Girls Just Wanna Have Funds

I was a bit taken aback by this cheery report about Iceland banning all strip clubs, in the name of supposed male-female equality and a boon to feminists everywhere.

The author writes,

Iceland has just banned all strip clubs. Perhaps it's down to the lesbian prime minister, but this may just be the most female-friendly country on the planet.

First, how is banning places where strictly women find employment a "female-friendly" policy? Assuming these women are strippers of their own free will and are not forced to perform any type of activity they do not want to, isn't reducing their choice of job rather unfriendly?

People may cite things like "strippers are psychologically damaged and emotionally fragile and would probably not strip if they knew better." I have no doubt some strippers are in this category, but so are some fully-clothed female secretaries and fry cooks. Should we banish all industries where we suspect psychologically damaged underachievers are in our midst? An unfortunate psychological state of some participants is not a reason to punish an entire industry of workers.

I happen to know of quite a few instances where male and female strippers performed just for a few years to make big bucks to do things like get through school debt-free or start a new business.

But apparently Iceland feels differently, and wants to take away such money-making opportunities from their citizens,

Iceland is fast becoming a world-leader in feminism. A country with a tiny population of 320,000, it is on the brink of achieving what many considered to be impossible: closing down its sex industry.

While activists in Britain battle on in an attempt to regulate lapdance clubs – the number of which has been growing at an alarming rate during the last decade – Iceland has passed a law that will result in every strip club in the country being shut down. And forget hiring a topless waitress in an attempt to get around the bar: the law, which was passed with no votes against and only two abstentions, will make it illegal for any business to profit from the nudity of its employees.

One more reason I'm proud I'm not a feminist - whatever it means.

H/T for the title: A pretty good entry-level book I read on investing years ago.