You’ve probably read / heard / found out about Sarah Tressler, the former Houston Chronicle ‘Society’ reporter who was relieved of her duties for being a stripper. I first caught the story on The Superficial, which took the angle of ‘check out this star-f*cker who said Jeremy Piven sucks at chow box win’. Of course, most, if not all, women loved it. In your face, Jeremy Piven, you d-bag! they triumphantly cheered.
My gut reaction? Uh, how… depressing. Is that what star-f*ckers live for? For a story to disparage a guy who’s taken more than his fair share of lumps? I don’t personally know Jeremy Piven, but I’m the type of person who will try his best to reserve judgment until the absolute truth is revealed. The consensus is Piven’s a doosher. I’d say the majority of people that read my work or have met me would say that I’m a doosher. So, maybe this a doosher-sympathy-pains moment, but other than The Superficial deducing that US Weekly interns are easy as hell and maybe 1 or 2 comments about Sarah being a slut, it feels like the public is behind this chick 110%. Because she’s just an empowered workin’ girl tryin’ to get by who was victimized? Or because this was a well planned scheme?
Working three jobs isn’t lame. It’s this “Angry Stripper” persona that’s lame. It’s this cocky, arrogant, vitriolic identity that I find to be most disturbing and that’s coming from one of the most bitter bastards on this planet. I don’t care that she’s a stripper. I could understand that most strippers are angry. Their job, other than the pay, must suck. But, there’s an outdated expression that comes to mind – don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
Sarah admits she got into the stripping game for the money. Fair enough. She makes way more money as a stripper than as a reporter and I get why the allure of living a better personal life would fuel her desire to continue stripping. And, judging by her stories, stripping sucks. I get all that. But in the GMA interview she gives us her reaction to the Houston Press story that exposed her double life:
“The idea of somebody outing me seemed like it would be like such a mean thing to do that I never thought anybody would do it. I guess I was wrong.”
Okay, now, read her post titled, “No One Say Anything“…
F*cked up, right? The cynic in me thinks she’s trying to play the victim. The other part of me thinks she might be dumb or at the very least hypocritical. Sarah wasn’t a girl who grew up worried sh*tless that someone would discover she’s gay. She didn’t tell a close friend she was a stripper in confidence and that friend betrayed her trust. She WANTED to get caught, maybe not consciously but to a great degree. Otherwise she would’ve done a MUCH better job of separating the two (like not using her real name or anything even remotely close to her real name).
Her post “No One Say Anything” was like saying, “I want to make fun of the people who allow me to afford my lifestyle behind their backs but I still want all their money, so don’t tell them!” HOW HILARIOUS! Of course, Clients From Hell does that, but in a much better way. There’s also the ‘customers to avoid‘ list that could’ve saved everyone a lot of time by saying, “ALL MEN.” Now, if you’re one of her customers or even a regular strip club customer, aren’t you going into the club with bad intentions? Is this any different from a female porn star publicly bitching about a male actor or director she’s worked with? Where do you draw the line between burning bridges and candid constructive criticism? At some point, don’t you stop watching porn because you know the actress hates it?
If I’m the strip club owner, I might initially think ‘holy sh*t’ this publicity is great! We’re going to get a sh*t ton of new customers! You’re excited that this woman is talking sh*t about your customers? You’re thrilled that you now have these alpha males barreling into the club looking to tame her or to teach her a lesson? If I’m that owner, I either tell her she’s not worth the trouble and can her, tell her to take some time off until it blows over, or give her preferential treatment where she’s now this super VIP champagne room times 10 ‘celebrity’ stripper that you have to pass a background check to see. My guess is the latter. On the flip side, what are your customers thinking?
As men, do we take Sarah’s blog as a challenge to show her we’re not suckers? Do we go into the club with the complete WRONG frame of mind and try to prove this woman wrong? You think the dudes who roll up into that club knowing she’s there are going to treat her like any other stripper? They’ve already pre-determined that she’s in a pissed off mood and that everything she does in that venue is fake and disingenuous?
Sarah’s 29. She’s been stripping on and off for EIGHT YEARS. If she were that pissed off, she would’ve quit after year 1. But, she couldn’t because the money was ‘too good’. Bullsh*t. She didn’t quit because she saw a market and an angle and she took advantage of it. She did all this for a book deal, which will then lead to a movie deal. She can then quit stripping and pretend she’s Diablo Cody or at the very worst, pose for Playboy for some undeserved sum. Every girl should aspire to do this! It’s the American way!
That mentality is sickening but it’s capitalist – there’s demand for naked chicks, she’s the supply for that demand. There’s a demand for gossip and sh*t-talking and she’s the supply. For whatever reason, people DEMAND this f*cking story be turned into a book and a movie, and she’ll supply it. So, congrats. It’s f*cking disgusting, but congrats. You figured it out. You’ve mastered the game that is America. Women, take note.
In her interview with Good Morning America, she stated:
I had three jobs, I lost one of them. I have two jobs, now. I think I’m doing pretty well. I mean, I was a stripper-reporter-professor. Now I’m just a stripper-professor. I don’t think that’s too bad.
I could very easily see her having ZERO jobs after all is said and done. I know it won’t matter because she’s looking at reality TV appearances, book deals, movies, etc, but maybe America will prove me wrong and leave this one alone. There’s nothing that indicates this woman wasn’t out to use this dual (or tripartite) life to create a bigger story for fame and fortune. Do you think Diablo Cody would have garnered as much attention as a novelist or screenwriter if she weren’t a stripper? She wouldn’t have written the novel that prompted her screenwriting without stripping. You’re telling me Cody had no influence over Tressler?
I’ve already put forth the club owner’s dilemma but what about the University of Houston? They’re cool with an adjunct professor like this? They’ll proceed through the same line of thinking as the strip club owner. Well, we’ll get more students taking her classes but will it be for the right reasons? Will she be able to run a class without distraction or interruption? What if a student approaches her in the club and gets shot down? My guess is they’ll let it slide ’til parents threaten to withdraw students en masse.
If anyone knows how easily someone can be terminated, it’s me. I’d written more than 1,000 articles for COEDmagazine.com. In my four years there, I was asked to edit my copy less than 5 times total. Then, I posted a video about a frat guy who lit his hair on fire to spark a blunt then ate flaming tortilla chips. In the text, I humorously poked fun at my coworker for not posting it (after he said he’d seen it). For that, I was canned the following Monday morning.
The powers-that-be “didn’t see the humor in it.” That’s it. Done-zo. Two years of contributing as a freelancer, two years as full-time staff (1 as a Managing Editor, 1 as Editor-in-Chief). I thought the ‘behind-the-scenes’ angle would interest readers – there’s only so much you can say about that video – it is what it is. So, for trying to bring some personality to an otherwise faceless, brand-barren site – something we all agreed was a major objective – I was rewarded with termination (not even a warning). I won’t be getting a book deal that will lead to a movie. I can’t even get unemployment benefits.
That’s why this woman’s story is so upsetting. Part jealousy, part resentment, part frustration. Society perceives strippers as victimized and exploited souls, so when a stripper ‘has the last laugh’ and spins it by saying the MEN are the ones who are exploited, everyone creams their jeans.
Obviously, the joke’s on me. It has been for some time now. Someone gets lucky due to the weird supply and demand chain and I’m stuck trying to figure out the next move to mediocrity. Another useless rant about the way things are. In a way, we’re all strip club customers. We’re all suckers. What’s another loveless lap dance.
Neal Lynch 
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