The male stripper incident.

Here I am, wishing for some inspiration in this torrid night! It’s +28C and 09:44 PM!!!! Yesterday night, I read a very interesting news on internet about an episode that happened somewhere in Santa Catarina (south of Brazil), involving the mayor, a male stripper and hundreds of cheerful women (city hall employees), one day before the International Women’s Day. It seems (according to some accusations) that the mayor used public money (from taxes) to hire the male stripper and please the cheerful women at a party. Do I need to say that public money shouldn’t be used to hire male strippers for parties? There are more urgent problems to solve or things to do, like investiments in hospitals, schools, public transportation and stuff. To hire a male stripper for a party is not a priority of any government. I guess. What made me laugh and be proud to live in such a peculiar country (yeah … there’s a little bit of sarcasm right here), was the news itself! A masterpiece, when it comes to nonsense situations, stupid excuses and sexist ideas about what do women really need at an International Women’s Day party! We, Brazilian women, need respect and public policies which protect us from violence and ensure basic rights, like education, health care and job opportunities. The news is so amazing, that I decided to translate and share it with you guys! It’s from one of the main Brazilian newspapers (it doesn’t mean that it’s a reliable newspaper!): Folha de São Paulo. I’ll do my best to be as precise as possible, but it won’t be a literal translation! Then, I’ll make some comments.

Prosecutors investigate male stripper at a party of the City Hall of Palhoça (SC – Santa Catarina):

by Luiza Bandeira, from São Paulo (Folha de São Paulo – 11/03/13 – 07:39 PM)

The Public Ministry of Santa Catarina opened an investigation to check if the City Hall of Palhoça has used public money to hire a so-called go-go boy [that’s the way we, Brazilian people, call the male strippers] who performed at a party on Thursday (March 7) in honor of the International Women’s Day.

The man, identified as Renato Mendonça, wandered around the event wearing only a transparent black underwear. Pictures posted on internet show him dancing with some of the around 1 300 city hall female employees who were at the place.

According to the acting mayor of the municipality, Nirdo Artur Luz, also know as Pitanta (DEM, a Brazilian political party), the man wasn’t a go-go boy, but a model. “He was wearing a black boxer underwear. According to informations, the go-go boy performs wearing a white Zorba [underwear brand]. And the model, wearing a black boxer”, he said.

The mayor also said that the man didn’t do a striptease. “He couldn’t. My daughters and wife were there. I gave 1 500 flowers to the female emplyees and, then, he took off his shirt and stayed there, in his black boxer”, said Pitanta.

According to the mayor, all the women who were at the party enjoyed the show. “He looks exactly like Paulo Zulu [Brazilian model]. They loved him. Only one female employee, who not even was there and is politically against me, complained about it. She wants to ruin the image of the mayor”, he justified.

Pitanta said that it was a voluntary performance, because the model wanted to promote himself and his magazine – he’s the cover of the March edition of the G Magazine [a type of Playboy, but for gays. And women.], which was given to the public at the party. In his Facebook account, Mendonça said that he has been Mister Santa Catarina, once.

“DIGNIFIED PARTY”:

The mayor said that he cancelled the R$ 7 500,00 reservation he made [it’s a reasonable amount of money, if you want to know] to pay the expenses of the party – rent, snacks and soda, without predicting expenses with the go-go boy. According to him, there wasn’t public money involved in the event, because there wasn’t any plan about the presence of a model there.

He said, though, that go-go boys have already performed at parties of other public administrations in town. “Every year, there’s a performance. There was even a striptease. With a white Zorba and stuff”, he told.

The mayor informed that an administrative investigation will be open against the director of events of the City Hall, Edmilson Cruz, who organized the party. He will be responsible to pay the expenses.

Cruz said that the model was there to promote a cocktail company. He said he didn’t know that the man would be in underwear, anyway, when he knew it, he gave permission to the model to wander around the place even so. “Do you believe that in Big Brother there’s some type of scandal if a man wanders around the house in underwear? What if I hired Ney Matogrosso [one of the most talented and famous Brazilian singers. The director mentioned Ney Matogrosso because his performances are usually very sexy.] and he danced in underwear? Nobody got shocked”, he said.

The employee defended the party. “There was a lecture, distribution of roses. It was a a dignified party.”

Here’s the link, of the original news: http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/cotidiano/1244545-promotoria-investiga-go-go-boy-em-festa-da-prefeitura-de-palhoca-sc.shtml

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Well, I think that this news shows, explicitly, the confusion between what’s public and what’s private in Brazil. Believe me: this is one of our main problems! People here can’t distinguish what’s public from what’s private! In my opinion, it’s a bad taste attitude, at least, to hire a male stripper to please a bunch of cheerful (and maybe desperate) female employees, at a party in honor of the International Women’s Day! It didn’t happen at a private company or institution, it happened at the City Hall! It doesn’t matter if the party itself happened exactly at the City Hall or not, our politicians should have better ideas to entertain women one day before the International Women’s Day! As I told you before, it’s not exactly a day of celebration! The excuses of the mayor are absolutely ridiculous, I had to laugh! The best was the one about the differences between go-go boys and models: “go-go boys wear white underwear and models wear black boxers”. Like … WTF?! It doesn’t matter at all! I bet that the women who were enjoying the show, didn’t pay too much attention at this detail! There was a man at the party, entertaining the female employees, period. I can’t say that the mayor (or the responsibles for the event) really used public money to pay the expenses. If they did, this is disgusting! People pay taxes to finance this?! Wow! Great …

I don’t know, maybe I’m just a woman who doesn’t like male strippers at all. They are not my type of men and stripteases are a little too cheesy for my liking! I would probably feel depressed if a man made of prominent muscles tried to seduce me in a black transparent boxer, dancing. I would feel happier in a heavy metal concert, if you know what I mean . Anyways, I feel a little ashamed to know that a City Hall offers this type of entertainment to female employees at a party in honor of the International Women’s Day. One guy said that there was also a lecture, at the party. About what? “How to do a striptease for your hubby in ten easy steps”? As we use to say in Brazil: Ninguém merece! (Nobody deserves it!)

Now, I’ll have my dinner. Stay tuned! I’ll be back! And I’ll end this post with a song, a very nice one, actually. My Brazilian readers will understand the joke. This song was the soundtrack of a Brazilian soap opera about male strippers. C’mon guys, dress your best underwear, feel the vibe and dance! *lol* (I’m kidding!)

Hugs,

Luna