Current Project: Improper Pinkerton
Status: Fine tuning
I attended a Chippendales's performance last night with my friend. For those who don't know, the shows are good looking men dressed tastefully who dance and take it off down to a G-string. When I was younger I enjoyed the dancing and watching the women's responses to the show.
I don't know if it's an age thing or how entertainment and society has gotten raunchier but there were some of the dances last night that turned me off rather than on. I don't understand why men think women get turned on by them grabbing their crotch. It totally revolts me(one reason I don't like rappers). And them humping the floor.... Nope. That's when I'd watch the women and discovered quite a few of them looking at each other going "Huh?" So it wasn't just me.
There were three dances that I liked, they danced, real dancing not humping and grabbing body parts, and left something to the imagination at the end.
But the reason I decided to post about this today is the fact that when all seven men (boys to me, they were all the age of my sons and son-in-laws)first entered the stage, my eye went to the two fairly muscled, poster-boy types. I thought those would make great heroes. But after one did a really raunchy dance and I swear he had a sock and ballbearings in his G-string (I've never seen balls hang that low and big except on a bull) The girl next to me held up dollars and had the men come over and lap dance her. I told her if that guy came over she was to grab him and see if he was real. He must have known because he stayed away from our table. Anyway, he not only lost my hero status with the dance and the decidedly fake hang, but when he did lap dances, he was bored out of his mind. You could see it in the way he acted and stared around the room looking for more money in the air.
My other hero choice (at first sight)was a little too cocky during the dancing and rolled his eyes and acted like he was god's gift when he did lap dances.
BUT the two that when they first came out, I had luke warm feelings about as heroes, by the end of the night they were the ones who caught my attention. They danced with a little more humility. They smiled at individuals in the crowd and made eye contact. When they did the lap dances, they gave the woman their attention and talked to them. They smiled and chatted with women on the way to the ones with money in the air. Where the others were just moving as fast as they could to gather the money.
So this whole excursion turned into a - What kind of Chippendales' dancer would my hero be? My hero wouldn't be caught in a G-string. He wouldn't be flaunting for any woman even if it was the only way to capture his suspect. Now the heroine- she'd work a strip a club to fulfill her assignment.
So would your hero strip to a G-string and dance for women? And if he did would he make them feel special or just do it for the money?
12 comments:
Paty, I had to laugh because your reaction to the dancers was very much how I felt. Some things are just not for everyone. As for me…give me a cowboy (think Trace Adkins, tall, buff, and fills out his wranglers without any unnatural assistance), have him singing a love song, and I melt into a puddle every time.
No, my hero wouldn’t be caught dead in a G-string; he’d have too much respect for himself. However, he might find a way to trap his suspect into being caught in a G-string, just to demoralize the bad guy a touch more. As for my heroine…she wouldn’t dance just to catch the bad guy, but if it was the only way to keep someone she loved safe—she’d dance for the Devil himself, and then tie him up with the rope she used to pull him out of hell. Then again, as you know my stories are historical, where a different set of morals existed.
Lauri, I don't know you, I don't think, but I sure enjoyed the way your second paragraph unfolded. Nice images.
My hero would not wear a G-string. Banish the thought. Maybe in privacy with the heroine as a tease, but out in public to make a bust? He'd get a job tending bar or bouncing at the door of a club, he would not be the entertainment.
It's easier to imagine the heroine dancing in an undercover situation and that in itself says something about how we judge men and women and their roles in society, etc. That's always what gets me. The sex business is so rife with abuse of power and position and women (and young people of both sexes) mostly get the worst of it. I can't see a female stripper without seeing her backstory and I have never read or heard of a good backstory for a woman selling herself in such a way.
Ooh, I got a little off track.
Not a big fan of strip clubs and never have been. The reason, I think, it's halfway palatable to put our heroines in such a situation is that by making her there for another reason, we give her back the power of choice and self determination.
Now I'm awake.
The last male dancer show I saw followed a performance at Darcelle's. After a few hours of laughing and enjoying the crossdressers, the young guys who came out thrusting made my friend and I ill. We took one look at each other and simultaneously said, "Let's go."
My hero won't look at a g-string. A lot of swearing would be involved if the subject came up. Not even in one-on-one situations. He'd prefer commando.
I share Lauri's opinion on Trace Adkins.
I've often felt the same way. To me sex is something sacred and special between two people in love--and all that gyrating and floor humping just--in my very prudish opinion--degrades that.
