Strippercology; Mental Illness & the Industry (Intro to a new blog) ***TW: subject of sexual abuse

BASIC PSYCHOLOGY

  I have decided to share some of my findings while studying the general club environment from a psychological standpoint. First, some statistics that you'll be able to validate on the NAMI website. BPD, borderline personality disorder (aka emotional disregulation disorder) is found in 1.6% of Americans, which seems benign, but that's roughly 50 million people with BPD alone; that does not include whatever mental illness it accompanies as it is rarely a standalone disorder. At the very least, PTSD comes along with the disorder as it stems from early childhood sexual and/or physical abuse, emotional neglect and any other severe childhood trauma. Meanwhile 4% of Americans are sociopaths, so 1 in 25 Americans is considered to be a sociopath. Sociopathy, unlike psychopathy, can be nearly impossible to detect and shares many of the same personality traits as someone with BPD. The difference is the nonexistence of a conscience or lack of empathy. With BPD, the rapid changes in mood is one of its distinguishing factors. Some PhDs may argue that the number is significantly higher, but they're still trying to get everyone to be able to distinguish between sociopathy and psychopathy.. Which is a subject I have been studying for a while. Most of your bosses are sociopaths.. In case you're wondering. It is highly unlikely that you work for a full-on psychopath. Just throwing that out there...

 In most strip clubs there are at least 25 or more girls coming in and out, sometimes 50 or 100, daily. 

THE WRONG REALITY

 Looking at these numbers would make most people come to the same conclusion, and it's incorrect. I know where most minds are at this point and without a road map to follow that reasoning, you are already lost; bare with me. These statistics are based on hundreds of thousands of studies that have and continue to have similar findings, taking the entire American population into account. Therefore, if asked, you would conclude that inside a club there's at least one sociopath at all times. That part is likely true. However, to someone with no knowledge of Freud, or even modern psychology, the conclusion is that there is a higher likelihood of a stripper being a sociopath than having BPD. 

 Stop. Go back to the beginning and read where BPD begins and how. Sociopathy is not necessarily linked to the same traumas, if any at all. Many sociopaths grow up in functional and even loving homes. Sociopaths are born without a conscience, which is difficult to fathom for most, whereas BPD can be traced back to childhood and shitty upbringing; it by no means makes anyone a bad person. You can cure BPD with cognitive and dialectical behavior therapies. There is NO cure for sociopathy and we still don't even know what causes it as it is not even classified as a mental illness. Back to BPD.. Nearly ALL sex workers were abused at some point, probably by a sociopath and end up with issues others work out in their own ways. Some through substance abuse, some through copious amounts of empty sex and some become strippers.

SEXUAL ABUSE AND SEX WORK

 Clubs are riddled with women who've been victims of molestation, rape, incest etc and often when *WE* were young children. While there may be a sociopath or five, almost every stripper I have met had some form of BPD. There is a stigma on strippers being "ill behaved", impulsive or erratic. What nobody understands is that the girl who seemed fine one minute then started flying off the handle the next, is in fact mentally ill; not an uncivilized bitch you can treat like garbage; which is how we're most often portrayed on TV or in films. Drug abuse, hypersexuality and raging mood swings are actually the norm for most women who were severely sexually abused at a young age and are afflicted with BPD. Job stability, stability in relationships and impulsivity are also very common symptoms of the disease. The "drug addicted hoe" may very well be screaming for help, has no desire to live or has to numb her way through work because it brings back too much shit; but she has no other options. People who've never danced often say they would have to be drunk/high/fucked up to do it; well... guess what? Don't judge someone for their actions, but question why they act the way they do and never forget your own transgressions; we all fuck up. It's what you do with the fuck up that counts. Stop punishing yourself and learn how to take back control of your life.

RELIVING TRAUMAS & PTSD

 "It's just part of the job" (that statement is an entire blog post in and of itself). But um... No. Sexual assault and putting up with lude behavior is NOT our job! IT IS NOT NOW, NOR WAS IT EVER YOUR JOB TO BE VIOLATED AND REMAIN SILENT! If you honestly believe that, get out before the job ruins you completely! That isn't even remotely okay to think. Whomever we have to thank for inflicting trauma on us is the "type" we can generally expect to be drawn to us. For me it's men my father's age, or older, and pedophiles. They don't even know I am a mom and they are drawn to me. That is partly because of my own BPD. I was a toddler when my abuse began so it runs deep and something about me will forever be childlike. Some might stay I'm "stuck" at the age I was when I faced the brunt of the abuse; though I would consider myself hovering around 12 and not 3, but I digress. Petulance is just part of the fucked up package! I made a lot of money off of disgusting perverts that were remarkably similar to my own father. Sigmund Freud would have a field day in a strip club and I would imagine Carl Jung to have a series of strokes if he were around to witness this shit. Look around you, clean up the environment a bit and toss out the trash. Only strippers have the power to control the type of clientele they attract. Aim the bar a little higher and stop torturing yourself. Believe that YOU DESERVE BETTER!! Try to find some fun in your job. Most importantly, protect your body! Hands off, boys! Your mothers would beat you if they saw how shitty you treat women, not sex workers, just women in general. If you have zero respect inside the club, you're not much better outside and you should be ashamed!

SERIOUSLY... RESPECT & PROTECT YOURSELF

 Here's a fun anecdote..

A guy takes a piss in an alley and is seen by a woman who immediately calls the police. He is then arrested, possibly charged with indecent exposure, lude drunken behavior and his name ends up on the national sex offender registry; all because he couldn't find a restroom. 

 Guy pulls out his dick and blows a load all over a girl and he MIGHT get thrown out. Most of the time they run out fast and girls just have to put up with it. Sorry, NO! Again, STRIPPERS are the ones with the power in the club, so be a badass bitch and slap the piece of shit; have his foul ass arrested! Start leading by example. You want change? Then be PART OF IT! ***Don't worry about getting fired! That's illegal and you know whom to call if you wanna bend your boss over and fuck his ass with no lube! The same bitch who took down DejaVu and turned the industry upside down. SLiss@LLRLaw.com (Shannon Liss-Riordan). She will take the fuckers down if you want her to. Moving on...

OPEN YOUR EYES AND EITHER SEE WHAT'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, OR QUIT, BECAUSE NOW YOU REALLY DON'T BELONG IN THE INDUSTRY! AS MUCH AS I HATE TO SAY IT, IF YOU CANNOT DEFEND YOURSELF THEN YOU ARE TOO WEAK! A STRONG PERSON WILL NOT STAND FOR ANY LEVEL OF DISRESPECT! IF YOU "DEAL WITH IT" BECAUSE YOU REALLY BELIEVE YOU HAVE TO, DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND RETIRE!

 If you honestly believe strippers are "asking for it", deserve to be assaulted because of their job, FUCK YOU!! Rot in hell you sociopathic piece of shit! (See what I just did there?) If you honestly believe YOUR JOB comes with assault and being violated, seek help or get out! The industry will chew you up and spit you out, or leave you more jaded than before you entered this world.

 LASTLY... STOP TELLING BABY STRIPPERS IF THEY CANNOT HANDLE IT, QUIT, BECAUSE IT'S PART OF THE JOB! I DON'T CARE WHO SAYS IT, IT IS WRONG!!! RAPE/SEXUAL ASSAULT ARE NOBODY'S JOB! THAT'S CALLED "TRAFFICKING" AND YOU'RE ALREADY WALKING THE RAZOR'S EDGE ON THAT FRONT! THIS IS NOT AN OPINION, THESE ARE FACTS! 

Who owns your body?