Happy holidays, everyone. Whatever you celebrate, I hope you’re on your way to having a good one. And, if you’re not the celebratory type, here’s to icy roads, Portland drivers and the fantastic YouTube videos that are produced when these three ingredients combine. However, the real heroes of the freezing- to-our-bike-seats season are, of course, the Portland strippers. No other job requires minimal clothing and a warm attitude, like that required of the exotic dancer. They deal with drunks during the holidays, leave work at too-fucking-cold thirty, maneuver the smoking patio in heels and still find a way to spend time with their kids. This holiday season, remember to set aside at least a small percentage of your gift budget and pass it on to a freezing dancer at your favorite club. Remember—if you’re cold, they’re cold.
According to Aaron Mesh from Willamette Week, Portland’s ironically beloved mayor, Ted Wheeler, is facing "criticism for his unsolicited pledge earlier this week to refuse donations from the adult entertainment industry." The Week article further clarified that Wheeler "(will) accept campaign contributions from sex workers, including strippers." This comes after fallout from a statement that Wheeler will not be accepting donations from "Pharma, oil, coal, firearms, tobacco, and adult entertainment." After the backlash, a spokesperson for Wheeler was quoted as stating he will not be "(taking) donations from the corporate side of the adult entertainment industry," but that he "(will) welcome contributions from ANY working person." Basically, he’s cool with strippers, just not those other shady, illegal, immoral and/or unwanted sex workers...I mean, that’s what he’s implying, correct?
So, if you’re not at a college-level understanding of political science, this is called "spineless back-pedaling," which is what happens when an already shitty politician insults a large enough portion of their voter base, that they realize their job is suddenly on the line. For prior examples, take a look at Hillary Clinton’s earlier stance on same-sex marriage, Obama’s history of deportation, Bernie’s bank account balance and Trump’s history of outsourcing business—regardless of which side of the aisle you fall on, every party has, at one point, pretended to give a fake fuck to get a vote. As far as Ted Wheeler, his use of the phrase "corporate side of the adult industry," fails to recognize that there is actually very little of that. There are local LLCs and a handful of webcam or porn sites that are owned by big corporations, but the adult entertainment industry is currently as independent and sex-worker-driven as it ever has been. I attended a few adult expos this summer and roughly 80% of the models in attendance were camming, live from the gig. The rest, including some more veteran names, were representing their own brand. Add to this, PayPal’s recent departure from Pornhub (and, inevitably, future disassociation with other adult brands) and you have the deck stacked against sex workers like never before. What are they going to do, take Bitcoin?
For Ted Wheeler to assume that some dark, shady "adult entertainment" industry exists in the shadows alongside the makers of chemical poison, guns and coal, is an insult by itself—every industry is crooked. Welcome to capitalism and politics. I mean, the guy loves Adidas, right? Is he only taking donations from the Asian children that make the shoes, or what? And, again, I fucking love Adidas and know that they’re a local company that gets misrepresented all the time, but that’s my point—when folks try to play the "six degrees to something bad" game, it’s always a loss. Vegan? Think of the mice that get slaughtered in the process of making your tofu shakes. Enjoy chicken? Violence or homophobia—those are your options if you don’t want to settle for K.F.C. like a loser. Enjoy drinking water? Guess what—Hitler drank water, too. And, to top it all off, Donald Trump uses Twitter. Do you use Twitter? Whose side are you on?!
Simply put, to shun "the adult entertainment industry" while our city shits chemicals into the river, treats California refugees like third-world citizens and prides itself for excess alcohol consumption, well, that’s not very progressive, Ted. Clarifying that you will, on the other hand, take money from strippers is just the icing on the shit cake. Want to take money from strippers? Buy a laptop and learn to DJ. And, if you want to make some real money from the adult industry, might I suggest you go fuck yourself, live on webcam?
Now, let’s just say that Ted Wheeler was running unopposed. Fine—stick with the evil you know. But, thankfully, there is opposition— candidate Sarah Iannarone is apparently accepting donations from strippers at $8.74 per month...an oddly specific number, but either way, it’s cool to know that she’s open to taking donations from dancers. I’m sure there is some rationale to this number, but I’ll leave it up to our readers to do their own research. Willamette Week has been doing a good job covering the story, so perhaps start there. Still, just know that a left-leaning candidate who doesn’t hate you is running against someone who might. Iannarone is avidly supportive of strippers and other sex workers, with a platform that is seeking to decriminalize sex work of all types. Hell yes. Go Sarah!
Of note, neither myself, nor Exotic, actually endorse this candidate or ANY candidate (there’s a reason we still have readers), but my personal policy is to at least show love to anyone who recognizes the legitimacy of sex work (which Innarone is working to decriminalize). Are Sarah’s other policy positions good? I have no idea—I don’t trust any politician and usually vote based on whoever has the craziest and most outrageous platform (and no chance of winning). But, would I applaud even the worst politicians, if they did something good for our industry? You bet your ass I would! Now, what I can say is that myself (and, most likely some folks here at Exotic) fucking loathe Ted Wheeler. That, we can say. So, it’s up to you how you cast your vote. Take that however you want.
