Sunday’s column: More strippers coming to 202 Market?
jill, jellidonut | Wikimedia Commons
Remember 202 Market, the downtown restaurant where River Laker did an unauthorized and banal strip act in 2011? They announced some exciting news last week: Next month, they will play host to the Chippendale dancers.
Surely you have heard of the Chippendales. Those chisel-chested exhibitionists have been famous for decades. They’re the Gypsy Rose Lees of male stripping. They take off more than the go-go dancers at the infamous Papa Joe’s did.
They have danced in Virginia before — Northern Virginia, aka “the other Virginia.” But have they danced before in Bible Belt Virginia? That is unclear. But they will on Sept. 18. 202 Market must be trying to class up their joint.
Tickets ($15 in advance; $20 at the door) for the two-hour show went on sale Wednesday, and that morning there was a line of excited women at the door.
This raises several concerns.
First, it is an outrage. This six-man revue owes its very existence to the sexual objectification of the male physique.
Every feminist and church lady out there ought to be madder than Hades about this. They’ve never been shy about denouncing female dancers on stage, for the exact same reason.
Besides that, this is utterly demeaning to us men, especially portly and hirsute middle-agers like me.
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August 5, 2012 - 6:00 AM
It would have been nice to have had enough room for an alternative headline such as DANCERS DEMEAN DA MEN OF ROANOKE.
202 used to be a good restaurant with exquisite food and an innovative menu. I have no interest in it anymore ever since they chose to focus on being a noisy nightclub aimed at drawing in the early 20-something crowd. Hosting the Chippendales only reinforces their move in that unfortunate direction. Maybe it’s working for them financially, but I think it’s a shame because they used to be one of the best restaurants in the area.
Well looky here..finally something for the ladies..but do they have Magic Mike moves?
I agree Leelee. It seems like an act of desperation. They will have many customers that night, but I think it’s a bad move on their part in the long run.
Those men are not nearly hairy enough. Yuck.
Close all of the Hooters in the Bible belt, then we’ll talk.
These “men” sure won’t eat at Chick-fil-A. Read between the lines idiots!
After all the Olympic bikini spillage plastered on our televisions during prime time, I’d say it’s fair all around.
For the record, my “comedic, subversive, genius” performance at the Valentini event at 202 Market was 100% pre-approved and 100% pre-authorized by the Valentini hosting organization and 100% pre-planned. And, of course, it was not a striptease, by any stretch of the imagination. Local media, for some reason, has chosen not to report these rather relevant details.