ID Number: 1217 From: "Raymond" <raymond756@yahoo.com>
Subject: Read any good books lately?
Date: Sunday, January 25 2004 - 08:25:51
Just finished reading "Bare: On Women, Dancing, Sex, and Power"
Written by Elisabeth Eaves
I liked it and would recommend it to anyone. It is factual book about
a woman who was a nude dancer/stripper. How it affected her life,
and about her co-workers and some of their customers.
Excerpt from the inside cover flaps:
Bare follows the author and her fellow dancers through Seattle strip
clubs and bachelor parties, exploring in riveting detail Eaves's own
motivations and behavior, as well as those of her coworkers, as they
make their way through the sometimes exhilarating, often disturbing
world of stripping. Grounded in an understanding of the intricate
dynamics of exchanging sexual services for money, Eaves's narrative
examines the ways in which the work affects the women: how they
negotiate the slippery boundaries between their jobs and their "real"
lives; how their personal relationships are altered; how they
reconcile themselves - or don't - to the stereotypes that surround
their profession; whether the work is exploitative or empowering or
both.
In its unstinting honesty, Bare demands that we take a closer look at
the way sexuality is viewed in our culture; what, if anything,
constitutes "normal" desire; the ethics of swapping money-or anything
else-for sex; and how women and men navigate the perilous
contradictions and double standards that make up today's socio-sexual
conventions. The stories Eaves tells-outrageous, funny, sad, and
deeply affecting-provide an engrossing and unforgettable look at a
group of women who have a lot to reveal, not only about one of
America's largest and most taboo industries, but about the
restrictions, joys, and hypocrisies of the world in which we all
live.
You can read more about the book - including an excerpt, about and
interviews with the author, reviews, even listen to her read an
excerpt using the below links.
An excerpt from the book, where she tells her parents that she is
thinking about stripping.
That weekend I was home from university visiting my parents. The
next day I had just set the table for supper, and I was leaning
against the white-titled counter while my mom cooked. Our dog buried
his head in his dish, heat radiated from the stove top, and my dad
poured drinks.
"I'm thinking about becoming a stripper," I said. My parents didn't
react for a couple of seconds.
"You're not," my mother said, stirring vigorously.
"Yes, I am," I said. Still no answer. "What's so wrong?"
My dad inhaled and exhaled through his nose like he wasn't sure
weather to laugh or be angry. He decided to laugh. "Ten years of
ballet for this?" he asked.
He concluded that I couldn't be serious, but my mom decided to
address the subject. She told me it was dangerous, that I would have
to associate with drug dealers and other criminals and cross dark
parking late at night. She noted that several strippers and
prostitutes had been murdered recently in Vancouver.
"She's just trying to get a reaction," my dad told my mom. He was
only half right. I was trying to get a reaction. But I also
genuinely wanted to hear arguments against stripping, because I had
forgotten what they were. "Go get your bother," my dad said, closing
the subject. I called him and we ate dinner.
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