Re: Strippers (long)

Hello, Jeff
At 10:42 AM 8/25/98 -0600, you wrote:snip
>I think perhaps you need to take a step back yourself, look at what you have
>written, and see how it reflects on YOUR character. You have basically
>stated that you would discriminate against the youth in that pack, because
>the cubmaster is a stripper...why? Why would you shun the youth because of
>the career choice of the cubmaster?

Please do not put words in my mouth, and do not misunderstand....I would not
shun the youth. I would simply choose a different pack with a different
cubmaster. It is known as freedom of association. The cubmaster/stripper
may be a fine person, otherwise. I simply do not wish to validate a
lifestyle that I feel is degrading to women. I am sure that the 'career' is
lucrative, but so is prostitution, selling drugs, and pro wrestling ....
none of which I would like my children to see as great choices for their
personal and professional lives.
>
>Let's be perfectly honest...nobody really has the right to shun anyone for
>their career choice...just because she's a stripper doesn't mean that she
>can't be a positive role model for the youth.
My imagination boggles, here.....How?
>After all, do they youth HAVE
>to know she's a stripper?
>
Oh, kids know, they do. And if she keeps it a secret then she must not be
proud of what she does......
> And if you say that a stripper can't possibly be
>a positive role model just because YOU disapprove of their actions...hrm.

Again, you are putting words in my mouth. I said that >I< and >my boys<
would leave a pack that had such a person as a cubmaster. I did not say
that I would break out the torches and pitchforks. And as far as a stripper
being a positive role model? For what? Making money at the expense of her
self-respect? Taking pay for exposing her body (which is a temple) to
leering, drunken males? Sacrificing time with her children (does she dance
only between 8am to 3 pm while the kids are in school?) to pander to the
lascivious stares of other men? Sacrificing her health in smoke-filled
bars, with her safety in question from patrons that may want to get a little
too close? If dance is what she wants to do, there are respectable outlets
for artistic expression that even serve the community. I have a friend who
teaches dance as physical therapy to the elderly. And she is paid well and
has the respect of the community to boot.

<>snip>>My point is...before you lump this "exotic dancer" into a category
simply
>because you, personally, don't approve of her profession...try taking a look
>at her entire character. I don't visit strip clubs, simply because I feel
>no desire to do so...however, I have known several women who were "exotic
>dancers" at one time or another. A couple of them had very poor characters,
>were heavy drug-abusers, etc. Another was a woman who'd been raped when she
>was 17, got pregnant and abandoned by her family...and then had to support
>herself and her baby girl after the birth. With no marketable skills, she
>had no choice but to dance...
Sorry, I don't buy that. There are so many things that any woman can do at
home. In-home childcare will pay the bills and is sorely needed in all
areas of the country. I could list 30 jobs that women (and men) can do out
of their homes with little to no training or investment, if they would just
find the gumption to do so. We make choices, we are not forced into them.
I do not buy this "Oh, poor pitiful me" routine. The fact is, it is easier
to strip and make big bucks than it is to find a real job. Frankly, and
this is my opinion only, it is the lazy way out.
>
>So...before you start equilaterally discriminating against everyone who has
>a somewhat questionable profession...think about whether they're breaking
>any laws, and what might have led them to the position they're in. I've
>seen too many hateful remarks from people about someone they've never even
>met...and the fact that this hatred is coming from Scouts really worries me.
Jeff, never once did I say that I would hate anyone that is a stripper. I
pity them. No tar and feathers. But at the same time I will not condone a
lifestyle that I feel is degrading and wrong. And I will not knowingly
parade that lifestlye in front of my children. If asked by them "Is it
wrong?", I would reply yes. Maybe that is narrow-minded, maybe I exhibit
that weakness. But a Scout is Honest, and I would be dishonest if I stayed
in a pack that had a stripper as a cubmaster. "To thine own self be true".
>
>YiS,
>Jeff Butts
>
Yours also In Scouting
Lorie McGraw

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