Thursday, September 29, 2011

I'm in Love with a (Vegan) Stripper

Some strippers might feel like their customers think of them as nothing more than a piece of meat. Well, the strippers at Casa Diablo in Portland, Oregon don’t have that problem.

That’s because Casa Diablo is the very first vegan strip club in the world. A sign over the bar reads, “Please do not wear fur, feathers, silk, wool, or leather on the stage. Thank you – the animals.” Its awesomely named owner, Johnny Diablo, has been an “ethical vegan” for 23 years.

Photo: Alan.com
Jasmin Malik of Treehugger wrote a light-hearted post about Casa Diablo back in February, but it’s also gotten a lot of negative attention from people who think strip clubs are demeaning. They find it ironic that vegans, who care so much about animal welfare, could have so little respect for women.

As usual, the prudish refined journalists of the United Kingdom put a damper on the sexy news. On Tuesday, Julie Bindel of The Guardian said, “In Casa Diablo, non-human animals are afforded more respect than the strippers.” Clearly, Bindel believes the atrocities of strip clubs would be better accompanied by the atrocities that pass for food in the UK.

It’s obvious how Bindel feels about strip clubs. I, on the other hand, don’t really mind them. I’ve never been inside one, but it’s not because of any moral issue – I’m just too poor to afford all those tips (and I can’t dance).

I think it’s great that vegan strippers – and vegans who love strippers – finally have a place where they can fit in. But even if you think strip clubs represent the basest part of our society, isn’t a vegan strip club still better than a regular old strip club?

5 comments:

  1. Wow! Vegan strippers seem to have come up a lot for me this week, it's weird, and then I find this! I love vegan anything so must say I'm a fan!

    x

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  2. Seriously, fuck off with the anti-UK sentiment.

    It's convenient that when you so wittily refrained from refrained from calling UK journalists 'prudes,' you neglected to mention that Bindel is a lesbian feminist that predominantly writes about feminist issues. It's hardly reflective of UK society as a whole, which seems to be a lot more relaxed than the nation that introduced the 'abstinence ring' to the world.

    I'm no stranger to gross generalisations myself, I've always thought Yank vegans were lice infested tree-huggers...

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  3. Hi Anonymous,
    I am afraid you misread my lighthearted poking fun at British food as anger or malice or something. But please take a look at some of my other posts - you'll see I am not a lice-infested tree hugger at all.
    Meghan

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  4. hmmmmm that looks so scrumptious and I am not talking about the french fries or the chicken if you know what I mean hahaha!

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  5. Well, it shouldn't be chicken, but yes, the lady's breasts - what one can see of them - do look nice. I'm sure it's no different to any other strip joint though, making its money by selling overpriced drinks and 'chats' with the hostesses.

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