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Want a Lapdance? Not in Iceland!

By Pat Racimora on March 26, 2010 at 10:00 PM in Current Affairs

Iceland just made it illegal for any business to profit from the nudity of its employees. No more lapdancing. No more topless waitresses in bars. But these bans are not for the reason you might think.

According to an article by Julie Bindel in the UK Guardian, Iceland is now among the top Feminist Counties on the planet. As such Iceland is the first country to ban stripping and other nude entertainment for feminist rather than religious reasons. Women are not products and should not be sold, according to Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir, the politician and originator of the ban on Iceland’s sex business.

According to Icelandic police, 100 foreign women travel to the country annually to work in strip clubs. It is unclear whether the women are trafficked, but feminists say it is telling that as the stripping industry has grown, the number of Icelandic women wishing to work in it has not. Supporters of the bill say that some of the clubs are a front for prostitution – and that many of the women work there because of drug abuse and poverty rather than free choice.

How did feminists get the power to make changes no one thought possible? Simple. They got involved. Almost half of the members of Iceland’s Parliament are women, and Icelandic women’s groups have been actively pushing for changes, including more legal protections for victims of rape and domestic violence. Women hope that what they were able to do in Iceland will happen in other countries. That women are not for sale is a goal worth pursuing.

The strip club owners are, of course, upset and warn that it may all backfire, even to the point of making it illegal for women to show any body part in public. In the meantime, it appears that bargoers will have to be satified with just alcohol and…er… “dancing” alone.

  • No Longer Banned in Beantown

    I love the female body as much as any hetero male. But I know wrong when I see it. Those places are not just wrong, they are bizarre.
     
    I don’t have to tell anyone here that women are no represented enough in government.
     
    Which is why I am happy that I woman is running for Congress in my district.
     
    Donna Campbell MD, that’s right, a doctor will be in the House, with some hard work.
     
    She is running against Democrat Lloyd Doggett, a 7 term Congressman, but has held political offices since 1976.  He is well funded and has $3.5 million in campaign funds already.
     
    After the primary, Donna had $500. She needs to get to at least $1 million by October to be able to compete.
     
    I am hoping the NQ faithful can spread the word, and donate what you can. As with all the candidates, even $5 helps when its multiplied by many contributions.
     
    Check her website here and please contribute. Thank You.
     
    http://www.drdonnaforcongress.com/ 

  • Docelder

    That business is just ugly all the way around. But I think it unfair to simply say the men going to the clubs are using the women who work there. I think all the players in this industry… club owners, women and customers are using each other to varying degrees.

  • Tex-Mex Soup

    Taking a woman’s right to do what they want to do away from them, for me is more detrimental than not allowing stripping.  Who are they to tell someone what to do and not do.  If these are adult women who choose to strip for a profession then so be it.  Did they do the same for the male dancers?  I’m not condoning the exploitation of women however again if they do it from their own volition then what is the problem?  Do they have solid proof these women are being exploited? I’m sure some are and that is unbelievably terrible but to punish the industry, I don’t know…….

    Perhaps stricter laws would have been a better thing to do or at least a start instead of stripping (no pun intended, lol) a woman’s right to personal freedom.

  • Rabble Rouser Rev. Amy

    Wow, Pat, what a story!  I appreciate that Iceland is one of the most feminist countries on the planet, but why do these socially progresive countries always have to be the COLD ones???  ;)

    Great toon!

  • HC123

    This isn’t feminism, its the nanny state run amok.

  • sandshark222

    As a straight male who doesn’t go to strip clubs, I can say the ban wouldn’t affect me even if it was done stateside. However, I think as disgusting and sleazy as strip clubs are, women who strip are doing so by choice. I’m curious, did they ban the male strip clubs too? It seems like HC123 is right, it’s a nanny state out of control. I think the government is taking away rights from women in Iceland, in reality.

  • Diana L. C.

    Read the quotation.  Most of the women doing it are not from Iceland.  These are mostly women coming into the country, possibly being trafficked into the country.  I am of the mind that no woman actually “chooses” to work in these places–I believe they fall into that kind of work because of circumstances.

    Personally, I like the message:  “Women are not products and should not be sold.”

