Strip clubs to be banned?

[doulikefish]

Burke and Hair is a great place to start a stagger at midday on a Saturday apart from that they are shite but keep them open it's a terrible idea 

[Sergeant Wilson]

Just now, Empty It said:

If they shut them in Edinburgh the clubs will just move to East Lothian, much to the delight of Philpy and Throbber.

Spearmint Rhino (Wallyford)

Seventh Heaven (North Berwick)

They could be Scotland's Las Vegas.

[SweeperDee]

Only been to a strip club once, not long after turning 18, and it was one in the pubic triangle in Edinburgh (in tolcross I think?). My enduring memory was having an arse and fanny getting waved in my face in a blue light tinted room/booth setup. No touching though, which renders the whole thing pointless imo.

[Oystercatcher]

I've never once been in a strip club, never felt that i missed out. Even on stag do's always stayed away.

Traveling abroad to watch Scotland always ended with someone suggesting it.

Unrelated but I was once walking through Amsterdam's seedy streets after watching Scotland pumped 6-0 and a girl in a bra and pants started running after me shouting, excuse me.

I was with the wife and she was looking at me like, how do you know this prostitute?

When she caught up with me she asked, "how much is a fiver?"

 

 

[Scary Bear]

The VLs of Pie & Bovril have spoken. Let the strip clubs stay open.

[Scary Bear]

I have visited one, that one on Shandwick Place in 2004. Works do. As I recall I was absolutely burst and was asked to leave after trying to pay a fiver for a lap dance.

[Sergeant Wilson]

20 minutes ago, throbber said:

I don’t know why you would enjoy going to a strip club with a group of your mates - particularly on a stag do when you presumably know each other very well and are familiar with one another’s spouses/kids/mothers. The concept has always made me feel uneasy. 

Exactly! Strip clubs are an individual pursuit.

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

9 hours ago, jimbaxters said:

More than happy to say I've never visited a strip club. Do remember a casual debate at work years ago about the point of a lap dance when you weren't allowed to touch. One lad piped up, "Aye I know but sometimes they get that close to you, you can smell their fanny".

Another thing you shouldn't touch in those establishments is a finger buffet.

[welldaft]

Quite the puritans on this thread. 

I have been a few times on stag do’s (mine was in Amsterdam) and also late at night with friends or even clients as we parted - my way to catch the 41 bus home. Usually had a beer or whisky and stayed for a dance or two or none. 

Now in my 50’s. Am I a dirty old man. Don’t actually care. In your 20’s you can see naked women in their 20’s and 30’s. Less so as a married 50 year old. 

If they closed them I would lose little sleep, but I also lose no sleep having been to lap dancing bars a handful of occasions. 

[Scotty Tunbridge]

I went in to one on a #ladz holiday to Malia once. I believed the No touching rule was in place until the stripper grabbed my hands and put them on her tits. She also had a tattoo that said ‘Only god can judge me’ I hope he isn’t judging her. Probably a good time had by all.

A less good time was when a home stag night went into one of the ones in Glasgow. For a Saturday night it was full of weird old men there by themselves. The cash machine also charged £4.50 to make a withdrawal, needless to say no cash was withdrawn.

[itzdrk]

I find the whole thing sad and seedy bit also think fair play to the lassies for rinsing c***s, been in one in Carlisle which was my first and I just got an awful vibe, then in Prague on a stag where I sat and posted on the Ayr thread on here while drinking my 5 drinks I got as part of entry  then went ahead to the next pub. 

[tamthebam]

I went to a strip club in Dunfermline

 

 

Turned out it was just Shandon taking wallpaper off a wall..

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

10 minutes ago, tamthebam said:

I went to a strip club in Dunfermline

 

 

Turned out it was just Shandon taking wallpaper off a wall..

The only thing getting scraped that day was him off the canvas.

[invergowrie arab]

1 hour ago, welldaft said:

Quite the puritans on this thread. 

I have been a few times on stag do’s (mine was in Amsterdam) and also late at night with friends or even clients as we parted - my way to catch the 41 bus home. Usually had a beer or whisky and stayed for a dance or two or none. 

Now in my 50’s. Am I a dirty old man. Don’t actually care. In your 20’s you can see naked women in their 20’s and 30’s. Less so as a married 50 year old. 

If they closed them I would lose little sleep, but I also lose no sleep having been to lap dancing bars a handful of occasions. 

 

36 minutes ago, Scotty Tunbridge said:

A less good time was when a home stag night went into one of the ones in Glasgow. For a Saturday night it was full of weird old men there by themselves.

