To Strip Or Not To Strip? That Is The Question.

One of my dearest friends is getting married next weekend and her bachelorette party is tonight. I'm really excited because she moved to New York four years ago and I don't get to see her too often. I'm so happy her wedding is out here in LA.

I was telling another acquaintance about how excited I was to go to the party tonight and this guy, obnoxiously said to me, "So are there going to be strippers?"

"Um, no. At least I don't think so," I replied. I highly doubt there 'll be strippers since the shin-dig is at a restaurant.

My friend was unimpressed with my response.

"Y'all girls are boring. What's a bachelor party without strippers?" He then launched into a tale of how the strippers got things, "On and crackin'," at his cousin's bachelor party over the summer.

I started to wonder why I talk to him every once in awhile. I remembered why he's single with zero prospects. I explained that I thought strippers, whether male or female, are completely degraded individuals and not what I'd call entertainment. And I told him that I would feel upset if my soon to be spouse had some other chick's hoo-haa all up in his kool-aid right before we got married.

"So your husband didn't have strippers at his bachelor party?"

"No, he didn't. He went out with his friends and that was it."

"Oh yeah, that's only what he told you!"

Once he started going on about how he knew I didn't have strippers at my bachelorette party because I'm too goody-two-shoes, I decided to hang up. (Seriously, call me next Thanksgiving when you get your brain back, homie.)

So, I'll ask you: What do you think about strippers at bachelor/bachelorette parties?

Comments

I personally don't find male strippers appealing. They always seem to be more beefy than muscular and they like to touch the er, patrons...

I don't mind watching some guy undress--just keep your distance!

As for my husband, he didn't have a bachelor party so I didn't have to deal with my own two-facedness.

Outside: "Sure, Honey, I trust you. You have the right to enjoy yourself."

Inside: I hate you.

Hah!
Mes Deux Cents said…
hi Liz,

You have been tagged! See my post "I'm it!" for details.
Unknown said…
I don't want strangers privates in my face. That is just me.

I will say that me and my husband did a group bachelor/bachelorette party, i.e. the night before our wedding we went to Dave and Busters with our friends together and we were home by midnight to get ready for the nuptials the next day.
Liz Dwyer said…
DMB,
The one time I saw a male stripper was freshman year in college when a bunch of girls in my dorm got one. I went to check it out and the guy was really scrawny with these bruises in weird places. He had a whip and was taking it off to "Whip It" by Devo. Needless to say, I hightailed it out of there before everything came off. I was just grossed out.

MDC,
Sweet! I'll come over and check it out!

Siditty,
That's the way to do it! Dave and Busters sounds so fun! I love that place and wish there was one closer to me.
Jameil said…
strippers gross me out. the dudes are not my type and always wanna be all up on you. whatever. you're not gonna back that up so get up away from me and go home. wack. but i'm thinking stripperobics for my bachelorette party. who knows?
Anonymous said…
I'm not all for strippers really. Well the best stripper would have to be your partner... but seriously i wouldn't mind going to one of those shows just to get an idea.. but like dmb said they always seem more beefy then muscular... that thing scares me.. they look so un straight rather then "i like females" anyways... I think its ok to go to a strip whatever as long as its not ur bach party...
Toni Campbell said…
I once left a friend's bachelorette party when the strippers came out. It was the same evening as the O.J. Bronco chase and I found that way more interesting.
Jen said…
I think it's just dumb. Having fun with your girl/guy friends. Great. Making it into a "blow out" or "the last night of freedom"? Grow up then and get married when you're ready.
Liz Dwyer said…
Jameil,
Stripperobics? Is that the mess that Carmen Electra does? I am with you though, I get really grossed out by strippers too. It's total objectification of someone's body and I know folks like to trot out the one stripper that claims she/he feels empowered by stripping. But I just am not buying it.

D'Lee Trecia,
Welcome! Thanks for commenting. You make me think about how I read somewhere that a lot of female strippers end up being lesbians because they begin to hate men, so maybe male strippers end up hating women?

Toni,
Oh yes, the O.J. Bronco chase was definitely more interesting. I was right, there were no strippers last night although toward the end of the evening, one of the other guests suggested going to a strip club. Fortunately, I was on my way home!

Jen,
Seriously. I hate that last night of freedom ridiculousness. My bachelorette party was at a coffee shop I went to all the time. It was nice to just hang out with all my girls who'd come from all over the country. It was really fun.
Maybe it's an age thing. Most of my friends got married "later", in their 30s. Nobody had strippers.

Most male strippers are like that guy 6-Pack who was on the first season of I LOVE NEW YORK. Yuck.
The concept has always made me uncomfortable. I have never had a bachelorette party, though, despite three marriages, so I'm not exactly the one to ask.

When Flip and I got married, I drove out of town the night before to pick up my daughter at college while he stayed in our house with his best friends, who took the opportunity of my absence to smoke In My House.

I don't think there were strippers. Does that make us losers?
MartiniCocoa said…
I kinda think waiting for a bachelor/bachelorette party to pay for another human being to strip is stupid. If that's how you love to spend your money, why wait for someone to get married?

Go!



Although I know why people do it as some strange marital rite of passage, but I feel it's kinda lame and trite to keep up the tradition.

