Detroit considers banning lap dances

Last week the Detroit city council proposed an amendment to more heavily regulate the “adult entertainment” business. Here are the major highlights: it would ban lap dances, require exotic dancers to stand significantly further away from patrons, and require other workers at clubs to be certified in their positions. This proposed amendment just goes to show you that people can sometimes propose laws that trample on people’s personal freedoms without offering concrete solutions to address the root of the problem.

Don’t get me wrong; I am not giving strip clubs a get-out-of-jail-free card. Strip clubs have their issues and can be sites of exploitation especially during economic times like these. And then there’s the sexism inherent in this discussion. I almost couldn’t finish my breakfast when I endured an hour drive of Coco, Foolish and Mr. Chase in the morning on 97.9’s hip hop radio station. They showcased disgruntled male after disgruntled male complaining about why they should be entitled to offer payment in exchange for groping women. It’s problematic for many of these men to view women as if they are sexual beings and nothing else. And that’s just one of the issues that is getting short shrift in this debate.

The inherent truth is that many of the women in sexually oriented businesses in Detroit are entering these industries because of economic constraints. This is different from folks who enter into sexually oriented professions having chosen exotic dancing from a variety of economic alternatives. But banning lap dances is an incredibly paternalistic way to show respect for women. If lawmakers are really concerned about women in these industries and increasing agency of these women, they should earmark some of the $18 billion in stimulus funds to create initiatives to provide women with real choices for employment.

Join the Conversation

Quick Hit: What Can you do with $443,360 and 12 years?

That’s how much money some working women are missing out on as a result of wage disparities among genders. According to the Huffington Post:

“The typical full-time working woman stands to miss out on $443,360 over 40 years because of the gender wage gap, according to an April report from the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC). That means a woman would have to work 12 years longer then her male counterpart just to break even.”

With that much time and money I could pay off my $90,000 student loan bill and get 2 doctorates. I could travel the world and start a family. I could buy a home, a fairly nice one depending on where I live. I could start a ...

That’s how much money some working women are missing out on as a result of wage disparities among genders. According to the Huffington Post:

“The typical full-time working woman stands to miss out on $443,360 over ...

Yes, we still have to call out sexism against Marissa Mayer

The news that former Google executive Marissa Mayer had been appointed President and CEO of Yahoo – just a few days before announcing her pregnancy – was met with feminist glee back in July. But the honeymoon between Mayer and feminists is long over, following revelations that Mayer doesn’t particularly care for feminism, nor does she fully understand how her actions could have wide ramifications for working moms or promote the kinds of policies that have long been considered the most family-friendly and, by extension, feminist.

Frankly, I’m as turned off by all of these disclosures as the next feminist blogger. As Chloe put it when the video of Mayer’s rejection of the feminist label surfaced, Mayer’s ...

The news that former Google executive Marissa Mayer had been appointed President and CEO of Yahoo – just a few days before announcing her pregnancy – was met with feminist glee back in July. But the ...