kalibane wrote:I haven't been to a strip club in well over a decade and even before that I went sparingly (essentially bachelor parties) because it seems like a complete waste of time and money to pay someone to tease you so take this for what it's worth.
The strip clubs I have been to had a no hands policy. This is neither here nor there regarding Jerry Jones, due process and all. I wouldn't be surprised if he was sexually harrassing someone nor would I be surprised if someone made up a hoax to get money and I don't particularly care. And my skeptical nature tends to automatically go to "cash grab".
However, I do take exception to the idea that we should just chalk up sexual harrassment in the form of unwanted sexual touching to being an occupational hazard of being a stripper. Whether you agree with the profession in a moral sense or not, people have the right to draw clear and defined boundaries surrounding sexual contact no matter what their profession is, even prostitutes.
All clubs have their policies about contact with customers. Some are more stringent than others. But it's been my experience that the individual dancer as their own personal limits that usually exceeds those of the club, and the dancers that perform to the higher club threshold don't make as much in tips as those that perform closer to their own, self imposed limits. In either case, the dancer has the right to refuse service to anyone if a customer goes over either one of those limits, and has a big, mean bouncer to help her enforce each of those rules. If she didn't like his behavior, then she had an obligation to advise management and kick his ass out.
Anyone that willingly goes to work in an establishment like that knows in advance that there is a much higher probability of encountering a situation where some unwanted touching or groping might occur, thus it is, indeed, an expected occupational hazard. It's no different than applying for a job as a bouncer. You know by definition that you could be involved in a situation that might involve a physical encounter with a customer. If that type of potential concerns you, then don't apply for the job.
I'm not excusing all forms of sexual harassment, even to an exotic dancer. But if all that happened was some fondling and groping that went over the limit, limits that aren't always very clear and can vary considerably even within a single club, then I'm not considering it harassment.