Developing A Particular Class of Women

Abstract

A Particular Class of Women is a one-woman show, inspired by my experiences in the striptease industry where I worked on and off, for approximately ten years, between acting gigs. The title of the show comes from the following incident: in 1985 a stripper in Ontario was raped at knife point. The judge gave the rapist a very lenient sentence, saying that one had to bear in mind that the victim belonged to “a particular class of women whose profession it is to promote lust.” The title of the play not only reflects the contempt of the judge’s comments but the fact that strippers come from many walks of life, that no one class is drawn to the profession. But once they do become part of the strip world, they become a class of their own, a subculture with its own set of values and traditions.