Wednesday, May 11, 2005
If you want a relaxing career, take up lion taming
When is a strip club not a strip club? When it's a performance art center.
Local governments are a pain in the butt to deal with. Their planning and zoning people are often uncooperative if not downright obstructionist. Sometimes, they want bribes. City councils and county governments make strip clubs obey onerous regulations they don't ask of crack houses. Residents in the neighborhood throw a hissy fit, mostly for the media's benefit, even though the customers who visit the area are richer than the neighbors. However, most governments make concessions to the First Amendment when it comes to nudity. These loopholes are primarily an out for nudity on stage during theater performances so that county and city governments don't look like the ignorant Babbits they are. But it seems possible that a strip club could stage performances that were quote unquote artistic but which were also hot. This is reminiscent of the the new burlesquenew burlesque movement which came out of New York City in recent years - alt.striptease - adult entertainment for adults rather than the socially retarded. In a way, that was the point that "Flashdance" tried to make - despite the kitsch - a fusion of the erotic, pop, and modern dance - and to a lesser extent, Britney Spears, who admits to copping moves from strip club dancers as well. Local police are supposed to enforce the law, but what they are actually there to do is enforce conformity. Since this country is sex-negative, that translates into trouble for you. You can bribe them with money in suitcases or you can bribe them with high paying jobs moonlighting as security guards (if the Mafia did this, it would be called a protection racket.) You can frighten them into leaving you alone or you can put them in your back pocket. Your choice.
Local governments are a pain in the butt to deal with. Their planning and zoning people are often uncooperative if not downright obstructionist. Sometimes, they want bribes. City councils and county governments make strip clubs obey onerous regulations they don't ask of crack houses. Residents in the neighborhood throw a hissy fit, mostly for the media's benefit, even though the customers who visit the area are richer than the neighbors. However, most governments make concessions to the First Amendment when it comes to nudity. These loopholes are primarily an out for nudity on stage during theater performances so that county and city governments don't look like the ignorant Babbits they are. But it seems possible that a strip club could stage performances that were quote unquote artistic but which were also hot. This is reminiscent of the the new burlesquenew burlesque movement which came out of New York City in recent years - alt.striptease - adult entertainment for adults rather than the socially retarded. In a way, that was the point that "Flashdance" tried to make - despite the kitsch - a fusion of the erotic, pop, and modern dance - and to a lesser extent, Britney Spears, who admits to copping moves from strip club dancers as well. Local police are supposed to enforce the law, but what they are actually there to do is enforce conformity. Since this country is sex-negative, that translates into trouble for you. You can bribe them with money in suitcases or you can bribe them with high paying jobs moonlighting as security guards (if the Mafia did this, it would be called a protection racket.) You can frighten them into leaving you alone or you can put them in your back pocket. Your choice.
# posted by Chris Martin @ 1:19 PM 
