College Tribune | September 30th 2008
Features
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■■ Mogul: Peter Stringfellow pictured with his 23-year old fiancé Bella Wright (right) and with Claire Tully (below) at the recent Lawsoc debate
The democracy of dirty dancing Peter Stringfellow talks to Jennifer Bray about the collapse of his Dublin lap dancing club, his democracy at work, and his vision of himself Peter Stringfellow possesses a veneer of charm and mischief evident in his cool stance and a frankly bling ensemble. With a watch capable of blinding and shoes that double-up as mirrors, his somewhat wellspoken English accent surprises. But he’s unabashedly forward with his opinions, announcing, “The young ones in Ireland are fighting repression. It’s a Catholic country with a great religious history. So, of course, there is a certain sense of being held back. The Catholic Church is repressed just as other churches are, and there’s not one church which turns and says “Hey! Let’s have sex today.” Stringfellow, seemingly unaware of the air of controversy he creates, extends his theories on the Irish right out to the very students of UCD. “I think UCD students are smart and clever with a good sense of humour. But they’re too young to go to my clubs.” Age is clearly an issue for the impresario as he divulges the collapse of his Dublin strip club arose somewhat from the tender ages of the clientele attending. “There’s a fallacy that my clubs are
for young people. I own male clubs, attended by 95 % men overall and over their late twenties upwards. Women would be in their late twenties, thirties, forties and fifties too. Surprisingly, there are not many sixty year olds.” Except himself, he concedes. However, age was not the only pivotal factor in the demise of the Dublin Stringfellow’s club. The combination of a location a little too central for a “small enough city” and the fact his Irish clientele preferred to take their custom to London ensured a
I think UCD students are smart and clever with a good sense of humour. But they’re too young to go to my clubs
timely end. Though he has no immediate plans to return to Dublin to give it another go, he also tellingly says he refuses to rule it out, only next time maybe as a private club. Famed for his run-ins having being accused of sexual exploitation of women, this man is adamant that he has an equal pay and treatment policy for his “girls”, because “of course the women earn more than the men in the club”. But jesting aside, Stringfellow is of the creed that “dancing is a democracy in action”. Or as he continues, his clubs are a form of capitalism in which “all of the women no matter of what origin earn the same amounts. “You must not forget either that you have to be good to be a dancer. You have to have some personality and be courageous. Its not necessarily just beauty.” All this talk of his women jogs his memory, prompting him to announce that when he tried out the idea of male dancers, they were “useless”. He puts this down to the difference in attitudes amongst men and women in this field. “Women will come in, like some sort of hen party, and scream and laugh about men tak-
ing their clothes off, but it’s quite different the other way round.” He admits he has failed at times in business, with the male dancers serving as a colourful example alongside his beleagured Dublin club. But his beginning in the world of the lapdance began a little unconventionally. Stringfellow’s chequered career began in Sheffield, where he made a name for himself as a dance hall manager. The 22-year-old rented out local church halls and hired up-and-coming bands. From there he moved to setting up his own clubs, eventually discovering and emulating the success of American lap dancing clubs. So, after talk of his life and the scandal that besets him, what are the inner thoughts of Stringfellow in terms of ethics, and what are his own thoughts on himself? “Prostitution is a word I steer away from. But the concept is legal in England on a singular basis. A woman can set herself up as a prostitute providing she doesn’t have more than two people in an apartment and you and I can’t make money off her. In Spain, it’s totally legal. My claim is from a European point of view that prostitution should be legalised and when the time comes it’ll be right. I don’t see how it being banned is stopping it, it operates in every city. However, it’s dangerous when it’s illegal. Besides, the word ‘prostitute’ is a bad word, it’s sad how it is used and I always get a kick back when I hear it. It sounds wrong. When it comes to derogatory terms like stripper and prostitute, it’s a fact that this is not how I term my girls. “You call a footballer a footballer, not a kick baller. My girls are entertainers and dancers. When use these derogatory words we enforce this fear again of prostitution. Everyone is frightened to death of the concept of prostitution and I don’t really understand it. I wouldn’t want to do it myself, but the girls do.” And what of the seeming lothario Stringfellow in his own eyes? “I know that I don’t see myself as an incredible business man, there are a lot better than me. Richard Branson wipes to floor with me, so I see myself as a director. I help to direct people, even in as far as directing them away from the idea of small mindedness and prejudice which go hand in hand, as this ties in with the sex industry from what I’ve seen.” So, conclusively, he sees himself as a director of entertainment, a liberator of prostitution, employing his democracy in dancing and his quips in abundance. And with that Peter Stringfellow is off to sample the delights of a Dublin hotel bar.