Is it easier to be an exotic dancer or a domestic worker?

The debate

I’m watching a series that’s exploring life on a streaming service and it triggers a strong thought. A question in fact. It’s controversial and I want your opinion. We’re moving from slut shaming women to applauding them for taking charge of their bodies and their looks. Their choices are their own. Their lives are their own and so are their bodies. So who are you to pass judgment? This is the recent rhetoric we’ve been hearing and talking about in the modern world. I say modern because we are still living in a world with strong traditional cultures and yes they ought to be respected just like religion and opinion. We all know someone who would pass judgement on choice of lifestyle. Be it the work you do whom you’re in love with where you live the clothes you wear or even your hairstyle. We know them, so as much as we are calling these women brave, survivors, victims, strong and empowering there’s someone else with a strong different opinion and with an argument to support it. We easily pass judgment on women who make money from entertainment (call it what you want I’m just being polite) but maybe that’s not the right choice of word. I mean exotic dancers and escorts. Could be the teenager who stands by the corner of your street or your neighbor whom you have seen on an adult film. Hmmm, what were you doing watching?

Anyway that’s besides the point, my question is

Is it easier to be a stripper or a maid?

Or anything else for that matter.I want to know,because you may claim it’s just lazy to make money dancing in a club, who don’t you do something more honorable even scrubbing floors. Anything but getting naked for some cash! But is it really lazy? Is it really easier? Do we get to judge these women as immoral lazy women who are just trying to make a quick buck or are they just trying to make a living like you and me. As a woman I can’t imagine it’s easier. No matter what you say every woman wants to be treated like a queen by a man they love who loves them. So it can’t be easy. It’s not quick money either or easy money because doesn’t she work on a clock too? She gets in and gets out. She has a shift. She hustles to attract the right guys get the biggest tips to make the kind of lives they want.

There’s a lot of stigma attached to these women and the kind of work they do. Do they enjoy it I have no idea. Is it wrong if they do? That’s your opinion.

Their circumstances are not special there’s someone out there who has been where you are, the only difference between you two is the decision you make. So do we have a right to say my circumstances pushed me or is it it’s the choice I made. Responsibility is also something hard to come to terms with. You’d rather hide it under a blanket, or pity or blame someone or something else. Anyway, that said, I understand desperation enough to know sometimes you would do almost anything to survive.

The difference lies in the almost. What makes us choose a different path from the next person? It must be our upbringing. The values that were affirmed in us. The principles that have guided our lives.The love that we received . The people who shaped us during our younger years and who they were to us. What we learn from a young age resounds into our adulthood. This is why lady A will choose this and lady B will choose that.

I started by asking if it’s easier to sell yourself for money or struggle with an amateur skill set and live hand to mouth. I don’t think either is easier but one is certainly more unpleasant. I think intrinsically it comes down to how you sleep at night. If you struggle with yourself and it’s a constant battle between your conscience and your mind then there’s a problem but before you judge a woman’s worth, think about what they’re going through and remember they all deserve a blank space so they can write their own story.