Speaking of new entries into institutional markets, Portland’s downtown strip club scene keeps on expanding. Thanks to currently established spots like Kit Kat Club, Mary’s Club, Spyce Gentlemen’s Club and Club Rouge keeping the bar high, after adding new spots like X Exotic Ultra Lounge and Club SinRock’s new Burnside location, we are finally ready to start a fight with Vegas and call Atlanta a punk...okay, maybe that’s not a good idea, but the fact that you can see more than one strip club while standing on the corner of 3rd and Burnside is heartwarming. I love how we have clubs on all corners of the metro map, but it’s starting to look more and more like downtown will soon have a "strip" of strip clubs, in the strip club capital of the world. Here’s a big shout-out and "Welcome to the club, club," to the new spots open downtown (X and Sin- Rock) and a "Thank you for continuing to be awesome," to the established spots (Kit Kat, Mary’s, Spyce, Rouge and Dante’s). Soon, we will have more strip clubs downtown than we do gyro carts—that’s at least a dozen pleasant women for every aggressive food cart owner. Balance is important.
On Saturday, December 21, Club 205, Guilty Pleasures, Shimmers Gentlemen’s Club and Stars Cabaret (Bridgeport and Salem) will all be hosting Christmas-themed parties that encourage guests to wear ugly sweaters. At Stars, your cover charge is waived. At 205 and Guilty Pleasures, you can win cash. Check the ads in this issue for all the nitty gritty, but just remember that there are "Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself" sweaters floating around out there, which you can wear all year long. The next day, Sunday, December 22, head on over to Devils Point for an ugly sweater party that also encourages mustaches! In addition to pre-Christmas weekend, on Wednesday, December 25 (that’s Christmas), DJ Dick Hennessy will be hosting his own ugly sweater party at Spyce Gentlemen’s club. Just A Reminder, The Acropolis Is Still Open And, to end things off with some good news for the new year, a friendly reminder that your favorite steakhouse is not closed and will not be closing. Apparently, when the local weekly papers ran a story about the club being temporarily closed, this started a(nother) rumor that the Acrop is closed. First it was the new MAX line paving over it. Then, it was something with the city. And, the rumors kept coming—none of them true. I spent some time there last month and the dancers are as hot as ever, the steak is still good and I believe the number of beers on tap is approaching 70. So, why not stop in and grab some steak bites with your lap dance?
Curator and head-O-in-charge, Miss O, of Dream On Saloon fame, will be retiring this month. Join her, the staff and a roster of wonderful dancers, Saturday, December 14 at Dream On Saloon to send her off with a smile. Miss O has been a Portland staple, an industry expert and an all-around awesome person for as long as I’ve been writing for this publication. Here’s to her!
FRI 6—REVEAL LOUNGE—NAUGHTY OR NICE HOLIDAY PARTY W/ RUBBER DOLL
FRI 12—STARS CABARET (BRIDGEPORT)—ADULT FILM STAR JILLIAN JANSON
FRI 13—BOSSANOVA BALLROOM—BOYEURISM W/ BELLYDANCE SUPERSTAR RACHEL BRICE
FRI 13—STARS CABARET (SALEM)—ADULT FILM STAR JILLIAN JANSON
SAT 14—DREAM ON—MISS O’S RETIREMENT PARTY
SAT 14—ROSE CITY STRIP—DJ DICK HENNESSY’S RED CUP PARTY
TUE 17—LUCKY DEVIL—TINY TUESDAY FLANNEL PARTY
THU 19—DANTE’S—TATAS FOR TOYS BENEFIT W/ AARON ROSS & TOXIC
SAT 21—CLUB 205, GUILTY PLEASURES, SHIMMERS GENTLEMEN’S CLUB, STARS CABARET (BRIDGEPORT & SALEM)—UGLY SWEATER & CHRISTMAS PARTY
SAT 21—DESIRE—DJ DICK HENNESSY’S—WHITE CLAW WET PANTY CONTEST
SAT 21—DREAM ON SALOON—UGLY XMAS SWEATER PARTY
SUN 22—DEVILS POINT—BAD CHRISTMAS—SWEATER & MUSTACHE PARTY
WED 25—SPYCE GENTLEMEN’S CLUB—DJ DICK HENNESSY’S UGLY SWEATER CONTEST
SAT 28—XPOSE—DJ DICK HENNESSY’S—ROCKIN’ NEW YEARS EVE PARTY
TUE 31—CABARET, CHEETAH’S CABARET, KIT KAT CLUB, SPYCE GENTLEMEN’S CLUB—NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY
