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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyAR3JBsz_g

Bob Seger - "Her Strut"

Shes totally committed
To major independence
But shes a lady through and through
She gives them quite a battle
All that they can handle
She'll bruise some
She'll hurt some too
But oh they love to watch her strut
Oh they do respect her but
They love to watch her strut

Sometimes they'll want to leave her
Just give up and leave her
But they would never play that scene
In spite of all her talking
Once she starts in walking
The lady will be all they ever dreamed
Oh they love to watch her strut
Oh they'll kill to make the cut
They love to watch her strut

Yeah love to watch her strut
Watch her strut

I think that this is pretty self explanatory. The lyrics seem both degrading and empowering. Saying she's "Shes totally committed/ To major independence/ But shes a lady through and through" but then countering that with "Once she starts in walking/ The lady will be all they ever dreamed/ Oh they love to watch her strut" makes the song degrading as she is turned into an object to be viewed. This song brings up the complexity of sex work that we were discussing in class. Do sex workers have a choice? Is it essentially degrading? Would it be different if there wasn't such an obvious gender power struggle? As I walking out of class today, the image of the man watching the women of the "lusty lady" in the peep show popped into my head and I felt disgusted. I'm not disgusted in the people who are in the sex business, but I am thoroughly disgusted by the men who pay for it. Is that fair? Yeah, I think it is. There would be no need for sex work if there wasn't a clientele in the first place. If there is going to be such a thing as the sex business though, then I do think that trying to legitimize it would be beneficial. It would hopefully create safer working environments and better workers rights. The sex workers project (www.sexworkersproject.org/) is just one example of the ways people are trying to protect the human rights of sex workers and such. This is a complex issue, and one that is not dealt with very openly. It's hard to say what is right or wrong, what is feminist or antifeminist, what is degrading or empowering. I just don't know.