Acceptance of stripping in the USA

[crazy canuck]

So, my (admitedly incomplete) perception through anecdotes and the media is that strip/gentlemen clubs are way more accepted and/or legit in the States than anywhere else.

Son, you need to come to Vancouver to see a real strip club.

[CountDeMoney]

Phoenix, AZ has some smokin' ass strip clubs, with girls that work the professional circuit.  Gotta be up there with LA and Miami.

[Zanza]

You're right;  for instance, in Ohio IIRC, they're juice bars.  No alcohol permitted.  But I'm not sure if that's a county-by-county thing, Monkey Anger can answer that.

Some ordinances vary from jurisdiction regarding the type of nudity permitted;  for instance, Baltimore City allows nipplage, but not Baltimore County.

And some jurisdictions don't allow women to enter as patrons, period.

We have clubs that serve alcohol, allow women patrons and show live sex on the stage.

[crazy canuck]

Way more accepted?

Not really in my experience at least not in regards of the women who work there and how they are viewed.

But what about the patrons? Is it entertainment for lowlife scum or acceptable for middle class peeps?

I can walk a few blocks, enter a strip club and in about one hour from now (ie when the markets close) it will be filled with stock broker types.

[katmai]

Phoenix, AZ has some smokin' ass strip clubs, with girls that work the professional circuit.  Gotta be up there with LA and Miami.

Son, you need to come to Vancouver to see a real strip club.

It use be said Vancouver, Montreal, Tampa, Las Vegas were the best places for strip clubs.

LA is meh just because of the city ordances, or at least it use to be.

[derspiess]

but not Baltimore County.

Delaware was like that, but I still had buddies dragging me out to those establishments.  IIRC, in Philly topless was okay.  In West Virginia they allow the full monty.  I have vague memories of places in Fayetteville, NC and Colorado Springs-- they were topless but bottoms had to stay on.

I never went to one in Ohio.  The one local place east of town had to shut down as of Jan 1 of this year because the girls got caught too many times performing sex acts for money.  I imagine their New Years Eve party was a blast, knowing they'd go out of business the next day

[crazy canuck]

You're right;  for instance, in Ohio IIRC, they're juice bars.  No alcohol permitted.  But I'm not sure if that's a county-by-county thing, Monkey Anger can answer that.

Some ordinances vary from jurisdiction regarding the type of nudity permitted;  for instance, Baltimore City allows nipplage, but not Baltimore County.

And some jurisdictions don't allow women to enter as patrons, period.

We have clubs that serve alcohol, allow women patrons and show live sex on the stage.

Yeah, Berlin and Amsterdam were way over the top.

edit: but what is the big deal with women patrons.  Those have always been allowed here.

[Barrister]

For whatever reason strip clubs are much more liberal in Canada than in the US (even though our alcohol rules are generally more strict).  You can see so much you feel like a gynecologist at the end of the night.  No touching is about the only rule.

How are they perceived?  Well there is still definitely some stigma to it.  You don't generally drop "oh I went to the peelers last night" in the middle of an office conversation.  Not to say that there aren't some upscale strip clubs - there definitely are.  and they are definitely some dives as well.  Stock brokers might be going to the strip club, but they aren't telling their wives or girlfriends where they went drinking.

Back in university I would go from time to time.  In fact there was about one year where me and my buddies went a lot.  It was a fun atmosphere because we'd go and be loud and frankly not have to worry about trying to impress the women there.  Haven't been to one in years though at this point.

[The Larch]

You're right;  for instance, in Ohio IIRC, they're juice bars.  No alcohol permitted.  But I'm not sure if that's a county-by-county thing, Monkey Anger can answer that.

Some ordinances vary from jurisdiction regarding the type of nudity permitted;  for instance, Baltimore City allows nipplage, but not Baltimore County.

And some jurisdictions don't allow women to enter as patrons, period.

We have clubs that serve alcohol, allow women patrons and show live sex on the stage.

St. Pauli?

The only club of that style that comes to my mind in Spain is one in Barcelona called Bagdad, and they also go for the full gamut. The place actually is somehow historic, as it has been operating since '75, I guess they opened as soon as Franco kicked the bucket.

For the curious: http://www.bagdad.com (Extremely NSFW)

[crazy canuck]

Stock brokers might be going to the strip club, but they aren't telling their wives or girlfriends where they went drinking.

You dont know many stock brokers do you BB.  There are some guys that eat their lunches there on a regular basis.  Its not something they think is shameful in anyway.

And their wives and girlfriends are mainly of the trophy variety.

[derspiess]

My wife never believes me when I say this, but I never really enjoyed strip clubs that much.  Pretty much every time I've gone it was just to hang out with my friends. 

[Barrister]

Stock brokers might be going to the strip club, but they aren't telling their wives or girlfriends where they went drinking.

You dont know many stock brokers do you BB.  There are some guys that eat their lunches there on a regular basis.  Its not something they think is shameful in anyway.

And their wives and girlfriends are mainly of the trophy variety.

No, true.   There are "some" guys who do go there routinely, and freely talk about it.  But that attitude is not universal.

And I'm with derspeiss - I have nothing against strip clubs, and have had fun at them, but really only due to the company I went with.

[crazy canuck]

My wife never believes me when I say this, but I never really enjoyed strip clubs that much.  Pretty much every time I've gone it was just to hang out with my friends.

Age does that to a guy.

[garbon]

Not sure I know what counts. I've been to bars where customers stripped and bars where dancers stripped but none of the places advertised themselves as strip clubs.

For the purposes of this I'll say no but that's because I have no interest.

[crazy canuck]

No, true.   There are "some" guys who do go there routinely, and freely talk about it.  But that attitude is not universal.

Seriously?   How many stock brokers are there in the Yukon or Edmonton for that matter.

Its a broker convention at the strip clubs here.