 

[invergowrie arab]

My negative out look is probably based on going to one in Finland when United played MyPa (I was 22). I got a private dance and the girl said I could finger her for an extra 50 Euros I couldn't help thinking I should be the one getting fingered if I was handing over 50 Euros.

[diegomarahenry]

Living in Prague for a good few years I ended up going to a few, accompanying colleagues from the US to make sure they didn't get mugged or mates that came to visit me. 

The experience is not enjoyable at all, You have to pay a cover, normally about £20. and this comes with free drinks which are shots of shitey vodka. As soon as you have picked up your drinks, you are harassed for the remainder of your time there by dancers trying to get you to part with cash. You will not get a minutes peace. I never had a dance the whole time I was there, it all seemed a bit pointless, the lassies weren't keen on letting you watch the stage show if you weren't buying them drinks, normally about £40 or going for private dances. 

Folk used to say to me on nights out that I was lucky to be able to do this every night which puzzled me and I would always answer in the same way. How much do you think I earn if you think I am paying £20 to have access to pay £15 for a 330ml bottle of beer and scud £40-£60 on a private dance every night? I always thought it would be awkward as f**k getting a dance, I was in the process of dating local lassies so the appeal was never there for me. I have never been to one in the UK. 

A night hosting colleagues would normally start with one of them saying - I am not going to lap dancing tonight. Which meant - just putting the notion out there that we will be going to lap dancing. It was a pain in the tits for me because it meant a late night.  I always took them to the same place and got to know some of the dancers quite well. It meant that I could go in and sit at the bar talking to the regular barman without getting bothered and they knew the guys I was with were fair game but not to rip them off.

They were 100% focused on separating you from your cash and nothing else. They said that British guys always tell them they are famous footballers or pilots where other European males say they are poor and don't want to spend any money.  Some were quite tragic, had drink problems, some had kids back home in Belarus or Ukraine that they never saw because they were earning very good money in Prague, x2 or x3 the average salary in CZ never mind their home land. 

There are guys who like or need strip clubs and there are also women who like or need to work in them, I don't like them but I understand why some folk do. If there is a market then they will exist. As long as they are run properly and the women are kept safe but also customers aren't ripped off. 

[Brummie Clyde]

Have been 2 or 3 times when I was younger, but wouldn't bother now.

My favourite memory is my brother's mate, who was convinced all the strippers loved him. He said "one liked me so much, she even walked me to the cashpoint".

[Leith Green]

Heyday of the Pubic triangle and one or two others around Tollcross was prob 90s , and I certainly went a to a few on stag dos / work nights with guys from down south. That was in my 20s / early 30s and I cant say I have even been in one since being dragged to the Western as part of my stag do.

Doesnt float my boat now, but imv "bans" tend to send things underground and potentially endanger the girls working there. 

There are a number of facets to these stories, but perhaps we should concentrate less on pissed up guys wanting some oiled up bird to grind on his tadger or the dodgy buggers that own them and more on the safety of the most vulnerable people working there?

The example of what were licensed brothels in Edinburgh is quite instructive re the girls - 

Everyone in the city knew that most massage parlours offered extras, and they were strictly licensed by the council (on health grounds) which meant that someone in authority could look girls in the eye and have an idea if they were being coerced etc.

All "stakeholders" thought it worked - the girls, owners, police, council, the charities representing sex workers actually preferred this situation, as it meant anywhere really bad was shut down, there were few "underground" brothels, and the girls were generally safe.

That changed a number of years ago and the council decided that it couldnt continue to sanction prostitution (to be fair, I think it was also under a bit of duress from less enlightened outside agencies / Scot Gov etc).

Roll on to today, AirbNb flats get booked for weeks at a time for "parties" which are basically unlicensed brothels (full disclosure, we had a flat we rented out where this happened, the b*****ds stole all the bedding, but that might have been a blessing - neighbours were less than delighted with the noises ) and many massage parlours are still around, still operate as brothels, but there are fewer checks and lots of the girls are there under duress / trafficked etc - a shit state of affairs and a lesson in sticking the oar in throwing up a lot of unintended and bad consequences.

I dont know the answer, but I suspect that proper licensing is better than outright bans. 

[Shandon Par]

Sad boring blokes getting drunk. Garish outfits. Yes, it probably is time to ban golf clubs. 
 

Can’t see any logic to banning the stripping beyond puritanism. Or puritanism is being used as a veil for it simply being a way to hit organised crime, given the very sketchy ownership trail of these places and associated incidents of violence and mayhem linked to the people who may/may not own them.

[alta-pete]

I know it’s the bun, but:

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/scottish-news/8543443/strip-clubs-glasgow-vote-adult-entertainment-scotland/

Existing Glasgow clubs get grandfather rights. Should we merge this thread with the Gang Wars one?