London Riots - Bad news for London strippers!

I'm flabbergasted to note that this is my umpteenth post about riots and protests in London.  It seems that every other month there is a protest - the Slut Walk was a very positive empowering experience for me, the student protests in the West End were not as they shut down half the neighbourhood and turned it into a quiet night at work.
But this weekend we saw the start of riots across London. The full shocking extent can be found on this map here  but basically they started in Tottenham, North London, and further riots sprang up in several places, including Brixton and Oxford Circus.

I woke up hungover and at home today, looking forward to starting the working week with a nice, slow Monday night shift at the club.  But once again I'm apprehensive as;
a) nobody is going to visit a stripclub when riots happened across London yesterday.
b) especially when the riots included Oxford Circus and the West End.
c) getting a taxi home after work will be a nightmare.

I thought that I would take me mind off my hangover and the worrying events by taking a walk in the park, but the first thing I saw was this

The only reason why you would EVER find an empty box in a park for chrissakes for a top of the range 42" Plasma TV is because last night this happened;

(from the West Londoner blog, thanks)

I'm glad to say that I still enjoyed the walk in the park, but will just have to eat beans on toast until it calms down and people start partying in London again, as it's a gamble otherwise.  As a lapdancer, I have to pay a 'house fee' every night I work there, so if it's a quiet night, I may not make my money back.  I lose out twofold, my time and my money.  Riots in London are bad news for strippers as the club will be deserted, still at least its not happening during the busy Christmas season...

Marching down the Strand in my Knickers - The London Slut Walk 2011

It was a fantastic feeling to march down the Strand and into Trafalgar Square with my knickers on proud display during the London Slutwalk 2011.  The day itself, Saturday 11th June 2011, turned out to be a hot, sunny London summer day so was perfect weather to take your clothes off.
I shouted slogans, bonded with all types of activists, had a tear in my eye at the impassioned speakers and got thoroughly fired up at the all the crap society throws at us for being a girl (or gay/transgender/sex worker/rape victim - the list was long and the cause was loud).  I've spoken about the message behind the march in an earlier post, and I'll do so again, but for now I'll just comment on the day itself.
There were lot's of snap-happy photographers, and I must admit I had a fair few taken of me ( I had a fabulous outfit darlings).  However, as this blog is anonymous I'm afraid I can't show you a picture of me at the march, so instead here are a few snaps of my favourite London Slutwalkers;

These are old-school activists keeping it simple so that the strong message stands out.

 

 This Geisha uses her outfit to say her message for her - is this how we have to dress and act to not get raped or judged nowadays?

 The dominatrix in full length black latex must have been boiling in the sun, so along comes a nice blonde in pigtails to give her an icecream....

My favourite pair of the march.  Their inflatable cocks said "NO MEANS NO", note the shiny policeman's badge on their uniforms as a reference to the Canadian policeman's attitude which started the Slutwalk movement, and they were a really nice pair of guys from NYC to boot.  I had lots of fun camping around with them for a while before they left to go to Covent Garden to buy Baby Gaga breastmilk icecream.  As you do.....

I'm hoping the London Slutwalk is an annual thing - oh, and to top it off, the Naked Bike Ride went past us - TWICE!!!!

London Slut Walk - Stand up & be a slut

So I'm a stripper from London, and proud of it - but will I join those who say they are proud to be a slut in London?
The London Slut Walk is to be held on the 4th June 2011 by the way, if you feel like ambling along in fishnets under a subversively named banner through the streets of central London.  It sounds like it could be quite fun really - getting all dressed up in your finest sluttiest togs, a sun-filled day out with a gaggle of girls - but it has a deeper political meaning.
For those who are unsure, the Slut Walk is part of a broader worldwide movement which was sparked by a Toronto policeman lecturing about the dangers surrounding rape.  I'm sure that the poor guy had a lot more to say to keep those college girls safe, but he'll only ever be remembered for one little aside, a mere throwaway comment; "women should avoid dressing like sluts".
Well, they should avoid dressing like sluts to avoid getting raped - thats what he said, basically, and boy is the poor ol' PC plod in a lot of hot water for saying it.

