Closing down a strip club will not end objectification, but rethinking our relationship to sex might

By Gloria Mellesmoen
Photos by Jan Zeschky / flickr

¬¬Strip clubs and the women who work at them have long been the target of groups preaching women’s rights and/or equality. In the past week, this controversy has struck locally. Students from Dr. Charles Best Secondary School’s Social Justice 12 class are pushing for the closure of New Westminster’s Paramount Gentlemen’s Club, justifying their petition by arguing that the Paramount encourages objectification of women.

Though I cannot deny the existence of objectification at strip clubs, I can quite firmly state that they are not the root cause. Strip clubs are a controlled place for us to delve into fantasy and appreciate the human body. I have to agree with Garbage, the 90s altrock band, whose song “Sex is not the Enemy” chants: “The institution curses curiosity/ It’s our conviction/ Sex is not the enemy/A revolution/ Is the solution.” The ability to enjoy sex and take pleasure in the sight of someone else’s body is completely natural and predates the concept of objectification.

There is nothing wrong with a woman who takes pride in her body and sexuality, whether in private or on a stage. The real enemy is in how we are educated. While I am in complete support of young adults advocating for worthwhile causes, I believe that the students at Dr. Charles Best are misguided. Truly fighting objectification would be seeking to modify the way we are taught to perceive of the human body. Objectification is not surprising in a culture that associates sex with shame and dehumanization. Instead of making sexuality and nudity taboo, we should encourage dialogue to stress important concepts like respect and consent. Shutting down a single strip club is not going to solve anything. Closing down The Paramount will only cause harm for those working there.

Steven Mountford, owner of the Paramount Gentlemen’s Club, has expressed that the campaign to close his business does not take into account that his employees are people, too. The dancers at the Paramount are adults who are working for a living, just the same as anyone else. If we consider all the reasons we have had for working where we do, they tend to look alike: some women are working through school, some truly enjoy what they do, some are just really good at it, and some are only doing it to support themselves.

Regardless of the reason, they have chosen this career. It is hypocritical to claim one is striving for women’s rights while at the same time removing choices of how to use one’s body and which professions are appropriate.

The Paramount is a location that permits women to perform as a means to live in a safe environment. Mountford explained what the dancers do is legal “as a profession in Canada and is included in the list of occupations for immigration.” He is worried that the protesting students have “linked human trafficking and prostitution to [their] cause” and are drawing hasty conclusions that could have serious consequences for those who find employment at The Paramount. None of the involved students or the teacher at the school have tried to contact him.

The Paramount is not the enemy. This all comes back to my belief that we need to change how we educate about sex. These passionate young minds are attacking an honest business and threatening the livelihood of many employees, not just the dancers, because they deal in appreciation for the human body. It is time to stop telling women what they can and cannot do with their bodies. Objectification will always be an issue if we do not properly educate our young, and encouraging them to attack an effect rather than its cause helps no one.