Jealous of Strippers

Current Soundtrack: Be On You by Flo Rida.

Ever since we went to "Babes" on Bourbon Street that song has kind of been stuck in my head. I feel like it's probably because it is a great song to strip to. It has a great beat, but it's not fast, so you can be all slow and smooth, like Dr. Dre on the Dr. Pepper commercial. At least one girl, but I'm pretty sure multiple girls, stripped to it over the span of time we were in the club. (As an aside, we found out later that the girls can't pick their songs, only the genre of music they want to dance to. I wonder what would happen if they picked oom-pah or death metal.) And of course whenever I listen to "Be On You" I'm overcome by the power of songs to stir up memories. In this case, memories of half naked girls getting fully naked to music (well almost fully naked--there's a law in Louisiana that there must be underwear).

But let me just say why Ali and I decided we needed to witness this. We were curious! And we're girls, so it's not sketchy. Plus, there's our perspective. We're technically at the prime stripping age. Over 21, but not too far over. Just graduated college, no job yet, and we got bills to pay, son. Champagne (real name Jennifer) said she can make $15,000 a month.

And they kind of look like they're having fun up there. Champagne said not so much. She actually said she hates her job. I guess that's to be expected, but to me it looks totally courageous and fun. Those girls have got to be fearless to bare it all. They certainly don't all have perfect bodies, but the men we saw had more than enough love and money to go around and they didn't seem to discriminate. And, of course, if some clients have too much uncontrollable love, the strippers are well protected by the establishment.

Ali and I, on the other hand, judged them based on ability. Champagne, for instance, could climb the pole practically to the ceiling and then slide down upside-down, spread-eagled, in 5-inch platform heels that she confirmed are heavy. Even if some of these girls don't have the perfect rack or are packing a few extra pounds in the gut, something must be said for their flexibility and upper body strength.

If I had an excuse to stay fit, learn how to really handle a pair of heels, and build confidence enough to be naked in front of strangers, all while being paid $15,000 a month, I think that might be the opposite of exploitation--I think that might be pretty empowering. Not a lifetime career choice, obviously, but still cool.