Lap Dancing As Art

Is lap dancing an art form? That's what the New York Supreme Court is trying to assess. A BYOB strip club in Albany called Night Moves has been using the argument that lap dances are a form of performing art in order to qualify for a tax exemption. In New York state the government grants a sales tax exemption to any venue providing an artistic, musical, or theatrical performance. The state is calling BS and says that the dingy windowless club owes them a bunch of money in back taxes. The club's lawyer is filing an appeal with the court arguing that lap dances are in fact an art form. The question is: Who is the state to judge what constitutes art?

Look, a chick with daddy issues grinding on your junk isn't exactly Baryshnikov in his prime. Still, those girls do practice their dancing quite a bit and for a lot of them it IS their art. For some strippers dancing is a way to "pay for law school" or support a meth habit. But many girls get artistic fulfillment from their erotic dances. Art is a subjective thing. One person might say that a blotchy piece of abstract impressionist art looks like a three year old sprayed paint all over a canvas. To someone else it's a masterpiece. I have definitely had good lap dances and bad ones, so there is a skill involved. I think the judges can't truly decide on the artistic merits of the girl's dances unless they experience it first hand. They should get grinded on in the name of justice and freedom of speech.