Georgia Supreme Court: Let Teen Strippers Take It Off
Published September 29, 2009 @ 01:00PM PT
Yesterday was a good day for Atlanta area men who like to see young women take their clothes off -- they're about to get to see a lot more of it. The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously ruled that young women ages 18, 19, and 20 have a right to work in strip clubs that serve alcohol, overturning an Atlanta city ordinance raising the age to 21.
Legislators claim the law was created to discourage underage drinking, not to target adult entertainers. However, workers ages 18 to 20 in a number of other industries like convenience stores, concert venues, and stadiums would have been exempt from the law. Adult entertainment clubs where alcohol sales are a major source of revenue, were not. In the end, the court decided the case based on the argument that 18 to 20-year-olds have a right to handle alcohol in their jobs; their right to strip in public was never officially questioned.
This case may have an impact on a growing suggestion within the anti-trafficking movement: move the age of consent for commercial sex from 18 to 21. Some advocates have suggested this change should only apply to prostitution, but others have petitioned for the age increase to apply to young women in pornography, stripping, escort agencies, and other adult services as well. The argument for an age of consent increase is that it gives young women more time to mature enough to make an active decision to enter the potentially dangerous field of commercial sex. As a society, we feel young people are not mature enough to make responsible choices about alcohol until they are 21, how could we expect them to make responsible choices about commercial sex, which can be arguably more dangerous for women, before then? The argument against the age increase is that it unfairly limits 18 to 20-year-olds, who are legally adults, from choosing commercial sex. Young people are considered mature enough to consent to sexual activity at ages ranging from 15 to 18, depending on the state, why should they have to wait until they are 21 to consent to commercial sex? Young women can choose to join the army and put their bodies in front of bullets at age 18, why should they not be able to handle the dangers of commercial sex until 21?
I have no doubt that raising the age of consent for commercial sex to 21 might help some women who are stuck in prostitution get out, and might prevent other women from being tricked or coerced into the industry in the first place. But I also have no doubt it would take away the livelihood of some women who are in legal adult industries, like the Atlanta women who fought for their right to strip. It's a tough issue, but one we don't even need to tackle right now.
The fact is there are plenty of truly underage girls -- 11-17 years old -- in prostitution and other commercial sex industries. Before we even consider raising the age of consent for commercial sex to include a broader number of young women, let's focus on helping the children who are in commercial sex right now get help to get out. We don't have enough shelters, enough social workers, enough counselors, and enough lawyers for all the child trafficking victims in the U.S. as it is. Let's focus on increasing services for child victims, not the age of consent.
I hope Atlanta realizes that 18 is still the low-end cut-off age for teens to be allowed to dance nude or strip in clubs, because I've seen 15 and 16 year old girls who have been exploited in strip clubs in the city. Maybe they will use the resources they would have applied to 18-20 year olds to find and help the younger children who need it the most get out of the industry and on with their futures.
Photo credit: Thomas Hawk
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Comments (13)
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Amanda has been a full-time abolitionist for six years. During that time, she has created reports, documentaries and training materials on human trafficking in the United States and around the world.
The bottom line for me is that no one wants to see a daughter, a sister, a niece, a granddaughter, any beloved young woman do this kind of work. If we would not support this kind of work for a young person we love, then we should not support it for those young women we don't know, but who are equally worthy the love and respect to which their human dignity entitles them.
Posted by Heather Windsor on 09/29/2009 @ 04:50PM PT
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I disagree miss windsor...
While I would have a problem with my wife or girlfriend doing it...Any family member thats legaly adult and chooses to do it would have my support.
But again...Thats also if the legal age of adulthood was applied equaly to both men and women and applied across the board.
Posted by Thomas McHugh on 09/29/2009 @ 04:53PM PT
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I gotta tell you...If were gonna set age limits then they need to be the same across the board...
Whether its 18 or its 21...It oughta apply to all areas of life and not just some.
If you cant drink or smoke untill your 21 then you shouldnt be considered adult enough to have sex or do any other adult activities untill your 21...The same with if 18 is to be the point of legal adult hood.
Posted by Thomas McHugh on 09/29/2009 @ 04:51PM PT
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Bingo.
And I don't think it'd stop at "commercial" sex either. You know you'd have some states extending that to age-of-consent in general.
Anyway, if the spectators only have to be 18 to enter, 21 to purchase alcohol, it makes sense that the performers must be 18 to work, 21 to serve alcohol. That's the way many states regulate non-sex industry restaurants.
