Flashback flashdance

Today in my anatomy class the subject of strip clubs came up. I'm not sure why, maybe it was from seeing those rotting smelly cadavers which we were working on that brought it about. Anyway it reminded me of my first time visiting a strip club. Oh, what a memory it was...

In all my years in the US I have never once been to a strip club. I was always either too busy or sick when my friends had decided to go. My only idea of what a strip club was like came from Demi Moore and my friends' descriptions of girls dancing on table tops and performing acrobatic stunts on polls. So I'll admit that when my of my best friends invited me to go check one out here in the Philippines I was a little anxious to go. It was me, Big D, his uncle who's a cop and his uncle's mistress who's a Madame (female pimp)... Umm, yeah. I don't have the time to explain that one. That's a story for another time. So back to the one at hand, we went to a club off Roxas Blvd in Manila. From what I was told it was one of the nicer clubs in the area.

When we walked it wasn't fairly large or exactly all that small either. It was dark and the only lights seemed to becoming from the center stage, which I noticed had no polls. Luckily for us though since my friend's uncle is a cop we got to sit right up in front. The first girl who walked out had a pretty face and decent body to go with it I might add. The music started and she began to dance, well sort of. She just kind of moved up and down, moving her shoulders back and forth. I must say it was... pretty damn boring. I thought I could have danced better than her. She didn't even strip. I was a confused at first because that's was I thought they did in strip clubs. Then she came out again a few minutes later and this time she was nude. I guess the first time was just a warm up.

It's kind of funny how a lack of clothes will renew a man's interest but it does. However, it didn't last long. I couldn't really figure it out this time though what killed her performance more the boring dance move or the stoic expression upon her face . From her face I thought she may have had a bad day. Then the next girl came out . Then the next one and the next one . I began to notice that they all had that same emotionless expression on their faces . As they danced they just stared off to some corner in the back of the room with a blank look. No one smiled or even winked once. I started to get the feeling that maybe they weren't exactly enjoying themselves up on stage. I couldn't imagine why. Then I began to think of the current situation in the Philippines.

Most of these girls have probably never hoped to be a stripper on that stage to be gawked at like a piece of meat or even at best be fantasized about as some kind of sexual object. They probably had dreams when they were younger like other little girls do to one day become a teacher, a doctor or even just a house wife who wouldn't have to tell her children she worked in such places. However, those dreams probably faded far away from reality because either they were born into poverty or have just now come to be faced with hard times. Some of these girls probably come from families living along the train tracks. They do this because it's the only way they can make any money to put food on their families' tables. Some of these girls may be doing this in order to provide for a little brother or sister because their father took off on them. There can be hundreds of reasons of how they came to be there and each just as tragic as the next.

What the hell. I didn't plan on going there for a lessen in the harsh realities of life in the Philippines or be conflicted over some moral dilemma. I'll admit I'm no saint. I'm just a man. We're wired for visual stimulation. I just wanted to see a show to relax and be entertained. That's not so bad right? But, as all those thoughts were going through my mind all the enthusiasm had for going there in the first place disappeared. As I watched the girls I could only feel sad for them.

It's just wrong if you think about it...
It's rather cruel actually...
I mean I may be mentally scarred for life.
Never able to enjoy a strip show for as long as I live.
I wonder if I can sue over this.