Naked Truth: Strip Clubs, Democracy, and a Christian Right

product came brand new, prompt shipping and wonderful item. I wish more things would make people see that not everything is black and white

This book contains a lot of great ammunition for opposing the false claims of the intolerant zealots who want to impose their morality on others and limit people's entertainment and lifestyle choices.

This relates to my work, and Dr. Hanna and I have somewhat different views of the sex industry -- so I find much with which to disagree. But it is nicely presented.

This is an interesting examination of conservative efforts to rid society of the exhibition of bare skin, even within the confines of adult arenas of behavior. To the point of employing police forces to raid establishments after extensive secret monitoring.Additionally provides history of bare skin exhibition. Goes into a series of trumped up trials that cost thousands of dollars of public funds, meanwhile, violent crimes continue to rise. B/w photographs, swearing, scripture. Insightful.

You might not expect Judith Lynne Hanna to be an advocate for striptease. She's an academic, and she is in her seventies. She did her doctorate, however, on dance as nonverbal communication, she has as an anthropologist been studying exotic dance as a particular specialty since 1995, she visits exotic dance clubs to do research, and she has published hundreds of articles and books. She has been one of four judges at the national Exotic World Pageant at the Movers and Shakers Burlesque Museum and Striptease Hall of Fame. She has also worked as a consultant expert in over a hundred legal cases in diverse states where governments wanted to shut down or restrict dance clubs. She likes communication, she likes dancing, she likes expression of fantasy. She does not like restrictions of expression, and in _Naked Truth: Strip Clubs, Democracy, and a Christian Right_ (University of Texas Press) she tells us why. Though her book has plenty of appendices and footnotes, it also has news stories and anecdotes, and descriptions of her testimonies in court. It is entertaining, but it is also a serious examination of how activists are trying to use sexual regulation in order to limit entertainment and enforce morality along church guidelines. It is no teapot tempest, she says: "Part of a clash between theocracy and democracy, the exotic dance conflict illuminates the intersection of religion, dance, and democracy as it affects our liberty and free enterprise and diverts resources from coping with issues related to health, education, crime, and homeland security, among others."Hanna was drawn into this arena of research in 1995 when she was asked to be an expert witness in a First Amendment case about exotic dance. Her anthropological expertise about the dancing was needed. Shementions several times that dance has been restricted by religious fundamentalists though the ages. The Taliban, for instance, permits no dancing and restricts women's freedom, but of course that is not the source of the religious objections she is up against. Some Christian sects allow no sort of dancing, and the waltz and the tango have come in for criticism in their time. It is insufficient that the activists try to influence their own members to stay away from strip clubs; they try to get the government to shut the establishments down. In Hanna's view, this infringes on First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights which need constant defense. Court decisions have made it plain that dancing is expression, and exotic dance comes under the protection of the Constitution and First Amendment. That ought to settle it, but the CR activists seem not to care about such protections as long as they might be able to do away with an activity whose enjoyment by others offends them. In Jacksonville, Florida, they insisted that strippers had to wear garments that covered more flesh than do swimsuits at the beach. "The question naturally arises," says Hanna, "why government should require more clothing for performers communicating a protected message before consenting adults in a controlled environment than it does for citizens walking around in front of children in public while intending to convey no message whatsoever." Since they can't stop the expression presented by strippers, the activists try end runs against the clubs by insisting that such clubs spread disease, invite prostitution, promote drug use, increase crime, or depreciate property. Hanna reviews the evidence for these charges, and finds that there are no studies that reliably show such changes, though this does not keep the CR from bringing up the charges, and sometimes judges agree with them. If the CR activists can't close the places down because they are immoral, they will try to make it too expensive for them to operate, insisting that the government extract a "sin" tax or that the clubs have to hire security guards or pay a license fee no other business has to pay. And if that doesn't work, there is always slashing the tires of patrons, smashing windows, or sending in death threats."The crusade against exotic dance," writes Hanna, "does not serve the larger public interest and is costly to the taxpayer, people's livelihoods, and most importantly, civil liberties." Her bright, detailed, and engrossing book strongly supports free expression and shows that it makes no difference if that expression involves bodily movement, sexuality, or fantasy. It should make no difference at all that some people find such expression "naughty."

An important read for those concerned with democracy and a must for dancers - you will never think about dance the same way again! As in her other works, Judith Hanna has written a riveting book in a lively style and full of facts that blow our preconceptions out of the water. A skilled handling of sensitive material.