Kentucky Kernel -- April 15, 1997

<BODY BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF LINK=#0066ff ALINK=#0066ff VLINK=#660000> <BLOCKQUOTE>    <CENTER> <FONT SIZE=6> <B>Restricting nudie bars is not only for strippers</B><P> </FONT> </CENTER> <FONT SIZE=4><B>Lisa Yanarella</B><BR></FONT>Contributing Columnist <HR> Take it off, baby," a spectator advises. "Take it ALL off!"<P> Lexington has experienced a recent redefinition of local community standards. Strip clubs, in particular, have been targeted as subject for social reform. Costly licences will be required and restrictions will be placed on operating hours. Physical contact between entertainers and their audiences will be banned.Membership in society carries with it two responsibilities. Citizens have certain obligations to the local community. Individuals also have the choice to exercise responsibility for themselves. <P> Moral legislation is more often met with resistance. There is a tendency among citizen groups to resist outside influences. As college students, we live in an atmosphere of almost limitless freedom. Mom and Dad aren't watching over our shoulders anymore. Infringements on our recently acquired independence might be resisted: "Don't deny me my right of free expression!" <P> Democracy is based on free choice - but accountability is the flip side of free will. We each carry responsibility for our actions and their effects on ourselves and those around us. Mature decisions often call for self-denial and restriction of personal freedom in the interests of others. <P> Paul, one of the founders of the Christian Church, recognized both his freedom of will and its accompanying responsibility: "Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible, but not everything is constructive" (I Corinthians 10:23). <P> Current legislation has been justified by politicians as effort by citizens to clean up crime within the community. What about our responsibility for ourselves? <P> There is a freedom in being able to go to a strip club. There is also freedom in not having to go to one. <P> When does freedom become bondage? Precisely at that point when what you desire gains mastery over you. What draws men to strip clubs? Is it the enlightened conversation? The culinary cuisine? <P> One guy told me, "I go there to chill out. That stuff doesn't affect me." <P> Certainly the presence of nudity adds some appeal to the atmosphere, since these clubs draw a consistent audience. <P> Strip bars are designed to fuel desire. While women frequently respond to touch or words, men are aroused by visual stimulation. What's going on as men watch an exotic dancer? Patrick Carnes, a clinician, has done a series of studies on sexual addiction. His findings suggest such visual images produce powerful chemicals within the brain. These chemicals washing over the brain serve to cover over the emptiness, provide a distraction from reality, and help the person to "numb out." <P> "So what?" participants might respond. "It's not hurting anybody." <P> It's not helping either. However we choose to act upon them, visual images remain encrypted in the brain. Actions, by nature, are progressive. <P> Lust is a hunger which feeds on itself. Even in the aftermath of climactic response, the void is left unsatisfied. Carnes' studies showed that, in time, visual stimulation can become an addiction. <P> The outcome of the series of peaks was an abysmal low; participants in the study became jaded. The brain can take only so much stimulation. Like drugs, a larger dose of intoxication was needed to generate the initial response. <P> Humans all have physical desires; sight-based arousal might seem to provide a method of quick release. But the best answer to a problem is not always the one that involves the least amount of complication. <P> It's a lot easier to bare a body than to bare a soul. Risk and courage are required in building trust with someone. Relationships require investing time, rather than providing the ease of instant gratification. <P> Lust by nature is selfish. Love does not seek its own best interests, but those of others. The temptation is to settle for something less - to feed the lust and rob the trust. It is the sell-out of becoming a society of naked bodies and veiled souls. <P> Relationships are unpredictable. There's an absence of money-back guarantees. For this reason, we settle so often for the flesh-based and temporary. Deep down, we are cowards. It's much easier to disrobe than to unveil the naked heart. <P> Too easy to sit in the sidelines and not risk becoming involved. A few jeers and cheers and a large tip from the table in row 4. <P> What about the freedom to love and to be loved, even if at times that choice leads to the sacrifice of personal desires? Are we prepared to experience true intimacy beyond the orgasm? To exercise self-restraint for the benefit of others? <P> Perhaps some freedoms we just aren't ready for. <P> <P> <CENTER><i>Contributing Columnist Lisa Yanarella is a library science graduate student; her views do not necessarily represent those of the Kentucky Kernel.</i></CENTER> <P>    <HR> <P> <CENTER> <FONT SIZE=5> [ <A HREF="welcome.html">Contents</A> | <A HREF="http://www.kykernel.com/">Home</A> | <A HREF="/archive.html">Archives</A> | <A HREF="/feed.html">Feedback</A> ]<BR> </FONT> <P> <B>© Copyright 1997, Kernel Press Inc. All Rights Reserved</B><BR>  </BLOCKQUOTE> </BODY>