Shake Your Moneymaker

Or At Least Meet Some Miami Women Who Do

“Motherf---ers pay to see their ass clap, their ass shake." Pitbull

By Camila Souza

“Show me your women and I will tell you the condition of your nation,” said Elijah Mohammed, a man whose teachings had a profound impact on black American life in the 1960s. An ironic quote to use in the opening scene of a documentary about strip clubs and strippers. Or is it?

Pink: Volume I professes to present the life past the poles and behind the stages of Miami’s notorious strip clubs. And it does. The death of a close friend — an exotic dancer — prompted Maliek Joseph to this documentary. “Her death made me want to pursue the story in order to tell the world about the trials and tribulations that these women face behind the closed doors,” says Joseph, Pink’s executive producer and director.

Fast money is one, if not the main, reason women choose to show “pink” (the title does refer to a woman’s genitalia, not a little girl’s favorite color) instead of working 9-to-5.

According to Joseph, strip clubs are becoming more of a social environment men and women attend frequently. Featured venues like Club Rolex, a strip club on 27th Avenue in Miami, are referred to as “the office” by businessmen who conduct meetings in such facilities. Miami-based video production company Cyclops Multimedia, Pink’s creators, had seemingly unlimited access — even filming the infamous “freak show,” which occurs after a warning to patrons and often after the doors to the club have been locked.

Viewers also get a glimpse of the rich and famous mingling, like O.J. Simpson mugging with pimp Pretty Don, in one of the clubs. And Jacki-O, overlooking a glittering skyline from a posh South Beach balcony high above it all, commiserates with the plight of these working women.

As recording artist Pitbull says in the film, “Motherf---ers pay to see their [strippers] ass clap, their ass shake and have pussy talk the whole night.” It is a reminder that hip-hop and rap artists make strip clubs constant themes in their music. How can we forget one of this summer’s hits by rapper T-Pain, “I’m N Luv (Wit a Stripper)”?

“There are [sic] legal hustling, illegal hustling, so I’m here hustling with these B’s,” says recording artist Lil’ John.

In many of the lyrics and music videos, strippers are idolized and their lives portrayed as glamorous — an alluring spin for young women who seek attention and cash.

“It reflects part of this subculture that is now a mainstay; however, cars, jewelry, houses and the finer things in life amongst other things are glamorized in the music industry as well,” says Joseph.

A quick way to make ends meet, perhaps, but for a high price. Many of the women in the video refer to the income as the “devil’s money” because of the way they attain it, and how fast they lose it. Expensive lifestyles, drugs and booze become constant barriers to exiting this way of life.

The film does little to influence or instill an opinion; it just shows the women working in the clubs as they really are. It neither glorifies nor bashes strip clubs and exotic dancers. It is a sometimes surreal compilation of stories of women who make a living entertaining men. It is left to the viewer to listen to the women and make his or her own educated judgments.

Platinum, Freaky Red and Tweet are among the women who show “pink,” dance on poles, give lap dances and tell why they chose this job. Like all of us, they struggle to pay their bills, feed their children and pay for their education.

Do the ends justify the means?

“It does come at a price because the women give up part of their selves,” says Joseph.

Tiffany “Hanan” Madera, 34, a Miami artist and ethnographer with a master’s degree in dance and politics, calls herself the “academic” voice of the film. Her dance experience lies in the world of belly dancing, not stripping. “I was happy to be a part of this film because I think it could be a point of discussion as to the tension between female liberation and oppression,” Madera told the SunPost. “Stripping. You don’t want to judge it as good or bad. It just is. It’s a choice. And I try to honor the choice women make with their bodies. … The human body, especially the woman’s body, is politically colonized. So how much of a role do we play in our own colonization and oppression? And it’s just something to look at. It’s not something I know the answer to.

“What I saw of the film, I found the tone to be nonjudgmental … not glamorizing or degrading, just telling a story. That’s why I felt comfortable being a part of it. … Women are so hard on other women that to be able to discuss something as controversial as stripping in a way that can be uncharged, to discuss the lives of women and the health of women, it’s fine. It’s an important task….”

Elijah Mohammed proposed ideals to struggling minorities based on a healthy lifestyle, even to those individuals believed to be “beyond hope.” If we were to show him these women, he would have a lot to say about our nation.

The next volume of Pink, due summer 2007, will focus on the psychological impact stripping has on women, the bi-curious nature of the women who dance at these clubs, and the differences between the white clubs and the black clubs (Pink Volume I focuses primarily on black-oriented clubs). The entertainment company FYE is currently distributing Pink and negotiations are in the works with HBO, says Kechi, the film’s publicist.

Visit www.pinkdocumentary.com  for more information.

Robin Shear contributed to this story. Comments? E-mail letters@miamisunpost.com.