  • Cindy

    Pat—Thank you for this post! With feminists like you and Rev. Amy, the educating of our culture about women has a chance! Wonderful cartoon, too.

  • Touchet

    Does that mean that they exploit men more like women over here?  I am so moving there!  Its like a gay mecca!

  • FLDemFem

    sandshark..you asked..“I’m curious, did they ban the male strip clubs too?”

    The story says, in the first sentence, “Iceland just made it illegal for any business to profit from the nudity of its employees.” So that would apply to men as well as women. The law does not single out women, it simply says that profiting from having people naked, or close to it, in your establishment is not legal. That would apply to men such as the Chippendale type dancers too.

  • Cindy

    No longer banned—-I have known Lloyd since 1977, that’s why I voted in the Republican primary and voted  for Dr. Donna Campbell.
    Way back last fall my mother and I were in a little coffee shop in our small town and Dr. Campbell was sitting at the next table. She introduced herself and told us she was running for Congress. She’s so articulate competent and hopefully stands a hell of a chance. Lloyd will not give up without a bloodbath, so be prepared!

  • sandshark222

    Thanks I totally missed that! :)

  • rw

    good for Iceland, pretty progressive political move.

  • don x

    Hooray for Icelandic women!  An important assertion of equal power for women.

    The queston has been raised lately whether we would be in the mess we are in with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as in our near economic collapse if women were running our country. 

    We can be thankful we have Hillary as Secretary of State.

  • Freedom Fighter

    No one is forcing these women to dance or take their clothes off. They do it because they prefer that over whatever the alternative is. I am not sure how this is going to help women when you are taking away one of their income options.

  • Freedom Fighter

    Apparently, “feminists” believe they know how best women should behave by using the law to limit their freedoms, and surprisingly the folks at NQ agree. Actually it’s not so shockking. The women at NQ are all about controlling the behaviour of other women.

  • Freedom Fighter

    I love how women who claim to be feminists support taking away economic and other freedoms from other women.

  • Cindy

    its the nanny state run amok.

    in my opinion, I think it’s the patriarch state run a-ground.

  • lorac

    Well, by that logic, having stealing being illegal takes away thieves’ income options, having drugs being illegal takes away drug pushers’ income options…..

    I don’t believe that a woman (or man) who sells her body really respects herself or has real self-confidence.  I think, as Diana alluded to, their circumstances and past are such that they aren’t truly making a free, informed choice.

    Generally, when some options are unavailable due to illegality, your average person moves along a path toward all of the LEGAL options.  I’d say, making it prohibited, actually increases their options.

    And that’s not even touching on the larger societal benefits of not recognizing such objectification of women as acceptable, particularly in the eyes of men.  I’m sure when such behavior is prohibited, it has large ripple effects leading to less objectification of women in general.

  • Dianaf

    Wow!!! Go Iceland!!!!

  • Dianaf

    Sweet line Cindy. Well put.

  • No Longer Banned in Beantown

    There will be blood

  • HARP

    Well…..there goes Pelosi`s second job after she loses the Speaker position.

  • NW Boiler

    Interesting post.  Does this mean that nudity in films is banned as well.  I’m not talking pornography, just mainstream films.  Films have used nudity to help sell tickets for a long time and the movie production companies certainly profit from the nudity of it’s employees or independent contractors. 

    Maybe the strip clubs will just make them independent contractors, rather than “employees” and will get around the law just the same as a movie production company would.

    Either way, someone is being paid to be nude in order to profit from the “entertainment.”  Same goes for artwork, beer posters, exotic car advertisements, even the broadway production of Hair.  Lots of men and women being paid to be nude all over the world for various reasons that result in profit.

    To be clear, as the father of a daughter, I completely understand the desire, and need, to fight the objectification of women.  I agree that we should really have no need in our society for strip clubs, porn movies, porn magazines, etc.  I also agree that there could be less nudity in our movies and less skin in our pop culture.  I just don’t know if I’m ready to start passing laws banning such things in the name of feminism.  It’s a tough call between freedom and dictating and enforcing societal standards.

    I guess the government of Iceland has made their call.

  • Stan Davis

    Doesn’t matter to me.  I would still like to look at lithe, nude women bodies, but I don’t remember why.

