Re: rahul

[boddhisatva <kbevans@xxxxxxxxx>]

                Rahul,



        I have a friend who went to U. T. Austin, and although he never
went there himself, he told me about the Yellow Rose.  I went to south
Texas on a fishing trip, but my partner caught the flu and we had to spend
two extra days in Austin while he recovered.  By the middle of the second
afternoon, I had absolutely nothing to do. So I went to the Yellow Rose,
thinking that I would at least have that story if not a fish story to
tell.  The horror of the place still haunts me.



        In New Jersey I have gone to two Go-Go bars ("Go-Go" by dint of a
few tiny pieces of cloth required by statute); one in youthful daring, the
other for a bachelor party.  The bars were seedy, the drinks were
expensive, the women were openly venal and openly hostile, with a mean
look. This is what a good, honest, striptease establishment should be -
sin, hostility, greed, danger, ugliness.  I steeled myself for that when I
entered the Yellow Rose.  I found, instead, a scene of unimaginable
horror.



        The staff was friendly, the dancers were beautiful and smiling,
the place was clean and comfortable, the drinks were cheap.  It was like a
combination of TGI Friday's and a pep rally where the cheerleaders took
off their uniforms.  I sat at a table a little way off from the active
stages.  I drank my shot and sipped my beer (I was in Texas, after all)
and looked around.  I felt as though I had been transported back in time
to the Colloseum; with Christians and lions, the gladiators sweating it
out on stage.  But the spectacle didn't bother me. What bothered me was
that everyone, vamp and voyeur alike, seemed as though they were actually,
well - *happy*.  Lust,  naked, writhing flesh, and brutal patriarchy I can
take, but all those happy faces really gave me the creeps. I put down a
tip, and left.  I thought to myself, as I got back to the car: "So this is
capitalism."




        The horror




        I'm not a prude and I don't believe that sexual desire is sinful,
but I know that strip bars are a sin.  Moreover, I don't necessarily
condemn the strip bar or its patrons, (or even pornography in general) so
long as the aspect and attitude of the place bespeaks the sin.  Lust and
satisfaction are fine. Just don't mix sin with happiness.



        
        Perhaps it is some latent Catholicism in the genes from my
father's side of the family, but I feel that confession implies the
possibility of redemption.






        peace





     --- from list marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---