Stripped bare

by Sticky Toffee Pudding

I read an intriguing article a little while back regarding the sexualisation of women by women. It was all rather reminiscent of Ariel Levy’s ‘Female Chauvinistic Pigs’ (a damn good read by the way) and it utterly confused me.

The argument was that lesbians should not indulge in strip clubs as they only encouraged the patriarchal objectification of women, therefore demeaning our gender.  As lesbians and bisexuals, we have a moral responsibility not to sustain the abuse of our fellow women by ogling their goodies, but rather, we should be campaigning against the laws that allow any Tom, Dick and Henrietta to open up a strip club (currently they’re not seen as part of the sex industry and so legally are on a par with any regular bar, club or restaurant, allowing for some pretty lack licensing laws). After all, all strippers hate their job; I mean what sort of women enjoys having fake dollar bills stuffed down the side of her G –string?

Now, whilst I seriously doubt such claims as ‘all strippers hate their job’, I had to admit there was some semblance of truth in the article – and it very much relates to what Ariel Levy identifies as the rise of Raunch Culture amongst women. Although Female Chauvinistic Pigs focuses more in depth on heterosexual women who, in the name of progressive feminism, exploit themselves and their fellow females  by reclaiming their sexuality in accordance with the prevalent sexist male ideology (the irony is not lost there), Levy does touch upon some patterns of behaviour that are associated with certain types of lesbians. The ‘boi’ for example whose main criteria is an androgynous look that borders on masculine (the terminology is not a coincidence) coupled with a love ‘em and leave ‘em attitude. Her examination of the ‘boi’ lifestyle highlights the recurring theme of her book; in our expression of sexuality are we simply adopting ‘male’ patterns of behaviour?

To suggest that a lack of interest in commitment, coupled with an express delight for bed-hopping is explicitly male behaviour could be considered offensive to women (and men) in itself.  Yet I am doubtful that Levy intended this. Rather, her focus is more on the way in which these ‘bois’ pursue the objects of their desire. There is a noticeable lack of respect which inevitably results from the detached and non-committal way in which women are desired and then discarded. Levy reports overhearing one ‘boi’ that she encounters exclaiming to her friend: “… just some fucking femme. I met her at a party three weeks ago and I fucked her and that was cool. But now she’s like, emailing me and I’m just like, chill out, bitch!”

Harsh words indeed. But such an attitude quite obviously does not reflect the entire lesbian population (Levy should know, she’s one herself). Nor does it do justice to the ‘boi’ population; Levy goes on further to discuss the fluidity of the terminology and its multifaceted interpretations, after all, labels are for clothes not people. So what’s the problem?

True we may not all be heartless bastards, but perhaps there is some argument for the relaxed and accepting way in which many of us view promiscuity affecting our relationships with each other as feminists. And if this is the case then perhaps a liberal attitude to sex is negatively encouraged by strip clubs. I mean how many times have you pulled a girl in a club without even knowing her name and never finding out because at the time she was nothing more than a giant pair of luscious lips? And every time you look on with appreciation as a sultry beauty strips down to nothing but the lacy garter holding up her fake cash, are you simply buying into the dominant male paradigm of how sexuality should be expressed?

It’s a tricky question and an irksome one at that. After all, lesbians and bisexuals do desire women, so to enjoy watching a woman take her clothes off is not so unreasonable. But what is it we see whilst we watch those women? Do we value them for the sentient beings that they actually are? Do we even recognise them as such?  Or are we simply looking at an array of body parts moving in a conundrum of ways that thrill and excite us?

Like Aretha belts out, it all comes down to R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Do we respect the women we lust after but don’t actually get to have? Do we even respect the ones that we do get to have? When sex can be nothing more than a casual encounter does respect fly out the window along with commitment?

There used to be a time when lesbianism was seen as the most adequate way to promote the feminist cause, yet now it appears that with the cultural acceptance of strip clubs in the lesbian community, the opposite may ring just as true. After all  the sex industry is all about the allusion of sex. Those women taking off their clothes aren’t asking you to consider them for a Nobel Peace Prize now are they? Still perhaps I’m giving lesbians far less credit than they deserve. Although it’s never particularly sexy to think about the woman’s life whilst she’s stripping (what she had for breakfast, does she have children, did she vote in the last general election for instance) I would like to think that when most lesbians watch another women strip they see more than just a body.