  • Linda Mac

    It seems like others have said that it is Greenland that is cold and Iceland that is Green.  <g>  It might not be such a cold place to be, after all.

    All that being said, I do not think that any woman chooses to do that kind of work.  It is my opinion that women who are in degrading occupations are forced there by circumstances.  When women are treated with dignity and needy people are treated with empathy and compassion, women do NOT choose to sell thier bodies any more than children choose to work in sweat shops.  Need, hunger, and lack of self-esteem forces many to do work that damages them physically and emotionally.

  • My other site

    In many instances, the women are forced into this kind of job.  No woman in her right mind would want to live that kind of life.  It isn’t fair to take advantage of a woman’s vulnerability to use her to satisfy the appetites of men.  In some countries the women are actually kidnapped and held as slaves in sex industries.  Frontline has had revealing programs on this subject.  Human trafficking is happening in the U. S. now.  (ACORN incident).  Driving through Macon, GA two weeks ago, we saw billboards showing pictures of young girls ties at the wrists and and ankles.  The billboard said Help Stop Human Trafficking in Macon.  Shocking.

  • My other site

    Operative words: “if they choose”

  • My other site

    Only a chauvinistic man would believe that being used for sex is a “freedom.”  If there are women who do this voluntarily, it’s because they couldn’t get any other economic choice.

  • Diana L. C.

    Again, FF, you are obviously lacking in comprehension skills.  It comes from being told since you were in diapers that your opinion is as good as the next, even though it is based on only knee-jerk reactions.

    If you are trafficked and forced to do this work, it doesn’t qualify as a “freedom.”  If it is the only job you can get because you are in a situation that does not allow you to get an education or other means of more dignified employment, it does not qualify as a freedom.

  • Diana L. C.

    Just based on FF’s many, many other mindless comments on this blog, I am guessing he is of the mindset of “bros before hos.”  Been listening to too much Jay-Z, wiping the hos off your shoulder, placing that finger to your cheek when you’re dissing a “ho.”  Maybe you’re a real pimp just justifying the “choices” you’ve given your “property.”  Just saying……

  • No Longer Banned in Beantown

    In a life long ago I worked a brief stint as a Probation Officer. 99% of my cases stemed from, drug, and alcohol abuse, and a good portion involved sex crimes.

    Given an opportunity, all of the women I talked with would choose something else. They did what they did because they felt trapped and that it was the only way they could support themselves.

    Only one woman seemed to truly enjoy her occupation. Her mother had been in that line of work, and no doubt introduced her daughter to it.

    Even that young won was being exploited and knew it. She chalked it up to the cost of doing business. She was making and saving money to eventually change her occupation. I doubt she ever did.

    The point is, the overwhelming majority of women do not chose that line of work, it chooses them, often violently. They come from poor backgrounds, and have little education. Their families were poor, and the women did not receive the same guidance and roll modeling of women who do not choose chose that occupation.

    There are very few women who choose that line of work. It is comforing that one country has the sense to provide a safe haven for those that don’t.

    For those that do choose, there are other places they can go. Like Nevada and Las Vegas. At least places like the Mustang Ranch look after their “girls”, provide financial and savings advice, and provide health, safety, and AIDS prevention.

    If you want to be an actress, you don’t stay in the corn belt. You move to LA, Chicago, or New York. Women that truely want to work the sex trade should go to a place where it is legal, well regulated and protects their safety.

    The overwhelming majority of sex clubs are a hell on earth for too many women.

  • creeper

    Exactly, Diana L.C.

    When was the last time you heard a little girl say “When I grow up I wanna be a stripper”?

  • creeper

    I swear, if Iceland weren’t so cold I’d move there. 

    Side note:  It’s interesting the way people are named in Iceland.  The originator of this ban is Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir.  In the Icelandic system of monikers this equates to “Kolbrún, who is Halldórs’ daughter.”

    Many countries use “son” as part of their naming system.  Iceland is the only one I know that recognizes daughters as well.

  • HC123

    You really think government should decide that stripping is illegal? Whats next? Alcohol prohibition? Bowling prohibition? Sure! Why not? Pick anything you don’t like and make some laws. Its 2010, nothing is out of scope for government “fixes”.

