'The Last Dance'

[r__d 12698]

Globe and Mail analysis of "why the Canadian strip club is a dying institution".

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cana...g-institution/

[Philmore 149]

I read this article and my feeling is that the generation that made all the money for the clubs (20 years ago at least) have for the most part moved on. I remember going to the clubs in the mid nineties and there were some nights that you could not even get a seat. Also, as time rolls on and the internet has matured, entertainment is at your fingertips. It can be virtual (pornsites) or ordered to your door.

[Kilt Boy 29353]

When I was dancing 30+ years ago, we were fucking ROCK STARS! Now, I don't even know where the nearest club is.

At least there is still some small semblance of life left in the titty bars. I still pour money into them, but the number who do is diminishing. That's why the regulars who have my number hound me to come to the clubs and spend on them.

[r__d 12698]

On 9/29/2018 at 7:39 AM, Kilt Boy said:

When I was dancing 30+ years ago, we were fucking ROCK STARS! Now, I don't even know where the nearest club is.

At least there is still some small semblance of life left in the titty bars. I still pour money into them, but the number who do is diminishing. That's why the regulars who have my number hound me to come to the clubs and spend on them.

Difficult to know just what is going on re the local "titty bars" in recent months.

As noted above by Philmore, there were times in the past (for me the late 90s to mid-2000s) when Friday and Saturday nights could be really very busy at Barb's and the 'Fax. On many of these occasions one would return from a CR visit to find one's table taken - more than once I found myself hovering near a crowded bar as there would be literally no available seats in the club, even stageside.

The 'Mate would usually be somewhat less crowded and things would typically start to heat up a bit later there. I'm told that in the past the busy Fri./Sat. night scene at Pigale could be near pandemonium. Not sure if nights at Big Al's have calmed down a bit recently.

After becoming more of an afternoon clubgoer I became accustomed to an overall less frenetic atmosphere but, having said that, can certainly recall some Friday afternoons at Barb's (especially around the winter holiday season) when the search for a table left one banished to the far corners of the club.

Things seemed to start to go a bit sideways at 340 during the LRT construction, but there seemed to be some perception (and discussion in the 'Barb's' thread) to the effect that there was a slowdown prior to the Queen St. closure.

Have folks just lost enthusiasm for the typical SC atmosphere?

Yesterday (9/29) I noticed two new(er) sex shops on Bank St. - one in the Glebe and the other in the 'downtown core' - occupying what I'm guessing is commercial space that would not be especially inexpensive. As there is so much porn available on the web, I assume the bulk of their trade is in what used to be called 'marital aids' (lubes, toys etc.). Thought that this town was already well supplied with purveyors of joy jelly and butt plugs, but perhaps this is the direction that commerce is tending toward in the 'adult entertainment' realm.

If Barb's ever (finally) closes (and I raise that topic with some trepidation) as a result of redevelopment of the site, perhaps this will result in a better supply/demand balance in the capital's "titty bar" economy.

 

[marchtame 106]

I read the Globe and Mail article with interest as I have spent many pleasant hours in Ottawa and other Canadian strip clubs over the past 30 years.  For me, a strip bar was always a welcoming place for a beer, free lunch, good tunes, and outstanding company.  I was a regular at Barefax and Barbs for some years so would often be greeted by a one of my favorite dancers – kind of like “Cheers” if you know what I mean.  A decade ago it was completely acceptable to stop by for lunch or after work with a crew from the office and everyone had some fun in a sexy social atmosphere.  However, as discussed in this post, things have changed for SCs.  The clients are fewer, the dancers less attractive, and the clubs themselves haven’t had an upgrade in years.  I watch this change with melancholy for a more simple time and have some thoughts on how this trend may be changed.

I won’t repeat the reasons for the SC’s decline as they were pretty well covered by the Globe.  Porn is readily available today so one doesn’t have to view paradise at $20 per dance.  The emergence of massage parlors has taken business from the SCs because for the cost of a few dances you can go home with a smile as opposed to a tease.  The biggest hit to SCs in my opinion is the politically correct attitude of today’s youth that SCs demean and objectify women such that they are no longer socially acceptable.  It is this last point that I find so hypocritical.  If one believes in the basis of feminism and a woman’s right to choose what she does (specifically what she does with her body) how can society encourage some choices and scorn others?  Most of the dancers I have known are very happy in their work and the choices they have made.  While society has become open to homosexuality and the broad spectrum of gender identity, the previous acceptability of SCs has disappeared.  The pendulum has swung so far because of the #MeToo movement that a man’s attraction to women immediately has negative connotation.  I can only hope that the pendulum of public opinion will again swing back such that respectful heterosexual relationships are also respected.

So what does this mean for our beloved local SCs?  Unfortunately, the continued slow decline and I am saddened by the loss.  I do believe that today’s generation of young confident women could change this however.  If young women took the lead to support a woman’s right to choose then it would again become socially acceptable.  Perhaps if there was more cross over between the stripper and MA communities as there exists between the MA and SP communities it would be beneficial for both.  The young women are going into the MA community and complaining at the lack of clients while there are men sitting at the strip club two blocks away wishing for some new dancers.  I don’t know how this would work exactly but I do believe that a closer relationship between MA spas and SC’s could be beneficial to both.  I know a MA who also trains on the brass poll so perhaps this is something to be further explored.  So those are my thoughts on this cold winter’s night.  Let’s hope for a future for our favorite SCs as we will be losing something real without them!                 

[Kilt Boy 29353]

I know more than a few who work as both exotic dancer and full service provider. They are mostly kept apart, but there is obviously some overlap. I see how it works and think it is a great way to do it. However, these are rare and intelligent women who I respect for their sharp wits and powerful game.

Do not take that information as license to ask every dancer for offsite extras. That's a dangerous road. If she wants to, she'll offer.