It seems every once in awhile a story comes along about an underage dancer working in a strip club… and it has happened once again. Police recently discovered that a 12 year old (6^th grader) runaway had danced nude at Diamonds Cabaret of Dallas last year. You can read the full story at:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/032708dnmetclubs.10bdd5.html

To the amazement of many people, the club will not be losing its cabaret license. According to the article this is because the Dallas laws regarding sexual businesses don’t allow officials to revoke licenses for employing underage workers. This really makes you wonder about laws doesn’t it?

I can’t exactly figure out what was going through the heads of the hiring managers in this club. Seriously, what was it? The girl supposedly didn’t have identification on her, and couldn’t remember her birthday. Does that not scream fishy? I have worked at plenty of clubs, and only once have I ever even seen an underage dancer. In that situation the girl handed her ID to the club manager as she was going on stage to audition. He didn’t look at it right away (dumb), but the minute he did the police were contacted and she was literally chased out of the club. She didn’t even have a fake ID… that still amazes me to this day. Not that a fake ID would have done her much good. What was she thinking? Did she think that the club would hire her knowing that she was underage? Give me a break! I don’t know which is worse though, the underage dancer handing over her real ID, or the manager who let an underage dancer work for two weeks without having an ID!

Managers, please, please, please – check IDs BEFORE the dancer steps foot on a stage! This goes right back to something I have said for a long time, I think Las Vegas has it right, all dancers should be required to have a license/sheriffs card to be able to dance in any state.

I do not fully know yet what I think should happen with this case. I believe the managers who spoke with her should be fired for letting her work without an ID on file. I’d love to say that I wish the club would be shut down… but I don’t. There are too many people who work at these clubs to want that, especially all of the single parents who have this as an only source of income. Shutting down a club would mean dancers, bartenders, security and others would lose their job… and most of them probably didn’t know anything about it.

Also, for the record, I am convinced that the reason children no longer look like children is because of hormones… particularly hormones found in food. I know the hiring managers didn’t think she looked 12… but hardly anyone looks like their real age anymore. Again, check ID’s.

As for this girl, I hope that the law does something to reprimand her. At that age, yes, I do think she knew better. Plus, even though she may not have been an “employee”, I doubt the state would allow an underage independent contractor to operate a sexually oriented business. In essence if you are a dancer, and are not an employee of the club, then you are an independent contractor operating a sexually oriented business. Most states don’t require a business license for dancers, but if they did then it would be far less likely that this 12 year old would have be able to receive a sexually oriented business license without having to provide identification. Take a look at this for more information on sexually oriented business licenses in Dallas: http://www.dallascityhall.com/financial_services/special_collections_licenses2.html

As for the mother who made the comment “All they [club/managers] were thinking about was the money she could bring in”… I doubt that. She was bringing them in $30 per night at most for house a fee… that is really low in the world of clubs. Plus, the whole of $10,000 of house fees that she might have made in a year isn’t worth them taking the chance of having the club closed down. No, I really think it is simply that the managers were lazy about doing their jobs and checking IDs.

Follow-up Articles:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/crime/stories/DN-clubs_28met.ART.East.Edition1.462c3a0.html

Diamonds Cabaret of Dallas on Myspace

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=301710244

I looked for a website, but didn’t find one.

I’d love to hear your opinions on this!

Smell is said to be the strongest of the senses capable of bringing back memories. If you don’t believe it, do a simple Google search. It’s strange how certain smells are so strongly linked to memories. The smell of lilacs reminds me of my childhood. The smell of rain reminds me of walking the dog with my mother years ago. Many years ago it jumped into my very straight laced friend’s car, only to discover that it smelled like my old stripper bag! I’m sure most of you are asking yourselves what stripper smells like, I’ll explain this further down. The point is that most of us have a smell or two that reminds us of something.

On multiple occasions I find myself wanting to say something that is probably less than desirable in most people’s world. There is a certain body spray that has always been the favorite of many dancers, and is one of the cheapest things that you can find in nearly every Wal-mart, Target, CVS, Walgreens or most any other other drug store… Calgon Hawaiian Ginger. Avalon, if you are reading this I think you’ll agree that in the world of strippers and scents, this is the equivalent of the velour jumpsuit being the stripper uniform! I believe originally Calgon Hawaiian Ginger was called Hawaiian White Ginger, or maybe it was just white ginger? Don’t worry though ladies’, wearing this scent is not going to automatically make you smell like a stripper.

It seems these days that nearly all strip clubs have put in a no smoking rule… which doesn’t seem to apply to dressing rooms. So while customers and dancers can not smoke in the main portion of the club, many dancers still go to the dressing room to light up. Thus every evening upon coming home after dancing in a club, I’ve always had to take a shower or else my long tresses reek of smoke. The smell of tobacco seems to be very good at sticking around, on fingers, clothes, hair etc. It’s this combination of Calgon Hawaiian Ginger mixed with smoke and the final secret ingredient that seems to conjurer up the words in my head “smells like stripper”.

So what is this last final magical ingredient? The very thing that rumors have spread around to be one of the filthiest things around… and yet we all love it. Have I given it away yet? The answer is money. Yes, money is filthy. On my recent trip to the U.S. mint, I heard that the average life cycle of most paper bills is only about three months… and it’s pretty amazing how much odor those dollars, fives, twenties and hundreds manage to pick, including body odors! Money has now become the key ingredient I use to identify people or items that smell like stripper… including the average suburban mom of three who stood in front of me today at the mall. Ladies, please avoid mixing the cheap Calgon/perfumes with cigarettes, and having too much hard cash on you at once… it smells like stripper.

So I am in Vegas for a portion of this week, and while waiting on an appointment I went to the local mart (gas station minus the gas) to grab a water and a power snack. I walk in minding my own business, and some guy tries to make a compliment towards me in a not-so-swift manner. I go to the restroom, grab what I need and check out. On my way out the door he gives me the “Hey baby, what’s it going to take to get to know you” line. I informed him I wasn’t looking. Then he tries giving me the “I’m a photographer for such and such magazine” line (magazine sounded like a nude or garage glamour), and tells me that he thinks I have the look. Yeah, keep going, let’s hear the rest buddy. I informed him that I was in Vegas for the AEE (Adult Entertainers Expo) last January, and he blankly stares at me and asks “What is the AEE”? The guy totally just killed himself with that. I think pretty much any photography that lives in Vegas knows what the AEE is. You know what though buddy; if you have paid work that isn’t mo-chizmo, feel free to send them my way!

It just screamed fake. Ladies and gentlemen, be careful who you work with, there are a lot of wanna-be photographers on the market. If they try to hit on you, chances are you shouldn’t be dealing with them.