    Making a thing illegal doesn’t change anyones mind about it, doesn’t “fix” the underlying issues, it just grows enforcement. Especially when its a thing consenting adults actually enjoy. This law probably wont do anything but provide “jobs” for “stripper inspectors” to make sure the pasties arent too small.

    Don’t like stripping? Don’t look. As long as everyone is a consenting adult its none of your business.

  • HC123

    Being forced into stripping should be illegal (and probably already is) – just like any other form of slavery. Thats a very different proposition than an outright ban on the entire business. 

    Personal freedom becomes difficult when you dont actually like or approve of the activity. Thats where freedom erodes first, with good intentions. Remember prohibition?

  • PortiaElizabeth

    Yay! A TX woman and a doctor. I just made a small donation. Since I don’t know your name, NLBIB, I put “No Quarter” for my referral. I hope she gets lots of action on her site. I like her!

  • Tricia

    Interesting, creeper.  I did not know that.

  • Pat Racimora

    I think a longer range psychologcal goal is mssing from the discussion. What is for sale is devalued as merchandise. The longer term goal, which is included in the full article, is improvement in the overall attitudes (often totally unconscious) in the worth and dignity of women.

  • hd rider

    Hmmm…seems Iceland is on many minds of late.  Iceland also has some interesting laws regarding alcohol that could create a thought provoking article and follow up discussions.  Check it out.

  • Cindy

    Iceland is years ahead of USA!!!

    Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir[1] (pronounced [jouːhanːa ˈsɪːɣʏrðartouʰtɪr]; born 4 October 1942) is an Icelandic politician and the current Prime Minister of Iceland. She had previously been Iceland‘s Minister of Social Affairs and Social Security from 1987–1994 and 2007–2009. She has been a member of the Althing (Iceland’s parliament) for Reykjavík constituencies since 1978, winning re-election on eight successive occasions. She became Iceland’s first female Prime Minister on 1 February 2009; she also became the world’s first openly gay head of government of the modern era.[2][3]

  • FLDemFem

    Don’t tell Obummer about this new law in Iceland!! He will try to get it through here, it would “enhance” his feminist creds and totally shut down Las Vegas. And since he has an apparent bias against Las Vegas, I am sure he would work hard to get the law passed. It would also please the Muslim communities, given their opposition to nudity in any form.

  • FLDemFem

    I had an old friend from high school who ended up working as an “exotic dancer”. She came from a nice middle class family, no drugs or other bad stuff in her life, and not a single mother or anything like that. I asked her why in the world she would do something like that for a living. She looked at me and said, “I make $5-600 a night from tips. Find me another job that pays that well!!” She banked most of her pay and was able to pay her way through college and medical school and when she got out of medical school had enough money banked to start her own practice. So, not all women are forced into it by circumstance. Some actually see it as a way to empower themselves economically. And for some, it works.

  • EllenD

    why do these socially progresive countries always have to be the COLD ones??? 

    RRRA – are you saying Iceland could accomplish the same thing by simply cutting off the heat in these clubs?  ;)

  • Me

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    It will be interesting to learn the long term effects of this law.  Obviously, fewer women will travel to Iceland to become strippers, but I wonder what alternative employment the uneducated Icelandic strippers will choose?  Fast food jobs?—some politicians want to ban such establishments for health and weight reasons.  House cleaners?—a better job, but not exactly a highly respected one, and if these women have/had such low morals, would they be more likely to steal, making it more difficult to get such a job?  My niece knew of several girls stripping to earn college tuition—crazy, yes, but it was their choice and they were able to graduate, both from college and to better jobs.  Stripping is a job without the possibility of a promotion as the years go on.  It is a demeaning occupation, but is “demeaning” in the eye of the beholder? Is it because the customers are sleazy and/or drunk? Why is a highly paid, respected actress in a torrid sex scene glorified and not considered to be demeaning herself?  Because it is “art”? 

  • Me

    Wow!  I don’t know what happened there.  Sorry.

  • oowawa

    Lapdance?  I don’t see anything wrong with this–Kind of cute, actually . . .

