Courtney: again, you are lacking in reading comprehension. But that’s par for the course.

Not that there’s much basis for it in this case – it looks to me like kristine has the most self-respect of anyone here.

Pattie, RN *is* showing empathy by warning Kasha about the very real dangers she faces.

Empathy is not saying, “You go, girl! You’ll feel so empowered and your future will be awesome!”

The lack of common sense on display in some of these comments is staggering.

You think stripping is degrading, you would never do it, blahblah. We already got that. No one is forcing you to do it. But why is it so hard to believe Kristine when she says it worked for *her* and she didn’t find it to be a bad gig, and actually enjoyed it? There are others like her – and like Katie said, actually using some *logic*, you are not going to meet the well-adjusted ones at your job.

Your values may be different from Kristine’s, but you can’t say she is lacking in self-respect or values. In her comments, I have seen empathy and understanding, for example. Not much of that displayed in your comments.

Well, happy, well-adjusted former strippers probably don’t end up on your desk because they haven’t been abused or abandoned . . .

Perhaps you can provide statistics of ex-stippers who now have successful careers and a healthy marriage? I am sure that they exist, but in very small numbers. Powerty, addictions, jail, death and abuse are the more common paths and outcomes.

Stripping takes a decent body…and most of the “chutzpah” comes from a bottle or a needle. Of course lost souls can come from anywhere…that strw man argument does not change the danger and degredation that comes with being a sex worker.

As to sharing past professions? As a former military officer turned nurse, I have nothing to hide. Sorry, but I used my brains, not my precious body to pay the rent.

And you are more concerned about what is on TV than the dead eyes of an 18 year old selling her body and soul to be an object for drunk men? Gotta say your values are pretty far off from mine. Your lack of self respect is quite sad. There are other way to make money that do not turn a young girl into an object.

I would never purposely expose my children to the kind of uniformed knee-jerk reactions exhibited here. I am sure that many kids would not want their friends knowing their dad is a garbage collector, or hamburger flipper, or their mom a maid, or embalmer, for the same reason: uninformed bias and ignorant assumptions about legal, legitimate occupations.

They can chose to tell whomever they wish. But I do not normally discuss my 20-years-ago work history with teenage guests, or other adults in their life. Do you? I cannot imagine it would ever be pertinent. I would be surprised if it ever came up. I would never lie about my past, even if my children asked me to. And they never would ask that of me- they know I have integrity. But I am considerate that some of their friends might have parents with self-appointed moral police status.

I am much more concerned about what my kids watch on TV, and that they be empathetic and tolerant, than what their friends’ parents do for a living, unless they are drug dealers, bigots, or mobsters.

And I wonder where you get the idea that stripping routinely leads to self- destruction? Hollywood? Reality TV? For all you know your child’s untenured part time teacher moonlights, to keep a roof over her head. For all you know your adult child might have. A single mom down the block. I can only base my comments on my experience. Stripping was never a career for me- it was here-to-there part time job, likewise most of my coworkers are now married, and successful.

It takes a lot of chutzpah, creativity and an open mind to dance, and that may be why you get entrepeneurs and high achievers in the mix. People who dare to. There were lost souls too, but I have seen plenty if ivy league stoners and neer-do-wells who have never worked an honest days work, becoming jaded addicts or useless adult-sized children, or wealthy face-lifted harsh blonde miserable women. There are many paths to destruction, from many backgrounds.

Anyway- I grow weary of assumptions unaccompanied by facts. It is too similar to the baseless ranting I hear these days about muslims, atheists, educators, politicians, vegans, meat eaters, you name it. Generalizations are generally crap.

I’m sorry you found the article ‘confused’. Articles often seem that way when the author freely admits the limits of her knowledge, and then hesitates to draw conclusions that would require knowledge she doesn’t have. I wish more folks would write that way.

To borrow his language: Obviously most roads are not being unpaved. But my point still stands. If you don’t like that example, there are many others. Education. The power grid. Public transportation. Maintenance of paved roads that people *do* use. And don’t even get me started on Social Security.

http://www.slate.com/id/2264109/

Trent: regarding ‘historically low’ income tax rates, keep in mind that income taxes can stay right where they are forever, or even drop further, and the government can still increase its tax receipts the way most of the governments in the rest of the developed world have – institute a sales tax or a VAT. Either of those tax methods will cut a slice out of your retirement income, even if you think you’ve protected it via a Roth. Consider taking your tax breaks now while they’re a sure thing. If income taxes don’t go way, way up, you’re better off taking it now for the reasons Johanna lays out. Even if one believes that it’s inevitable that they must go way, way, up, it still might not be income taxes that rise…

This young lady has problems that go far beyond her part-time job and her free-loading boyfriend. And even if “Kristine’s” fairy-tale story of HER life post-stripping is accurate, it is certainly an exception to the usual career paths of strippers. Abusive relationships and prostitution tend to follow more often than Mensa posts and Quaker husbands. The latter are not steps to financial stability

I am sure there are some women who do well in artsy fields after stripping, but rarely are they physicians or CEOs. It must be uncomfortable to find out that your new client is, well, an “old client”.

I would love to know if Kristine has ever shared her story with the friends and teachers of her 16 year old daughter? If this is just another “job”, why not? Perhaps because strippers are NOT the sort of women who professional men bring home to mother. It may be legal and lucrative, but it is also degrading and depersonalizing…and top pay in this field is at the onset and goes down rapidly with age.

So feel free to judge Hope and I and other women who see this young woman in a destructive cycle that will most likely ruin her career, if not her life.

And Trent, don’t hide behind the “it is none of my business” facade….this woman is grapping at straws financially and emotionally. Would you support your daughter or sister to pick up extra money this way? As a nurse, i see these women “later”, abused and addicted. Don’t believe my “moral judgements”, just do the reasearch. It should scare and disgust you.

Hope, I should have been more specific in saying the women’s liberation movement-the idea that a woman can choose her own path. I was reacting to previous statement citing suffrage.

Anti-tax types always seem to forget that the government actually does stuff with the money it collects.