SELF-diagnosis.
8.13.2009
a couple of days ago, while in the locker room, i told my peers that i believe anyone who works in a strip club, has some crazy in 'em. that includes but is NOT limited to, security, waitresses, bartenders, bar backs, managers, the dj and of course, the illusive dancer herself.
of course, very few of the other dancers agreed with me, probably because they associate the word "crazy" with the show SNAPPED, and think that wouldn't quite define them.
-laugh out loud-
when i think of strip, i think of people who are not controlled by social standards, or pressures. especially from what has been or considered the "norm" from anyone who is not in the adult entertainment industry, which is a pretty broad scope to be up against. so anyone who is in this industry, from strip to porn, is raging against the machine. a machine that teaches us what is ok, and acceptable, proper and expected. a machine that creates a stigma and reputation about you and who you are as a person solely based on what you do for a living and not what you have accomplished while living. so it is my opinion that to be in this industry there has to be at least ONE screw that is not tight enough to hold it together. their is at least one screw that gives us a little bit more space in our minds to be more open than others. instead of being uptight and considering what every person has to say about us, we get naked in front of hundreds of people at a time, dance provocatively and collect our money, capitalizing off our looks, not thinking twice about our own personal choices that shouldnt effect anyone but ourselves.
with that being said..CLEARLY it takes some kind of crazy to go up against a mass of critical people just to do whatever it is that you want to do. it must take some kind of crazy to consider being nude as normality, especially around strangers. im definitely admitting that im a lil BATTY. this isnt necessarily a BAD thing. if your human-your not perfect, which means something is wrong with you, no matter what walk of life your in.
who wants to have all their screws tight anyway? not being able to be free to move and grow is unhealthy-let a screw loose.
18 thought(s)..:
I appreciate this blog so much bc your as honest as can be.
WoW... this blog really made me open up my view on life period. Society makes you this you have to have the norm job(9-5) b/c people will view you better. I totally disagree although i have yet been a strip club it seems fun and prejudgment is the reason the society is fucked now anyway people should do what they love not and not part take in somethin that people EXPEct of them
Keep doin ya thing girl
xoxo.
I totally agree Brook. 100%. We judge people because we have made laws in our own minds based on something someone TAUGHT us!. I think everyone should read the book THE FOUR AGREEMENTS. It will change your life and your outlook on things. I'm considering strip, and it's because I want to experience it and I am comfortable with who I am. I could care less what the world thinks. When will we ever be free? The only thing that keeps us from our freedom is our own destructive judgmental minds! I'm free...it's time to start living!
Love the topic. Keep up the good work!
Like how you said what you said - and I'd have to agree that everyone in some way has at least a screw or two loose.
Come by and see all my loose screws...
good points...once again ! let's go Mo !
i've written about stuff like this before. i totally agree with what your saying. it's like as soon as we come out the womb society has a plan for us. it's a damn shame.
you are right...from the time we were born we have always been taught the "norm" go to school, get an education & you will have a great job. it doesn't always work out just like that...i've witnessed many friends who not only lost some screws but end up hospitalized b/c of the "norm" or what society thinks is acceptable, these people buckle under pressure. its good to against the "norm" it separates you from the pack. no matter what you do in life people will always judge. as i believe YOU have to live YOUR life for you cuz noone else will.
you know what I like about you is your way to intelligently present your views. i am christian so i dont agree with the lifestyle, but i completely understand where you are coming from. I am objective and I love to hear other peoples views because to think that our opinions are solely correct is absurd. I feel that there are people also who claim to be christian and want to attack strippers because of what they do publicly, while these same "christians" are fornicating, lying, hating others, so on and so forth in private. So they are in no place to judge you and neither am I (im still workin on my walk). I love your honesty and open-ness. I always read ur tweets and my fave is "you guys tryin to tell me to get off the stage, but no one is helping" (paraphrasing of course). I completely agree. Even though I dont completely agree with your profession, I've tweeted you that you are more than "a stripper" and I respect you anyway because I truly believe that. Great post, as always.
-mizz_eboni *fashionlovers1*
I really appreciate this blog.. it so crazy when i use to dance the remarks I got and things I was told... I couldn't have said it better myself....