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs4JvYIzj5U

  • Cindy

    oowawa—LOL!! You are a riot, as usual!
    yeah…I don’t think the girls in your video have much of a future in the sex trade biz.

  • oowawa

    Nah HARP–it’s the “lap of luxury” she plans on sitting on after the Speaker’s job . . .

  • Cindy

    Portia- continuing with the pro women’s theme of this thread, I have to tell you another reason I hope Dr. Campbell defeats Lloyd Doggett.
    Lloyd has always advertised himself as a pro-feminist, because, of course he is a yellow dog Dem! Ha! ”Feminist” my fanny!
    After all of the years of his friendship with the Clintons and all that they did for him, he supported Obama OVER Hillary in the Texas Primary ’08.,,,,,,,,but wait, there’s more: he actually went behind his female staff’s backs to do it. They had not a clue until Hillary came to Austin a few weeks before the primary. Lloyd left voice mails for staff saying he was supporting Barack over Hillary and would not be attending Hillary’s rally in Austin. He didn’t even have the decency to tell them in person!!!! His own persdonal assistants! These are old friends of mine and there were/are his longtime female staff members who had sacrificed for him for years!!! They were heartbroken! What a snake! That forever changed my opinion of Lloyd, a 30 yr. friend and ally at that point in my involvement in Texas politics. It’s not that I’m holding a grudge; it’s that I do not want to be involved with liars and posers such as he.
    Here’s to Dr. Campbell taking a gamble! I hope to hell she wins. We need more women in the U.S. legislature, and maybe someday we can stand as tall for women’s rights as Iceland is right now. We can dream, at least.

  • Cindy

    oowawa—you mean “lapdog”?
    And of course, she looks so thin and svelte, I’d say she’s had lapo-suction.

  • lorac

    That’s cool, daughters being recognized as well as sons.  But it sounds like mothers are still being unrecognized….?   People’s names recognize them as a daughter/son of a particular man….?

  • PortiaElizabeth

    What a low-down, dirty snake! Cindy, thanks for filling in the blanks. I’ve been away from TX for awhile, but in ’08 I was calling all my family and friends to support Hillary in the primaries there. Doggett sounds like one nasty piece of work. I hope karma comes back to bite him big-time.

  • lorac

    I believe the article said the strippers weren’t from Iceland, but had been brought from other countries….

    I’m not aware of actresses being glorified for being in a torrid sex scene – what do you mean by “glorified”?  And are you talking about every viewer, or mainly the male viewers?  Also, even a “torrid” sex scene can only go so far – otherwise it’s pornography. 

    Personally, I totally don’t get the thrill many get from seeing strangers’ naked bodies.  Faces are individual, but viewers are more interested in the bodies – yet bodies, particularly the “perfect 10″ types people want to watch, are incredibly similar. 

    Why a body form is so fascinating on TV, “men’s magazines”, or advertising, when the viewer is never going to do anything more than “see” it (and they’ve already seen it a million times), is beyond me.  It’s one thing to appreciate and enjoy the body of the person you’re with, but I just don’t get the fascination with strangers’ (identical) bodies. 

    It used to be a male thing, but now women are a lot into it, too.  I’m in a shrinking minority lol

  • Tex-Mex Soup

    you obviously do not know what you are talking about if you are referring to my post ff’er

  • Pat Racimora

    oowawa–that is hilarious!  I needed that!

  • creeper

    {sigh}  Yeah, there is that.  Happily, it doesn’t seem to hamper their drive toward equality of the sexes, though.

  • Senneth

    Good for Iceland!  I watch Glenn Beck once in a while when it’s rerun on late.  New ads have been appearing about importing women from Eastern Europe and help men find their “dream.”  The commercial makes me sick and it feels really creepy – almost like sex trafficking on television ads, although the ads claim it’s just for companionship.  Anyone else see this commercial.

  • Savannah

    Wow; I’m all for womens rights but hey, its also they’re right to do what they want with they’re body and if they decide to use it to make money by showing a bit of skin then so be it. 

  • Murray

    Bully for Iceland!

    Of course, we know that sex between two consenting adults, with a little favor, monetarily or otherwise, will never be out of existence.  …”oldest profession” & all that…

    Yet, cutting out those middlemen can only be a positive.