Not in my backyard
Good luck to the Dean of Southwark, the Unicorn Children’s Theatre and the London Bridge Hospital in their appeal against the licensing of a lapdancing club on Tooley Street in Southwark:
Southwark council says changes to the licensing laws mean that it had no option but to give the club, called Rembrandt’s, the go-ahead, despite objections from residents or on moral grounds.
New regulations in force since November give the council just four grounds on which to refuse a club licence: proven public nuisance; harm to children; a threat to public safety on the premises; and a threat to crime and disorder on the premises and the surrounding area.
Nick Stanton, leader of Southwark council, says the new laws even remove his right - as ward councillor for the area where the club seeks to operate - from voicing his objections at the licensing committee.
The definitive study on the impact of lapdancing clubs was carried out by Julie Bindel for Glasgow City Council in 2004 (link here - scroll down); she found that the buying and selling of sexual services does occur in some lap dance clubs; that for the most part the working conditions and terms of employment of lap dancers are exploitative; and that dancers are subjected to humiliation and sexual harassment on a regular basis, from customers and management. She also found that the existence of such clubs ran directly counter to promoting equality between women and men, by promoting sexualised stereotypes about women.
It’s clear to me that local residents and community groups should have the right to object to the opening of a facet of the sex industry that normalises the objectification of women on their doorstep. So let’s hope that the appeal succeeds.
The report does make very interesting reading. She also got asked out several times while conducting interviews in the clubs, and fleeced out of a couple of hundred quid (of public money?) by a couple of lapdancers, if I recall correctly.
Hey, Antonia!
Jenny here, I’m going to be VP (Women) for OUSU next year. I’ve read your blog for quite a while and think it’s pretty fantastic, especially to see a UK woman getting into the political blogsphere. Hope all is going well
Definitely ban lapdancing clubs- it’d put a stop to all of those unscrupulous women taking financial advantage of men’s weaknesses by sexualising them.
You can’t actually believe the objectification of women that goes on in lapdancing clubs is actually a manifestation of women’s power over men, surely?
Well, do you have first hand experience of working in a lapdancing club Antonia?
I myself have never been to one, so I can’t comment. Not quite my taste I’m afraid.
I’m not convinced that it is necessary to work as a lapdancer in order to have an opinion on lapdancing, Chris.
I agree, I think it boils down to basic common sense. It’s just horrifying the abuse that is just under the surface of these kind of things, and sometimes it’s not even just under the surface.
That said, I can’t see myself as a lapdancer anyway. Podgy stomach and having a torso longer than my legs would not be a pretty sight!
Now be fair, Antonia.
Asking Julie Bindel to carry out a study of whether lapdancing clubs are a Good Thing or not is like asking Nick Griffin to do some research on whether immigration is beneficial. You know the answer before the research is done.
I’ve followed Ms Bindel’s career since the days when hapless Leeds punters were hauled up to be told what evil murderers they were - on the grounds that OTHER people had attacked prostitutes.
A year or so back she was on Radio Four’s Woman Sour claiming that childless (and desperate) women only wanted babies because of society’s cultural expectations and indoctrination. I’m not a biological determinist, but really.
At keast you know where you stand on lapdancing and ’sex work’ - most Guardinistas are terribly confused on the subject.
http://ukcommentators.blogspot.com/2004/01/tis-pity-shes-guardianista.html
PS - read the Ascent of Woman yet ?