Brooke:
I don't know if you've ever studied Zen, but I recommend looking into it if you haven't. I'm sure you'll find that it aligns well with the way you think about and approach life. The thing it asks of a person is to ponder with an open mind, to accept alternative possibilities, and to remain on a path in which you are doing your own form of good -- and certainly no harm to others. It's a simple approach, gives you all sorts of freedoms, and it ultimately promotes the idea that life is about building a tapestry of experiences that make it both meaningful and worthwhile.
Anyways...
I don't think people who perform in the adult entrainment industry are any more crazy than their consumers. Granted it takes a lot more courage and skill to get naked in front of a large group of men, than it does to simply pay the 10-20 dollar cover fee to get in the club.
There has been numerous studies on the other hand that showed that a lot of female entertainers in the adult industry, particularly porn, were molested as children. So maybe the proper question is what lead some strippers to become "crazy" or "batty"??? After all very few of us are born crazy. I haven't seen a study that collected data regarding strippers in particular. But we can easily agree that most women, who become prostitutes probably came from abusive homes, they might have sustained psychological and physical abuse which could have inevitably lead them to think selling sex is "normal". It's the classic nurture vs. nature controversy. For the record I am not comparing prostitution to stripping, but the adult entertainment industry ranges from the stars of "The World's Biggest Gang Bang" to the 1 dollar peep shows, to prostitutes that work in legal Brothels. What percentage of women that work as prostitutes in legal brothels were molested? I'd be willing to bet Vegas odds that it is probably a large percentage.
jimbo slice.
um.
i have never been abused sexually or raped. and honestly now a days, especially in ATL, strip isnt JUST about past abuse in ones life. its purely money. im sure this HIGH percentage you speak of, has lowered a lot in 2009. a lot has changed. trust me.
Interesting...
However, my opinion on this is that humans ALWAYS want something to justify their actions no matter what it is. If they are church folk, murderes, pedophiles, strippers, or whatever they are into. They will tell all the reason why, what and how. Humans, we need order, standard and protocol to go by OR there won't be order. We can sit here and say we go against the machine or whatever but even Gangs, Mob, etc. have rules, laws, that they go by and most of the time those are lot stricter, unforgiven and brutal because a person that doesn't want to adhere to authortiy has to be threatened with fear to keep them in line.
People are gonna do what they want BUT the question is are they willing to pay the consequence? There is always a consequence and a lot of times the price may not be what you are willing to pay. Take Mike Vick for instance, he lost EVERYTHING due to some damn dogs. Ok that shit was wrong but he did damn near 2 years in jail, lost all his money, his status, his accomplishment and people are still crying for blood. I am pretty sure he didn't think that it would come to this however he has to pay the price is it fair no because Dante Stallworth killed a man and prety much got probation.
The problem with us is that we want to do what we want but when we are being criticized of it or having to pay the price for our actions it becomes a problem. People will always judge, criticize and have an opinion. you made your decision and if people hate you for it, you can't get mad about it, you knew the consequence before hand.
anonymous.
did i come across MAD in my post? im not sure, (seriously) for clarity, i am not. i was simply giving an explanation as to why i think strippers are a little crazy. i dont think i was complaining about hate. i believe its the hate for what i do that has made my blog so popular.
thanks for the feedback.
Brook
I'm sure a lot has changed, I recall seeing a baby's shower at Body Tapp back in the day, I seen strip clubs in Atlanta come a long way. I know it's all about the money, but you said you were crazy. If you're crazy for marketing your skills legally in a capitalistic society, then that makes all of us crazy. I wasn't implying you were abused, but I was simply trying to point out what leads us to make the decisions we make, that we admittedly know maybe crazy. Or is simply crazy cause society has deemed it as crazy? Am I making sense, I been drinking.
ive never really seen strippers as non-conformist.. just conforming to a different set of standards..
(ie: strippers should look a certain way, weigh a certain amount,wear a certain type of outfit (or NOT wear, lol) have a certain type of body, provide a certain type of service, etc)
not being "controlled" by mainstream society does not mean (at all) that you arent being controlled .
food for thought..
Thank you for this Brook!!! This post was beautiful, honest and the TRUTH.
things that make you go hmmmm....
i like how you flipped this.
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