faceforradio

Recent legislation in the state of Ohio attempts to further regulate patron-employee interactions within adult-oriented businesses in the state. The states assumptions behind the penning of this legislation assumes that the interactions taking place within the walls of these businesses is immoral or harmful to at least one of the parties involved in these transactions. A common assertion among feminists is that the production and consumption of sex work is exploitative and abusive of the women involved, and that the men who consume the sexual and emotional labor of the female workers are either perpetrators of an abusive patriarchal capitalism or are themselves secondary victims caught in a double-bind of hegemonic masculinity. The religious right co-opts part of this argument for their own statements that sex work is exploitative of women and humanity in general and that it is destructive to the moral fabric of society.
While a formal debate of the background of the potential legislation and its potential effects is beyond the scope of this paper, a detailed examination of the production and consumption of exotic dance, the major issue at heart in the potential regulations, is warranted. The nature and meaning of strip clubs and similar sexual entertainment venues is a hotly debated topic beyond the state of Ohio or the realm of regulatory legislation. Many have weighed in on the issue from radical feminists to religious leaders. Those who argue for the abolition of sexually-themed adult entertainment cite numerous theorists and researchers who have connected the consumption of exotic dance with overarching themes of exploitation and misogyny. Others argue that sexuality is connected with sinfulness and that the expression of it must be kept private and within church- or state-sanctioned relationships; strip clubs and pornography are examples of carnal sin tempting and tainting the souls of the citizenry.
The First Amendment to the Constitution is often cited by defenders of sexually-oriented businesses, in both its free-speech functions and the intention to separate the State from religious influences. Those who use this tactic view exotic dance as an expression of free speech for the dancers who should, in the view of this argument, be allowed to express themselves as through dance as they wish, or as free speech for the patrons who should be allowed to consume what they want. Others suspect the involvement of religious-based organizations in the framing of regulations of this type of business.
Others involved for the pro-strip club (or anti-anti-strip club) side feel that the production and consumption of sex work is a natural outgrowth of capitalism and/or human nature. Sex work is, as the saying commonly goes, the world's oldest profession. This argument is dismissive of the social and personal effects of the business, but does raise an interesting point, to be revisited later.
Obviously, the arguments on any side of the issue are more complicated than the summations described here. However, these simplifications are often the deepest information to which many people not somehow involved with the sex industry are exposed. The greater emotional-psychological, socio-cultural, and economic implications and effects of sex work are not examined at a deep enough level for the issue to be fully understood by many. Those who advocate for or against regulation or illegalization of strip clubs and those who consume exotic dance, as well as those who perform in or otherwise financially benefit from the sex work industry would do well to examine these areas beyond the immediately personal before continuing their current course(s) of action.
In order to provide for a more complete and informed discussion of this issue, the broader social context must be examined. Sex work is gender-specific, with the production being done by women, and the consumption by men. This pattern is part of an over-all social structure of male-female relationships and is part of the production and consumption patterns of a capitalist economic system. Further, what happens within the confines of strip clubs is a reflection of socially constructed and scripted gender relations and has implications beyond the immediate interactions. I intend, through an examination of existing research and my own research, to create an understanding of sex work production and consumption within these contexts and to offer an explanation of the meanings of the interactions and performances within the walls of strip clubs.

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2. flying, telekinesis
3. Captain AMerica is the worst super hero EVER
4. Yeah, dude, what teh fuck?
5. Africa.