If I ever get married, put me down as a no stripper girl but if my hubby to be wants to go down that path, i will laugh at him for being so unoriginal.
Lydia said…
Years ago I never thought about it one way or another. Then I went to a bachelorette party with male strippers. The men were fine and I was playing along, had my dollars ready.

The dancing might not have been so bad but then they got to rubbin' and lickin on folks. My party-pooper response when one of them tried to take me under some huge cape was "Fool! I don't know you!" All sweaty and....YUK!
Anonymous said…
Stripping may be a lot of things, but when it comes down to it, I just don't find it at all appealing.

Also, it's bizarre that stripping-fans assume that everyone else enjoys it as much as they do.
Anonymous said…
NYC/CR,
Ain't that the truth! Six Pack was just greasy and gross!!! He was such a meat-head! Hmm...I wonder how the second season of her show is going. Has she found "true love" yet? Ha-ha!

Heart,
No, it doesn't make you losers at all. A loser is someone who's not crazy about the idea of having a stripper but goes ahead and does it because that's what's "supposed" to happen. THAT, is definitely a loser!

IANSJ,
I wonder how the whole stripper thing even got started as a tradition/right of passage? And, I rather think the folks who have strippers at parties might also go see strippers perform in other venues. Maybe if you see it enough you become numb to the inherent lack of humanity in it.

Janie,
I'm laughing and grossed out at the same time! Eww, some strange, sweaty guy all over me...no, that's not something I'd find sexy or exciting at all. I'm definitely with you on that response!

Mojan,
Yes, stripping fans would be saying I'm not for it because I've never experienced a really high-quality stripping experience. Gosh, can you just imagine someone gyrating in my face at Kafein in Evanston? That would have been just completely surreal.
Liz Dwyer said…
Oh, wait, I'm the "Anonymous" from the last comment...that was totally weird! How'd I'd become "Anonymous"?
Jameil said…
liz... hers is sooooooooo wack!! my friend had it and i was sexier at birth than carm was on that dvd. the hip hop portion was the worst. so sad.
Odat said…
It depends on what mood I'm in at the time ;-)
Peace
Liz Dwyer said…
Jameil,
LOL! I'm dying over here because everyone tries to act like she's so amazing. Honey should've stuck with Prince for longer than she did!

Odat,
I could see that. I just don't know if I'll ever be in the mood for male strippers. I think the guys in Playgirl look silly so I can't imagine it live and in person!
Miz JJ said…
Strippers are not my thing. I wouldn't care if my hubbie did it, but I would hope he realizes what he is doing when he goes.
Ian Lidster said…
I have no problem with strippers, God love 'em, but I do have a problem with them at a bachelor or bachelorette party. It's cheesy.
Liz Dwyer said…
Miz JJ,
I think it's hard to put the whole stripper thing into perspective because there's so much pressure to see it as normal. It sometimes seems like strippers are pushed down our throats through the media.

Ian,
It is very cheesy. It's like chicken at wedding receptions. Played out!
I feel like an oddball because I like strippers.
West said…
I've got no problem with them. I wouldn't care if my lady had them at her bachelorette party or whatever they're called.

I could see it being fun. And I trust her. I think she'd feel the same.

I wouldn't want to know anything about it, though, other than if she had fun. If so, cool. If not, then I'd want to know why. (Sorry for the late response.)
Liz Dwyer said…
Kahnee,
I like strippers too. I just wish they'd leave their clothes on. LOL! -- Okay, in all seriousness, why do you like strippers?

West,
So if your girl went on and on about how the strippers were sooo hot and had banging bodies, you wouldn't feel a little weird? You wouldn't think that she'd be fantasizing about one of those guys at a later date? And I sort of think that most women who say they're cool with their guy ogling strippers are lying. They're either lying because they want to sound modern, or they're celebrities - who we know are abnormal in their way of thinking about the world. :)
Liz,
I like strippers because:

1. I like music
2. I like dancing
3. I think women are beautiful
4. and I have the naive notion that most strippers are stripping because they are trying to work their way through school. I have a pretty cool co-worker who stripped her way through college. Now that she is working legit, she does burlesque shows.
Liz Dwyer said…
Kahnee
I agree with #1-3. I love music, love to dance, think there are plenty of beautiful ladies out there and have seen the isolated story about #4. But there are also too many tales of abuse, addiction, depression, etc. Sadly enough, for the majority of strippers, life isn't a happy ending. I wish more of them were putting themselves through school and had happy lives.

Interesting though how burlesque, a la Dita von Teese is seen as more classy, more of an art.
West said…
Liz: "West,
So if your girl went on and on about how the strippers were sooo hot and had banging bodies, you wouldn't feel a little weird? You wouldn't think that she'd be fantasizing about one of those guys at a later date? And I sort of think that most women who say they're cool with their guy ogling strippers are lying. They're either lying because they want to sound modern, or they're celebrities - who we know are abnormal in their way of thinking about the world. :)"


Well, like I said, I'm cool with her going, but I wouldn't want to know anything about what happened... including hearing how sexy the strippers were.

I trust her and I feel like, if this stripper is really the only thing standing between her fidelity and freakaliciousness... then I'm #@$^ed, regardless.
Liz Dwyer said…
West,
True. I guess for me, even if I didn't hear the details, I'd know that the fantasy of a stripper is in my other half's head. The stripper doesn't ask him to take out the trash but I will! :)

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