Re Illinois pole tax.
shadowcat
Atlanta suburb
When Daily RFT first heard about the "strip club tax" proposed in Illinois, we knew we had to ask the local sex blogger Kendra Holliday (a.k.a. The Beautiful Kind) for her two cents, because
(a) This is totally her wheelhouse, and
(b) We had no idea what she would say.
The legislation in question would charge strip club patrons a five-dollar admissions tax, which would then help fund aid to victims of sexual assault.
Holliday is a staunch advocate of sex-positivity. She doesn't see strip clubs as evil places. However, she herself has been raped, is (like most people) very anti-rape and recently did a podcast on how to prevent it. So where will her sympathies lie?
We e-mailed her last week and she finally got back to us Tuesday:
I think it's unfair bullshit and sex-negative. It makes no sense to connect strip club patrons with rape and domestic violence. For the most part, strip club patrons are gentle souls who worship women, so why should they have to help foot the bill that's trying to undo the damage of assault?
I hate to point it out, but more people commit crimes under the influence of alcohol, so it would make more sense to charge every person - man or woman - $5 entry fee to liquor stores. I say man or woman because I'm a feminist and it takes two to tango.
But I should also point out that if the guys do have to pay $5 to enter a strip club, it might put a damper on business but it won't put them out of business. The owners will probably increase the amount the women have to tip out to work there, which would suck.
Thanks, Kendra.
(Although, if you think a strip club tax gets people hot and bothered, we invite you to imagine the frenzy of pitchforks on Metro East streets after a five-dollar booze tax is levied. Sauget alone would secede from the union.)
(a) This is totally her wheelhouse, and
(b) We had no idea what she would say.
The legislation in question would charge strip club patrons a five-dollar admissions tax, which would then help fund aid to victims of sexual assault.
Holliday is a staunch advocate of sex-positivity. She doesn't see strip clubs as evil places. However, she herself has been raped, is (like most people) very anti-rape and recently did a podcast on how to prevent it. So where will her sympathies lie?
We e-mailed her last week and she finally got back to us Tuesday:
I think it's unfair bullshit and sex-negative. It makes no sense to connect strip club patrons with rape and domestic violence. For the most part, strip club patrons are gentle souls who worship women, so why should they have to help foot the bill that's trying to undo the damage of assault?
I hate to point it out, but more people commit crimes under the influence of alcohol, so it would make more sense to charge every person - man or woman - $5 entry fee to liquor stores. I say man or woman because I'm a feminist and it takes two to tango.
But I should also point out that if the guys do have to pay $5 to enter a strip club, it might put a damper on business but it won't put them out of business. The owners will probably increase the amount the women have to tip out to work there, which would suck.
Thanks, Kendra.
(Although, if you think a strip club tax gets people hot and bothered, we invite you to imagine the frenzy of pitchforks on Metro East streets after a five-dollar booze tax is levied. Sauget alone would secede from the union.)
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8 comments
a) it's just 5 bucks
b) it's going for a good purpose
Stick it on regular night clubs too though.
I would rather see the fee go to local government's general coffers. If local governments see adult businesses as a cash cow they won't try to zone them into oblivion.
This is very sex-negative. I would like to know what research has been done on the percentage of people walking out of a strip club who go on to abuse a member of the opposite sex. Then, I'd like to know the percentage of people walking out of a bar who go on to abuse a member of the opposite sex. If this tax passes, I think Illinois should pass the following taxes because it makes sense and it is a GREAT cash cow:
If you buy alcohol, you get taxed because someone who has consumed alcohol will drive a car and kill someone.
If you buy bullets for a gun, you get taxed because some one who buys bullets will use those bullets to kill someone.
If you buy condoms, you get taxed because apparently you plan to use them.
If you get pulled over for speeding while driving your car, you get taxed because appealingly you were on your way to abuse a member of the opposite sex.
If you get caught doing any of the above and your are a Chicago politician... Never mind... We didn't see anything...
It may start with $5, but how about when the "program" that it is going to starts facing budget problems like all inefficient gov. programs do? They'll start hiking the fee to make up the $$$.
It really comes down to the fact that they do this b/c they know people won't fight back. Most non SC goers probably see SCs as a bad thing and don't mind those that go to SCs having to pay this fee. And most people that go to SCs won't come out in public against this - thus it is easy to pick on the SCs and it's customers.