My last post or so discussed - or flaunted in a particularly boastful, look-at-me slutty manner - about the POWER that lay behind the standout slut outfit, and how something similar should be in every stripper's arsenal.
And then I noticed the comments in the media - 'slut' was being reclaimed for common parlance, like 'queer' was for gays (when will happy people reclaim the word 'gay', huh?- only joking)
What really tickled me at first was that so many wanted to be able to wear slutty clothes without the fear of getting raped.  Surely a slutty outfit is there to excite and arouse sexual desire in others - a corset and thong are not worn for their comfort or practicality.  You can't nip down to the shop in a pair of 6" perspex stiletto's, your money rolled up in a lacy garter across your thigh.  A latex jumpsuit was not invented because you can easily dance in it - or take a piss in a cramped cubicle.  Surely you wanted sexual attention - surely you are asking for it when you are dressed like a slut?
No.  No for two reasons - the first and most obvious is that no woman wants to be raped with impunity by randoms against her will.
But also no because, my view of a slutty outfit and what they do is completely and utterly subjective.  For christ's sake - I'm a stripper, looking like a slut is part of my job.
But if you are not a stripper, and still want to wear heels and fake tan and push-up bras and short skirts and pout provocatively in your £20 designer lipgloss - well why not?  You are a woman looking beautiful and enjoying herself.  A bit of attention might be nice, sure - but sexual assault?  Come on.  That would totally spoil a night out.

I think I've just talked myself into strolling through London on the 4th of June - but I'll leave my standout slut outfit at home and instead walk to reclaim sexy outfit wearing for sluts and non-sluts at the London Slut Walk.

Lapdancing advertising - great or disgusting?

I noticed that 2 girls were fined for 'defacing' a poster promoting Spearmint Rhino, which reminded me of a another poster incident last year, when Rhino were given a good spanking by the ASA for a 'Back to School' poster.
Even at 4am, as I sat in a smelly cab on my way home from my stripclub, it made me think - as a dancer, I want all the promotion for lapdancing clubs, their nights, prices, and how cool they are, as the industry can get.  It gets customers in through the door after all.  But is at a price of offending the general public, and is it promoting distasteful attitudes and morals?

Now, I don't know how I feel about the back 2 school poster, as I have a schoolgirl outfit myself and do very well in it, thankyou.   I also really like Spearmint Rhino - as a club, there are lots of fairly friendly girls, the bouncers and management are, well, they are never going to be friendly, as men who work in stripclubs almost always have an attitude problem, but they do have listening abilities and say hello, and don't sleep or pressurise the girls that I have heard of, so as stripclubs go, its not that bad....

But advertising a sexy schoolgirl night? It's an ad-campaign that will work, and get punters through the door, because the sexualisation of schoolgirls happens at club nights and fancy dress parties all over the country. But I agree with the ASA on this one - schoolgirls shouldn't be associated with the promotional material for mainstream stripclubs, that have massive posterboards spread all over the world.

In the other story, the poor two girls were CAUGHT MID-ACT (oh, honey, can't you be more of a street-smart feminist?) and fined £80 for scrawling 'WOMEN ARE NOT OBJECTS' on the posters advertising a new Leicester stripclub (again Spearmint Rhino).  Whilst this story was incredibly funny during my 4am journey home, I feel proud that there are still female activists out there that feel that lapdancing is a dehumanising industry, because, in sooooo many ways, it really is.  

I was a lapdancing activist last year, when a whole host of club management and strippers protested against new Government legislation that classified lapdancers as 'sex-workers'.  Waving a placard around and shouting slogans was great fun, and so my hat goes off to anyone who makes a stand - whether its for my industry or against it.

Just don't stop any punters walking through the doors, ok?  

The schoolgirl poster is one I definately recognise, and you can read about the story on my favourite Sunday paper, the Guardian's website here; http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/nov/10/spearmint-rhino-poster-asa

The graffitied poster can be found on the good ol' Beeb website; http://cdnedge.bbc.co.uk/local/leicester/hi/people_and_places/newsid_9357000/9357750.stm

P.S. I always get worried when I provide direct links to websites, so if I have done an internet boo-boo please leave a comment and i will sharpen up my manners....