Monday 19 February 2018

Good Sense and Balance (from a Chippendale)

Not to demean Chippendales and other sexy dancers but... when one is seeking wisdom then they aren't at the top of most people's list (whether that's right or not is a totally different thing).

Yet the most sensible, balance and decent comments I've seen on the continued rise of the New Puritans has come, from all places, an interview with a Chippendales performer in Las Vegas.

I am wondering how he feels about recent workplace developments: Formula 1's banning of the "grid girls". Or the darts "walk on girls". What about boxing's "ring girls" in Vegas?  
"It's complicated," he acknowledges. "Because if any one of those girls was proud to do that, proud to be there, proud of their body - enjoying the money, thought it was easy, and were there 100% voluntarily then it's hard to argue against it.  
"That said, with all these stories coming out, things have been wrong for so long that we might need to overcorrect for a while before we find the middle ground.

"As a whole, females have been pushed back or objectified so many times, so often, that things that personify the old guard might have to drop off for a while."
This is something that's better than anything I've read anywhere else. Do I agree with it totally? No. I'm an individualist and dislike any idea of having to "overcorrect" and undermine individual liberty to pay reparations for something I've not done.

However it is voices like his that are required if we're to put an end to a ridiculous culture war where those of us who believe in free sexual expression are caught in the crossfire.