Aneya: Strip Clubs

Here are three strip clubs near our apartment. At first I thought Night and Day was some cute, 1950s style American diner. I was wrong.
Here's Kim, the first strip club I encountered. Don't her boobs like weird? It's like they're lopsided or something.
She's kinda scary looking, actually. I guess some guys like the muscly women.
She's pretty hot, not gonna lie.
So is she. For the men who like their ladies with a little more meat!

Let me preface this post by saying that I lived in Las Vegas for many years, so I know a thing or two about strip clubs. Not that I'm an expert or anything, but I will say I've become accustomed to seeing enormous billboards with half naked women on them, staring seductively out a you, just begging you to exit the freeway and get to the Cheetah club, stat! But that's Vegas for you. That's something you'd expect, even hope for, in a city so tied to sex and sin.

But Santiago? Strip clubs were not what I was expecting to see here. And yet. On our very first day, I walked by what looked like a nice little cafe and bar. That's when I looked up to see two breasts popping out of nowhere, from a headless woman named Kim. I know her name is Kim, because that's the name of the club. How peculiar, I thought. The place was open, and it was the middle of the day. Could it really be a strip club? The answer is yes, yes it could.

Lauren and I walk all over this city, and the more we walk, the more strip clubs we find. Some are open in the middle of the day, others only come out a night. We actually live right across from three (adjacent to the lovely church, actually) and one night we went over to inspect. The minute I crossed the street, the men started opening the gates for me.

You want to come in? The asked excitedly. We'll open it for you!

No, just taking pictures, but thanks! I replied, to their dismay.

The regarded me with curiosity, as I snapped pictures of the women on display. Why were they all fair and blonde? Where were the beautiful, dark Latin women I see every day? This seemed very odd to me. One time I saw a stripper peek her head out the door of a club, in the middle of the day. She had on a bra and a thong and was quite, um, rotund, I guess you could say (to put it less diplomatically, she had a belly) But she was also dark and lovely. So, what gives?

Lauren and I have noticed this with advertisements as well. Everyone in the ads here (whether it's for Coke or a cellphone company) are all blonde, fair, very European- looking. Is this the commercial idea of beauty here? If so, why?

In any case, the abundance of strip clubs in Santiago was definitely a surprise for me. I thought the Leg Cafe's Lauren wrote about were sexual enough, but strip clubs brings it to a whole other level. We haven't been in any yet, but I may go in to investigate, if only for educational purposes, of course. I promise to report back my findings, if I do.