Joe's "story" about the Si-Fi strip-off is disgusting, and his advice for Willie's owners to "bring out the pros" for the DNC is especially vile.

Women and girls will be trafficked into Colorado for the DNC, to "service" individuals here for the DNC. Law enforcement officials will do what they can, but they will be busy with other issues during the DNC, and the CRIMINAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION of women and CHILDREN will have a chance to flourish in Denver.

To read Joe's "story", and "advice" turns my stomach. He normalizes the attitude that women and GIRLS at Willie's can be thought of as nothing more than commodified goods that can be bought and sold, and he encourages the practice during the DNC.

He should be ashamed of himself.

AHT --

Sex trafficking may well flourish during the DNC --- law enforcement agencies already are ill-equipped and under-trained at tracking such crimes, and lord knows politicians are horny. But I suspect Shotgun Willie's isn't part of that specific problem. Strip clubs of that size generally have a pretty steady police presence, and the clubs don't need to coerce underage women to perform. In fact, they have of-age women knocking down their doors to get naked, as last night's show proved.

Whether that's good or bad for the women and the customers they entertain is for someone smarter to determine. But it's not trafficking, and it's certainly not criminal.

Thanks for reading --

Joe

Whether or not clubs like Shot Gun Willie's have a police presence or not, you can not deny that there is demand for the sex industry. And if there is a demand, there are individuals who will negotiate the growth of that industry, and make lots of money off of women, men, boys and girls--regardless of what laws are in place, or what age a woman or man is who is being exploited.

Demand for the Denver sex industry will increase, as you allude to (and encourage?) in your posting, when the DNC hits town. Clubs like Willie's normalizes the commodification of human beings, regardless if they are a day over 17, or much, much older.

Once that normalization occurs, it's easier for individuals to participate in different levels of the sex industry, where lines between what's legal and what's not becomes blurrier.

Strip Clubs lie on the continuum of sexual exploitation, however severe you choose to label them, and there is a absolute connection between the business of dancing and other, illegal acts of sexual exploitation, like the criminal sexual exploitation of children.

There's an 'absolute connection' between dancing and exploitation of children? Which study is that from?

you can not deny that there is demand for the sex industry. And if there is a demand, there are individuals who will negotiate the growth of that industry, and make lots of money

Yes. And there will be a demand for the sex industry until a) when every person gets as much sex, of exactly the "right" type for them as they want, without restriction, for free or b) until demand for sex ends.

In other words, until a) never or b) never (or b2, until the human race becomes transhuman and doesn't want/need sex any longer).

That being the case, maybe a well-regulated sex industry that curbs the worst excesses (i.e. child exploitation, human trafficking, forced sexual servitude via threat of harm or economic coercion) is preferable to burying one's head in the sand?

Nah, jail the strip club owners, prostitutes and johns, pornographers, pron stars, peep-show girls and the sad, lonely men that feed them dollars. That'll work, unlike every other attempted prohibition of something that is inherently in demand. Just because the war on drugs and alcohol prohibition were such spectacular, unbelievable failures that made the problems they aimed to correct much, much worse is no reason to think that the sex industry would suffer the same fate...

My personal experience with strippers is a bit old (I had housemates who worked behind the bar that combination strip club/gay bar references in Allison Bechdel's FUN HOME), so things might have changed but they all seemed OK with doing what they were doing.

If I were a sex worker, I think I'd be pissed off to think that my livlihood was degrading and exploitative. Personally, I'm of the opinion that anything a woman chooses to do, even sex work, is her business and not ours.

As a side note: my ex was a science fiction writer, and I can tell you that, given the choice to go to a strip club, or stay at the convention with the hope he might get a crack at an SF groupie, he'd go with the latter. Wouldn't you?

Hey Joe! Thanks for the article. Funny stuff. I'm reminded of the "America's most smartest model" competition.

I've never understood why people think prostitutes and strippers (same thing, right? o.0) are exploited by the very nature of their work. They are indeed more vulnerable to exploitation because their work is illegal, but stripping and having sex for money aren't intrinsically exploitive acts unless you think sex is somehow intrinsically holy or profane. Personally, I think it's something I'll only do with my sweetie, but - Gasp! Shock! - not all women feel that way, just as not all men feel that way. And hey, if they want to make some cash off possessing a cute body, you go girl. I'm just jealous I'm not good-looking enough to get the kudos too.

Personally, having been to a strip club and seen the rather bored or amused-looking girls on stage and the ... um.... blank-faced men below, I'm pretty sure it's not the girls who need saving. But I'm not gonna throw myself into the rift to save those sad slackers chucking away their dollars; sorry.

Muchos Gracias, and have a good day!

You strip club aficionados may want to read "Caribbean Dreams: true Story of an Ivy League Couple who Bought a STRIP CLUB in the Caribbean" www.caribbeanstripclub.com

I got a good laugh out of this story during Denvention. Thanks for doing such exhaustive, undercover research. ;->