The other day I posted a
pole dancing celebrities ONTD Original, and in that post I finished off with Demi Moore the 90s film
Striptease. I hadn't ever watched the movie as an adult, having only caught it on cable, so I went back and rewatched it-- much to my surpise, it was a surprisingly good film with an overt positive slant toward women involved in the sex-work-adjacent industry.
So let's go back and re-evaluate
Striptease, a surprisingly feminist should-be cult classic.
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Just what is Striptease actually about?![]()
Striptease is about Erin Grant, a young mother who, loses her job as a paralegal at the FBI and custody of her daughter within the opening scenes of the film. The film centers around the fall out of the obsession two men develop for her after she begins her career as a "dancer" (not "stripper", as the movie restates a number of times).
The first of these two men is a familiar figure in today's feminist world, the Nice Guy (AKA the guy who gets killed).
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Mr Nice Guy buys Erin flowers, has an apartment covered in photos of her, and attempts to blackmail Republican Senator David Dilbeck into overturning the custody judge's ruling. As Dilbeck says, however, the judge is a democrat and therefore will not listen to Dilbeck... so naturally, he has him killed.
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The second of the two men is the above mentioned Senator Dilbeck (A.K.A. Convak Dilvak A.K.A. Congressman Dildo), a Republican Senator up for re-election who is married but can't seem to stop going to stripclubs. He's enraptured when he first sees Erin dance, and when a customer climbs on stage to accost her during a routine, Dilbeck climbs on and smashes a bottle over the guy's head. He's in a disguise, but he's recognized and photographed assaulting the random patron.
Okay, who cares? Why is this supposed to be interesting?Despite the premise,
Striptease is full of feminist dialogue. Demi Moore's character sets boundaries within her work place and defends the other dancer's rights to set their boundaries. When the manager of the Eager Beaver tries to get Erin to agree to creamed corn wrestling when the other dancer's have rejected it, we get the following exchange.
Erin: o chance that I'm gonna roll around naked in creamed corn with drunken yahoos trying to stick niblets up my hoo-hah.
Orly: Not naked. Health Department won't go for naked. Not with food products.
Erin: I always liked the Health Department.
Orly: So you'll think about it?
Erin: Not for one second.
...
Erin: Orly, if I wanted to wrestle I would've joined the World Wrestling Federation.
Erin: - And speaking of real class?
Orly: What's the problem?
Erin: (holds up coasters and napkins with the Eager Beaver logo) We hate these. They degrade women and beavers.
Orly: I'll take it under advisement.
That is to say...
1. The women are empowered and in control of their lives, and are allowed to set boundaries at their workplace.Meanwhile, the emotional core of the film revolves around the relationship between Erin and her daughter Angela, rather than a romance plot.
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2. The emotional thrust of the film is about a mother-daughter relationship, with a kick-ass mother not unlike Sarah Connor!
3. It even PASSES THE BECHDEL TEST! Erin and her daughter speak on a variety of topics, and Erin speaks about dancing with her co-workers. The film also addresses the conflict Erin feels about having been forced into a profession she feels conflicted about. After her daughter Angela sees Erin on stage, they have the following conversation...
Angela: I was just thinking. Do you like dancing?
Erin: Not really.
Angela: It's not fun? -
Erin: No.
Angela: You're just dancing.
Erin: Just dancing's fun, honey. Sure, that part of the job.
Angela: What's not fun? The customers? Urbana said some of them are mean and stupid.
Erin: Pumpkin, have you ever seen me dance? Have you?
Angela: I told the girls that... - I came out tonight.
Erin: While I was dancing?
Angela: You looked really pretty.
Erin: No, I didn't.
Angela: Yeah, you did. You looked great.
Erin: Thank you, baby.
Erin's feelings about her profession are confronted not through the lens of someone trying to shame her, but are rather grounded in her daughter's approval and her own feelings of being able to properly raise her daughter.
4. The film refuses to shame strippers / dancers for their profession. ![]()
Erin's character is shown practicing her choreography, the movie repeatedly affirms the "no touching the dancers" rule, and the male staff doesn't harass the women, who come from a broad spectrum of backgrounds. Erin even shares a particularly friendly relationship with the Eager Beaver's bouncer.
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The movie ends in a comedy of errors in which Erin is the ultimate badass, who overcomes her violent scummy ex-husband and the evil congressman in a series of increasingly ridiculous scenarios.
So
5. Women don't need to be rescued in this film, they rescue themselves! Not to mention the soundtrack is AMAZING.
"Gimme Some Lovin'"
"Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car" by Billy Ocean
3. "The Tide Is High" by Blondie
4. "Expressway to Your Heart" by The Soul Survivors
5. "Green Onions" by Booker T. & the M.G.'s
6. "Love Child (Halaila)" by Laladin
7. "I Live for You" by Chynna Phillips
8. "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" by The Miracles
9. "Mony Mony" by Billy Idol
10. "If I Was Your Girlfriend" by Prince
11. "I Hate Myself for Loving You" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
12. "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" by Eurythmics
13. "Return to Me" by Dean Martin
14. "Missionary Man (Eurythmics song)" by Eurythmics
Also, naked women and great stripping.
And that's why you should all go and watch
Striptease.
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