By now you have undoubtedly seen the infamous video clip of a bizarre 'sex party' happening at the Bloomington chapter of Alpha Tau Omega or ATO. Mere hours after the video went viral, the national fraternity had shut down the chapter indefinitely. The hot takes and think pieces came rolling in.
Allegations of sexual hazing ran rampant as the video appears to show a man being encouraged to go down on a woman in front of all of his shirtless, chanting bros. Some took it further, asserting we were witnessing some sort of sexual crime. The problem with both of these trains of thought is that we are once again, not taking the female perspective into account.
Since the beginning of time it has been a woman's right to operate her own body as she sees fit. If she so choses to leverage her sexuality to make a living, who am I to pass judgment? Just last week, former stripper turned Hip Hop fashion icon Amber Rose, hosted a Slut Walk through Downtown Los Angeles in an attempt to shine a light on the growing trend of slut shaming in America. It's bullshit, the double standard that exists between men and women. In a year when Magic Mike XXL becomes a top 10 film, we would decry these women and the men employing them.
What happened last night was not a crime, it was not hazing. What you witnessed in that video is female empowerment.
Let me walk that back a bit. The two women in the above video are trained professionals. As a former fraternity member at Indiana University, I can personally vouch that 'stripper nights' are not uncommon. It is certainly within a woman's rights to supplement the income she receives working the lunch shift at Night Moves with private gigs. I mean the lasering of shitty c section scars isn't going to pay for itself. The women WANT to be there. The women are paid to be there, and god dammit the women are in charge.
Let's break the video down:
From seconds :01-:19
We see our protagonist hold 'Tommy' in a UFC-esque full guard. She strategically uses her legs to keep 'Tommy' locked in her groin area. For those familiar with BDSM culture, you will recognize this as a traditional move used by many a dominatrix.
At the :20 mark, you will see that the 2nd stripper punishes 'Tommy' for not putting forth enough cunnalingal effort via vicious kicks to his derriere. Again if there is any sex 'crime' happening in this video, it's that Tommy is half assing it. If Tanya wants to get to climax we're going to need more effort from our pasty boxer shorts wearing Tau.
At the :25 mark we finally get some real brotherly encouragement for Tommy via the classic butt tap. Football players have been using this forever. You can see that after a hetero, non sexual tap to the bottom Tommy really starts to kick into 5th gear.
The truth is, this video is a natural display of repressed sexual adolescence. If anything I'm offended by Tommy's pitiful technique. The real story on display though is not of a bunch of frat bros acting like pigs, it is the bravery of a couple women who subverted gender roles, thus empowering female sexuality.
Enough will be said on the blogs about Tommy in the coming days. Tommy meanwhile, well he's busy putting ATO on his back so we can excuse a little sexual inexperience on his end, so again we will focus on the women.
The line between strippers and prostitutes in Bloomington may be narrow, but the line between shame and empowerment can be blurred to nonexistence.
Call her a fourth wave feminist, call her a hero…whatever you do, don't call her a victim.
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