By Taylor Johnson (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: January 30, 2013
A group of students from Coquitlam’s Dr. Charles Best Secondary School have taken their social justice class project into the New Westminster community, targeting the Paramount Gentlemen’s Club as the site of modern sexism. The club itself has been around for almost two decades and has never had any trouble with the law or the community until now.
Unlike other clubs, the Paramount does not serve alcohol and can therefore open its doors to anyone over 18. The students have openly stated in interviews with The Province and Royal City Record that they have friends and coaches who frequent the club. They also state in their interview that they are not concerned with the choices of others but that the ideals behind the club are promoting sexism and the objectification of women. They have taken their class project and developed a petition from it which targets the club’s licensing. In his interview with The Province, the club manager states that he and his employees are concerned for their jobs and feel that these issues have never been a concern until now.
By shutting down the club, are the students stopping a site of sexism and oppression, or are they simply restricting the public? Do the girls who work there really feel oppressed and victimized? Personally, I feel that the society we live in has some issues of sexism and oppression, but these are internal issues amongst people. They are not issues between a business and people. If the club was forcing the girls to dance for money and flaunt their bodies, then yes that would be very morally wrong. However, these girls probably take great pride in their bodies and probably spend hours at the gym to maintain their appearance. Rather than working in a restaurant or a store, they chose to work at Paramount Gentlemen’s Club. Should they really lose their jobs because someone else feels they are repressed? If the girls working there felt repressed, surely they would have left and found another job, instead of being concerned that their club will be shut down.
Another issue addressed by the students was the clientele being exposed to this injustice. The clientele themselves, have the ability to simply not enter a facility if they do not support the events that take place there. Much like the saying “you can take a horse to water but you cannot make him drink,” the club might be there, it might be open, but you don’t have to go in it. Freedom of choice allows for a person to walk past the club, and keep walking. There is nothing forcing a person to enter the facilities, much like there is nothing forcing the girls who work there to keep working.
