...Stays In Vegas. Or so the slogan(?) goes. Personally I've always found that a bit creepy. I mean who exactly are we keeping the details of our Vegas holiday a secret from and why do we need to? Maybe there are some people for whom it means not telling your parents about gambling but when I read that phrase all I can think is that it means not telling your wife or partner about your visit to a sex worker/strip club* or your affair with another woman (or arguably as a woman, your affair with another man). That's not the kind of secret I'm really comfortable with. I have no problem with people who have multiple partners but I think honesty in relationships is a minimum requirement. What if the slogan was "COME TO VEGAS AND CHEAT ON YOUR PARTNER!".Anyway there is a great article about the trouble with Vegas over on Alternet. Have a read.
*And if anyone thinks it's unfair of me to group sex workers and strip clubs together - I would point out the evidence from YouPorn and PornTube that suggests plenty of strip clubs are effectively offering sexual services. The line is VERY blurred. Furthermore for all the insistence by those making official statements about Vegas strip club policies, the mayor himself has been going on about how good it would be to open a load of brothels. So it hardly seems likely that the existing policy is heavily enforced...
2 comments:
"What happens in Vegas...Stays in Vegas"
I think many people wouldn't want anyone back home to know a lot of what they did in Tokyo!
"Or so the slogan(?) goes. Personally I've always found that a bit creepy. I mean who exactly are we keeping the details of our Vegas holiday a secret from and why do we need to?"
They made the mistake in the 1990's of trying to sell Vegas as a family destination, and it didn't work. (What, they have a video game room you can ditch the kids in while you go gambling?) Now they're really trying to play up the adult aspects.
Gambling is now legal in much of the US (20 years ago it was only legal in Vegas and like 3 other cities), so the sexuality is the one thing that really sets it apart, which is one reason they're reluctant to crack down on the sex industry at all. Even apart from the strip clubs and prostitution, they have things like shows with naked or topless showgirls, and topless swimming pools, and it's popular for stag and hen parties.
"Anyway there is a great article about the trouble with Vegas over on Alternet."
Vegas is a very difficult place for kids to grow up. The casinos are open 24-7, so a lot of the casino jobs involve weird hours, meaning that a lot of kids have very little contact with their parents (who might have work hours like 4 PM to Midnight). Some unskilled casino jobs pay very well (blackjack dealers and cocktail waitresses can make £50,000 a year), so a lot of the kids are tempted to just drop out and get those jobs rather than continue their education. And with the sex industry all around, many underage girls are tempted by what seems to them like easy money to take part in prostitution or pornography.
"The reputation of Las Vegas as a city where anything goes is legendary, and generally looked at with a wink. But it is an American city. An American city where women are treated as property, and where the sex-trade business is booming."
It's clear that the city of Las Vegas won't do anything about this. The Federal government needs to step in.
I'm not crazy about the fact that it could be interpreted to mean cheating, and that this is glamorized, either. But I'm not sure that's a fair read. I have lots of female friends who go to Vegas to gamble, drink, eat, shop (all in excess) and see shows like Thunder Down Under. Nobody's getting hurt, it's just stuff they wouldn't advertise to their bosses. I don't think it's necessarily condoning cheating, although certainly that's something people could read in to it.
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