I love to look at those guys, but like you, seeing them act like that would definitely be a turn off.
And since you read The Model Man, you already know what kind of dancer my hero would be, LOL A FORMER one! *G*
LOL, Paty! Was that show at Starz? I thought I saw an advertisement for it in the paper.
I went to a male stripper show, not Chippendales, when I was 30, and it was a hoot! Just watching the women made it worth the cover charge. I slipped money in g-strings for the hell of it, but the guys kind of creeped me out. I don't remember any thrusting, but there was plenty of lude dancing going on. The guys weren't nearly as entertaining as the crazy women watching them. All the women were drunk. They had to be to act that way.
My hero would not wear a g-string. He's very modest, very serious.
OMG. This had me spewing coffee all over my laptop:
But after one did a really raunchy dance and I swear he had a sock and ballbearings in his G-string (I've never seen balls hang that low and big except on a bull)
What a visual!!!!!
Alice said:
The reason, I think, it's halfway palatable to put our heroines in such a situation is that by making her there for another reason, we give her back the power of choice and self determination.
Boy, this is true, isn't it? Funny that we think of putting our heroines in this situation but never our heroes. And I admit to doing so myself.
And Kendra...the last male strip show I saw was after Darcelle's as well. And I had the same exact reaction. And I loved your comment about your hero. Sounds like another hero I know (and love). ;) In fact, I think there was a whole conversation about male g-strings and going commando in a book I know well.
Lauri, Yum to Trace Adkins! And do I know this hero and heroine you're talking about? Thanks for stopping by!
Alice, After watching the show last night, I don't believe I will go to another one. While I had a good time watching the audience, If I'd paid more than $10 I would have been disappointed. There was a time when the Chippendales meant class. It has seriously eroded in my opinion.
Kendra, glad I could give you a little extra boost this morning! It seems most of our heroes have more class or modesty than to entertain the opposite sex in public. Yeah for those heroes!
Nic, yep! You redeem your heroes to the point it's hard to believe they had a naughty past life.
Karen the show was at Kahneeta casino. Our dh's drove us there and watched the football game in the lounge while we were at the show. I agree, watching the drunk women was the highlight of the evening. I'll admit I had a couple drinks thanks to my friend who refused to drink alone, but I still retained my dignity. However the woman at the end of the table next to us, flashed the dancers at the end of the show. Yep, pulled up her shirt and bra and flashed her size 20 bod to the boys. NOt sure what she was trying to prove... other than she was drunk.
Eli, sorry to have messed up your computer. ;)
What a "hot" topic, Paty! I've thought about going to one of these shows, but never did go for one reason or another.
As for your question, "Would your hero strip to a G-string and dance for women..." I was trying to think of a scenario where the heroes in one of my stories would do this. A matter of life and death; i.e., saving the life of the heroine or someone he loved? Or do it himself to prevent the heroine from having to do something that he knew would destroy her emotionally?
Perhaps...but it would be a deeply emotional and pivotal scene where the hero dug as deeply into his soul as he could and then turned the tables on the villain or whoever put him in that position. And he would do it with class.
I remember a little snippet of a Western/ historical movie or TV show where a woman was put in the position of being in a strip show. I don't remember anything other than she did an incredibly sensual dance using a lace shawl and those long gloves that reach above your elbows, but never took off any other article of clothing. But she did it with such class that the scene was riveting.
Definitely some ideas for using the tried and true method of coming up with the one thing the hero/heroine would NOT do and putting them in that situation.
I also liked your comment about the two guys who seemed like lukewarm heroes at first but revealed more class during the evening. Another idea generator for stories!
Great blog and comments!
Ah Genene, with all my rambling you're the only one who picked up on the whole reason I wrote the darn blog. (and got lead astray with the whole G-string thing) The two who I thought at first glance weren't hero material, showed me they were.
Paty, your comment about the fake hang has me totally on the floor!
Though I'm hardly a prude, as you know, LOL, I agree with the crotch grabbing and floor humping. That's not hot.
I have no problem with a hero who wears a g-string and dances for money -- if it's the only way he can make enough money in a short time to pay for his mother's life saving operation. You know what I mean. It's not a hugely heroic occupation. But I think it can work, given the right story and circumstances. Like Nic's The Model Man, for example. I love Derek! Sometimes a hero becomes heroic, and that's what makes the story.
Great post! I wish I had been there ;).
Helen
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