Posted on 05/22/2002 9:45:51 PM PDT by texas booster
I was heading up Stemmons Freeway the other day and was surprised to see that yet another "Dallas palace" had opened.
And by that I mean another one of those ridiculously overdone "gentlemen's clubs."
Dallas has earned a reputation as one of the nation's top spots for topless spots. A regular Silicone Valley.
But seeing that swank new club reminded me of a newsletter that had been on my desk a while. It's from a small group in town called New Friends New Life.
The folks at New Friends will tell you that this newest strip club has chosen a wonderfully appropriate name – Illusions Cabaret.
"It really is all an illusion," said LeAnne Riley, a former topless dancer, now a mentor at New Friends.
"You end up really being disgusted with men. You sit there night after night with this mask on, pretending you are enjoying their company. And the only thing on your mind is how much money you can get out of this stupid sucker.
"And some of the men are so clueless," she said. "They're desperate for any sign of attention. They think the women really like them, and they're just being used."
Now there's an advertising pitch you'll never see: Million-Dollar Fantasy Cabaret Lodge Royale – Where Sexually Desperate Men Meet Financially Desperate Women.
Make no mistake, guys, the women are there for the money, said New Friends director Carolyn Pool.
"It's all about economic necessity. It's the lure of quick money," she said. "I don't think any of these women always wanted to dance in men's clubs when they grew up.
"I'd say 80 percent of them would do something else if they had a viable alternative. But most of them don't even have a GED, and they've got a kid or two to raise.
"They go into it telling themselves they will just do it for a little while. They think they'll get caught up on their bills and move on. But they don't. They get trapped in a downward spiral and end up feeling worthless."
Oh, it seems great at first, LeAnne said. "You get all this money to party all the time. It seems fabulous."
But that thrill doesn't last long. "There were many nights I sat in the dressing room crying, and others crying with me, all of us wishing we could do something else but not knowing how," she said.
And that's where New Friends New Life comes in. The mission statement is simple: Helping women leave sexually oriented businesses.
This is no moral crusade. You won't find New Friends picketing clubs. In fact, Carolyn is refreshingly nonjudgmental about the whole matter.
"I don't think it's my business to tell people how to live. That's not our mission," she said. "But if a woman wants to do something else, we're here to help her."
A few women at a time, New Friends New Life provides just what its name suggests.
"In the past, we focused on finding them jobs. Now we're putting a lot more emphasis on education," Carolyn said. "The reality is that women who don't have an education can't make a living."
So earning a GED and training for jobs are top priorities, along with child care and housing. Often, addictions must be addressed. Carolyn said drugs and alcohol seem to be occupational hazards for dancers.
The numbers are modest. Ten or 12 women are helped at a time. Maybe 30 in a year.
Finances limit the numbers. A few churches help provide apartments. More are certainly needed, Carolyn said. (To offer help – or get help – call New Friends at 214-965-0935.)
And, men, if you want to spend your money in these "gentlemen's clubs," New Friends would say that's your business. Just don't fall for their classy, carefree illusion.
"They want you to think it's not hurting anybody," LeAnne said.
"But it is."
It is amazing how many girls mess their lives up by the time they turn 18.
Gee, what was the church thinking when they offered to help the stripper mom???
I told several friends of mine that the so-called Family Leave Act should be renamed the Hookers and Strippers Act.
You see, the central government has added an additional cost to hiring any young female who is of child bearing age. Not too long ago you could call a business and actually have someone answer the phone and direct your inquiry to the proper extension. Although that position didn't require a great deal of skill or education, that same person could learn the business and work her way into other areas that paid more for what she had learned.
After passage of the Hookers and Strippers Act, small businesses simply can't afford to hire someone to answer the phones because there is the added cost of the Family Leave Act. So now we are relegated to talking to machines, that don't get pregnant.
Where do uneducated young women go to make a living? Well, as long as they're pretty and don't mind exposing themselves to make a quick buck, they become strippers... then hookers.
Don't you just love what Congress does for us?
Why not have a stripper-geek cross training institute ? Job/technical skills exchanged for social/sexual skills taught by a very experienced woman ! Any woman who is selling her beauty, a model, a starlet, a stripper, or a hooker knows that she will be over the hill after 25. 28 tops. But selling her beauty meant she never took the time to get educated or acquire job skills. So next stop, escorts. And in looking for a real job, what would she put on her resume ?
March, 1998 - May, 2002 BigUns Gentlemans Club
- Performed customer service in fast paced environment
- Will literally bend over backward to meet customer needs
- Possesses vast wealth of experience.
- Can smile a lot
And there are tons of geeks who make good money but don't have a clue how to get a pretty girl. They need someone to give them polish and sexual experience and confidence. And those geeks can give in return job and technical skills that those woman will now need to earn a living. Hey, it beats escorts or porn.
At least they are trying to do something to make a difference!
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