Collegiate Times

Stripping paid the bills. Erin Kamler put herself through college by stripping at Runway 69 in the mid 90?s, and she related the experience of what it?s like being a young woman in America searching for self-expression and self-empowerment last night in Haymarket Theatre.

Kamler receives many questions when she reveals her past of being an exotic dancer. Often, ?Why would anyone do this, something that is socially condemned?? But that very question is what drove her to dancing. Kamler studied feminism at Sarah Lawrence College, where she said the prerogative is encouraged. She was intrigued by the question of why girls stripped. Her interest and lack of funding for college spurred her to over come her own judgment and enter the exotic dancing profession.

Kamler was introduced to Runway 69 in New York?s Time Square (a place she described as ?raunchy?) by her boyfriend at the time.

Kamler focused her speech around several photos that were displayed to the audience on a projector. One of the slides was a word document of italicized and bold-faced words she used to describe her feeling of going on stage for the first time. Kamler?s words were, ?movement, hatred, true, revived, whole, powerful, and seen.? Seen was a word she described as a feeling that everyone wants.

Kamler said, ?This is what feminism is all about. I felt empowered.?

Describing her boyfriend at the time, Kamler was able to describe how she felt her stripping made her boyfriend question the way he objectified women. Since his girlfriend was a stripper, he had a different perspective of the situation. Kamler said she learned a lesson from her boyfriend?s reaction to her profession ? she realized that female expression was intimidating to men.

Kamler admitted to judging the other women when she first started working.

Kamler said, ?I thought of the women as being loose, slutty and uneducated.?

But from more time spent with her coworkers Kamler understood, ?these were women that had economic reasons for stripping. They had children to feed, bills to pay and dreams to fund. Dreams of starting businesses and higher education.?

Kamler understood these women were paying a price for economic security. Stripping financed Kamler?s first music album. Stripping also provided economic leverage to jump-start her career as a musician award-winning playwright. The women Kamler met she described as, ?powerful bread winners that were condemned for their openness.?

Linda, Kamler?s old roommate, would never strip. Kamler used Linda as an example of how some women strive to be seen, even if they are in a destructive relationship. Linda put herself through many abusive relationships to get the same feeling Kamler got every night on stage ? the feeling of being seen.

The destructive aspect of stripping was exhibited by a picture of Kamler at a time she described as, ?My lowest.?

?Stripping has a destructive aspect. I was alone because I hid my job from my college, parents and everyone else. It was a destructive environment. I never felt safe despite the bouncers, because I felt attacked and worshipped at the same time,? said Kamler.

Kamler closed her speech with what she learned. ?Feminism is about freedom and safety for everyone.?

Lauren Chesley, a junior psychology major said, ?more guys should have been here. Everyone could learn from the speech. I thought it was an interesting perspective that I never thought about before.?

Nicole Diaz, senior psychology major said, ?I agree that everyone could have benefited from the talk, it was about self-power.?

Once the audience had left, Averia Hilliard, senior Biology and HNFE major, Diaz and Chesley stayed after and talked with Kamler.

Hilliard said to Kamler, ?I felt you talk was more about people needing to listen to themselves. You need to be happy with what you do.?