I don't, however, think that either the simple act of putting women in charge will magically make everything better OR that the act of regulating it SHOULD necessarily automatically mean women are put in charge of it. I am against "quotas" of whatever sort.
I agree it's silly to think that putting women in charge would magically make the porn or stripping or prostitution biz more humane and woman-friendly. Women can be catty and competitive (Showgirls!). However, I DO think that having people who are ex-strippers running strip joints, and having ex-hookers running brothels, and having former porn stars making porn would put a different spin on things. It's not so much a gender issue as "I've been there and I know what it's like."
As a separate issue, I don't think the regulation *should* take the competition out of the job. You may be right that it was only ex-strippers/hookers complaining about that part; I'm not going to re-read it to check. But either way, competition is a part of almost any job, and saying it's the male-sexist pigs causing the competition is crap. [snip] For a stripper, that definition is extended to "you have to be sexy", and since sexy varies from person to person the stripper has to be willing to accomodate whatever definition her (or his) client follows, or else turn down the client.
While I get your point, some of the things they were complaining about were things like ramping up the competition to "take things further" with clients. If a woman signs up to be a stripper being told that she won't have to touch clients, and they dont' get to touch her, but there's an unspoken understanding that strippers who bend the rules get better time slots (not because they're sexier or better dancers, but because they're willing to let men push the line on touching, etc.), then that's problematic and could potentially lead to not feeling it's a safe place to work.
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2005-07-29 07:30 pm (UTC)I agree it's silly to think that putting women in charge would magically make the porn or stripping or prostitution biz more humane and woman-friendly. Women can be catty and competitive (Showgirls!). However, I DO think that having people who are ex-strippers running strip joints, and having ex-hookers running brothels, and having former porn stars making porn would put a different spin on things. It's not so much a gender issue as "I've been there and I know what it's like."
As a separate issue, I don't think the regulation *should* take the competition out of the job. You may be right that it was only ex-strippers/hookers complaining about that part; I'm not going to re-read it to check. But either way, competition is a part of almost any job, and saying it's the male-sexist pigs causing the competition is crap. [snip] For a stripper, that definition is extended to "you have to be sexy", and since sexy varies from person to person the stripper has to be willing to accomodate whatever definition her (or his) client follows, or else turn down the client.
While I get your point, some of the things they were complaining about were things like ramping up the competition to "take things further" with clients. If a woman signs up to be a stripper being told that she won't have to touch clients, and they dont' get to touch her, but there's an unspoken understanding that strippers who bend the rules get better time slots (not because they're sexier or better dancers, but because they're willing to let men push the line on touching, etc.), then that's problematic and could potentially lead to not feeling it's a safe place to work.