No Stuart!

I just read your article on strip clubs [Sex & The Married Man, “Should Married Men Go to Strip Clubs?” August]. Strangely enough, someone posted it on our bathroom stall in my college dorm. So your friends regularly attend strip clubs. Good, wholesome fun, right? They’re not hurting anyone. I could not disagree more. One question I raise to men and women who go to strip clubs is, Did they ever think about the actual person inside of that body? I doubt it. I don’t know all the reasons why people choose to strip, but I know some. Although strippers probably say it’s good money (or “I’m so hot why wouldn’t I show off my body”), I think they are all neglecting to dig deeper for the real problem. All female strippers have low self-esteem and this is how they make themselves feel better. A backwards way of doing it, if you ask me. Because by showing off their body to these men who call out to them, fantasize about them, call them “baby,” they are objectifying themselves completely. They are losing their identity and being valued solely for their fake breasts and painted faces. And your friends, you say they are capable of healthy relationships. I disagree. If they objectify these women so often and so callously, how could they truly value their wives? And what about how their wives feel? Do you think they enjoy being compared to an unreal standard of beauty? By going to strip clubs, they are disrespecting their partners.
Jenna Sophia Hanson
Minneapolis