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| Dishonorable? |
Benedict Garrett was one such casualty. He lost his job as a high school teacher because his students found out that was a stripper side (read the full story: here). Garrett also worked as an adult movie star. Of course, Garrett disagreed with the notion that "porn and stripping has a negative effect on society." He further argued that other teachers aren't so perfect themselves.
He has a point. Many professional jobs would fire an employee if word got out that he or she worked as a stripper or porn star. Interestingly enough, not all profession jobs would fire an employee for having a minor criminal record. Strange, isn't it? It's better to commit a misdemeanor crime than to work in a perfectly legal occupation.
I've heard many degrading terms about male strippers. In the comments section of this blog post (click here to read), Mustang Sarah uses the terms "insecurity, narcissism, and irresponsibility" to describe all male strippers, even though her only experience with one was a guy she dated. I've even had one guy criticize me for "giving up my dignity so a bunch of whores could treat me like a piece of meat." As Garrett noted, many people feel that stripping has a negative effect on society.
Is that really the case? Do strippers, especially male strippers (for sake of this blog), really cause problems in society.
No. Negative individuals and their destructive collectivism cause problems.
For instance, I also worked as a teacher like Benedict Garrett and stripped on the side too. As a teacher, many people treated me with respect for working a noble profession. Take this article, for instance. However, I have gotten to know many teachers, and I assure you that some of them shouldn't be around children.
Several male teachers, whom I have worked with, took a very unhealthy interest in their high school students. If I had a daughter, she sure as hell wouldn't be going into their classes. One teacher has since married a female student. Another got fired for dating a former student. And another, who used to be my teacher when I was in high school, got arrested for possessing child pornography.
So are male strippers the problem here? No. Are teachers the problem? No, the bad individuals are the problem. You have bad strippers and bad teachers. They're just bad employees, and they slide through the cracks at every job.
Many male strippers are just like Benedict Garrett and myself -- they work professional jobs and strip on the side. According to one of my agents, many of his male dancers work as lawyers, teachers, firefighters, personal trainers, and bankers. The list goes on. Many of his younger male dancers are college students or guys going to into medical school. Just because they're male strippers doesn't mean they're deadbeats who with no goals in life.
Some male strippers are scumbags and fit the stereotype that Mustang Sarah alluded to, but so are some cops, teachers, politicians, priests, and doctors. Hell, I knew a federal law enforcement agent who was the biggest liar and crook that I have ever met, and he cheated on his wife with prostitutes constantly, but his position is one that prides itself on honesty and integrity, and everyone assumed he was a good guy on first impressions based on his job. Therefore, judge an individual by his or her personality and virtues, not by status and position.
Unfortunately, many people out there still like to label themselves and others into groups, all complete with generalizations and stereotypes. It's human nature, and until humans stop being humans, you probably shouldn't list your ventures into the stripping and porn industry on your resume if you're ever planning a professional career. Mr. Garrett had some great points, but he just wasn't careful enough.