If a child can legally emancipate himself/herself from his/her parents at 16 in some states, the argument for setting any age of consent is bogus. The "adult age" generalization is just that: a broad generalization that is almost never respected. We allow children to be tried as adults in court, then wait until they turn 18 to have them executed for crimes committed as kids. Parents willingly boot kids from their homes at 18, whether they're ready to go or not. It's a label of convenience, and it has nothing to do with measuring emotional maturity.
Posted by sarah karp on 09/29/2009 @ 05:24PM PT
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Then there's the science. I don't have links sorry, but I understand that the brain synapses and certain reflexes are not fully formed until early 20's It forms part of the many reasons more young people are involved in car crashes (but we sure do want to sell them a car). It takes a village and taking responsibility that the unfinished brain can't yet do. I'll post a link here that I linked to on Global Warming. It's just as relevant here just for that one statement "We don't need a Bill of Rights, we need a Bill of Responsibility"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9piIziXU9RE&feature=player_embedded#t=471
Posted by Oceania OZ on 09/29/2009 @ 07:12PM PT
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The older I get, the more I think car rental companies know what's what. They wont rent to anyone till they turn 25.
Posted by Slim Chance on 09/30/2009 @ 04:53PM PT
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The Georgia Supreme Court has done the correct thing by allowing young women aged 18-20 to strip in bars where alcohol is served. The age of 21 must never be used as a minimum age because the age of majority is 18. All states are obligated to lower the minimum age for stripping, even in bars to 18 if the states have a higher minimum age because of stupidity. Note to Amanda Kloer: You wrote a bad title for this article because young adults 18-20 are not "teens".
Posted by Edwin Bonilla on 09/30/2009 @ 05:46PM PT
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Edwin - eighteen and nineteen certainly are "teens"!
Posted by Debbie Thomas on 10/03/2009 @ 04:51PM PT
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In many US cities it is legal for a woman of any age to walk down the street bare breasted. It is considered to be uncontitutional to not allow bare breasted females if men can go without a shirt. Austin Texas and Boulder Colorado are two I am sure of. In any city all a woman has to do is sue the city if she tries it and is arrested. most strip joints only strip to bare breasts .
Posted by david carlson on 11/10/2009 @ 09:38PM PT
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To make this clear. A woman does not have the right to stip in strip joints but does have the right to in the city park. Fiminists fought hard for this right in the 70s. I think that someone just does not want them to get paid for it. It is the money that people have problem with. Why? The same with prostitution. A woman or man can do all the same things that a prostitute does but it is the money that is the problem. interesting. These are just my thoughts not advice.
Posted by david carlson on 11/11/2009 @ 09:55AM PT
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"In many US cities it is legal for a woman of any age to walk down the street bare breasted."
Oh really? You paint a broad brush with that statement. Can you cite the laws and cities please where 13 or 30 year old women can walk down the street without a shirt?
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"To make this clear. A woman does not have the right to stip in strip joints but does have the right to in the city park."
Huh? The article clearly states "The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously ruled that young women ages 18, 19, and 20 have a right to work in strip clubs".
May I suggest you reread the article above and perhaps try the little "Check Spelling" button under the comment you are leaving before you post.
Cheers.
Posted by jack barr on 11/12/2009 @ 05:54AM PT
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There is a significant body of research on girls/women in prostitution (including my own) showing that many enter prostitution by working in strip clubs, where they are initially recruited as "dancers" and promised big bucks. A pimp (either the club manager or a pimp working with him) then applies pressure and offers larger financial incentives to convince a girl to do lap dances, "private parties," and eventually prostitution "on the side". Life circumstances and the absence of other options ar what bring the vast majority of girls/women into the sex trade: low educational attainment, minimal preparation (if any) for gainful employment outside the sex trade, childhood abuse, poverty, a "boyfriend" who wants some extra cash. What's really stupid about this whole argument is that studies in Minnesota, Chicago, and Atlanta have found girls as young as 15 working in the strip clubs. Pimps are just delighted to get them fake IDs, and then even happier to "manage" them. So, golly, Georgia (which has a thriving juvenile sex trade) is gonna let those over 18 strip legally. What are they gonna do about the 15-year-olds working in these clubs "managed" by a pimp?
Posted by Alexandra Pierce on 11/13/2009 @ 10:35AM PT
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"As a society, we feel young people are not mature enough to make responsible choices about alcohol until they are 21, how could we expect them to make responsible choices about commercial sex, which can be arguably more dangerous for women, before then? "
This is a compelling argument which, I believe, is highlighted by the judiciary's seemingly disparate thinking on two of the most influential and morally-charged issues faced by any young adult: alcohol and sex. Call me old-fashioned but I fully support raising the age of sex workers (including strippers) to 21 in any state.
Posted by Chris Anisere on 11/13/2009 @ 06:09PM PT
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