Tampa Strip Clubs: Reflections on the Exotic Erotic
October 27, 2009Instead, what I encountered inside Cow Palace was a mix between a state fair, a strip club Halloween party, and a WWE match.
This was my first time attending this ball, so I cannot speak for previous years’ parties (this is the event’s 30th year). But what I saw at Cow Palace this weekend was neither erotic nor exotic, but rather, tawdry and dull. Perhaps if I wasn’t a citizen of San Francisco, I might have found the entire production slightly more challenging to the senses, but having seen the things I’ve seen, the Exotic Erotic Ball was a suburban heterosexual’s B-side version of Folsom. There was a discernible lack of a large gay or bi- presence at the show (discounting the number of women insipidly grabbing at one another for staged photo ops), and a disproportionate number of straight hand-holding couples in matching, un-coolly elaborate Halloween costumes, eating expo food while ogling the various stripper booths. Mentally clothe the entire arena, and what you’ve got is basically a state fair …