “rising conservative tide” or the “new liberalism,” most of us really don’t identify in any appreciable way with either side.Still, it would be heavy handed (not to mention counter intuitive) to dismiss the American public as having no opinions whatsoever – we all obviously do.It’s simply that some issues are far more stratifying than others. Think abortion, welfare reform, gun control, gay rights, etc. It’s here, within the sort of cafeteria style choices we make, choices which are guided by an overarching belief of how the world works (or ought to work), in which something we might rightly call an ideology begins to emerge.After all, you’re either pro-choice or pro-life, right? You can’t be for gay rights and against gay marriages, can you?Maybe.But more likely these sorts of questions reveal the capriciousness of ideology. Is it really possible to neatly compartmentalize the world into a shallow series of knee-jerk reactions? Is it even desirable?Take a cue from today’s piece on the choice by some OSU students to supplement their incomes by taking jobs working as strippers. Is it possible to support the activity and still consider oneself a feminist? Hmmm.Granted, this is far from a new trend. Students – mostly women – have been choosing part-time stripping as a more lucrative alternative to, say, waitressing for decades. And for just as long the questions, criticisms, and more recently, praise have followed the activity.This is one of those issues which doesn’t fit neatly into a person’s world view – at least it doesn’t fit in ours.Is a woman taking her clothes off for money at the behest of men exploitation? Or is it empowerment? Isn’t it merely an extreme example of the perpetual oppression of women by men – an oppression which spans humanity’s history? Or is it an expression of “power feminism,” in which women have turned the sexual tables and achieved a position of ascendancy?In an article exploring some Brown University womens’ choices to strip, Ben Gose quoted one woman’s feminist take on the activity: “Isn’t it strong of me to say, Okay, I’m going to take that image of the thin, beautiful blonde woman, and I’m going to push it to the max? I’m going to take it on stage, and I’m going to charge men just to look at it.”Strong words which, we must admit, resonate with us.It’s no longer feasible to view sexuality strictly through the lens of radical feminism. The notion that sex is not in fact a natural, biological force based upon instinctive urges and tendencies, but rather a social construct based upon ideology is not only ludicrous, it serves no utilitarian purpose.Even liberal feminists – all of you out there who feel uncomfortable or even offended at the notion of a woman taking her clothes off for money but would defend her right to do so, are missing the point.Every act which liberalizes sexuality, which breaks down cultural and political barriers and challenges both women and men about their preconceived notions of sex and power, has to be seen as an inherently good thing. And this position is not simply another example of a feminist getting hoodwinked and co-opted by the dominant sexual ideology. It’s an honest appraisal likely to elicit a negative response from both men and women.Good. Give us a call and we can talk about it. And while we’re at it we can discuss the feminist benefits of porn.