Customer Reviews

Ivy League Stripper

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I find the incredibly negative reviews of Ivy League Stripper interesting. I almost wonder if I read a different book than some of these people. Perhaps they were written by some of her rivals. Who knows?

Heidi does not "advocate" stripping anywhere in the book that I can tell, nor did she when I saw her on Real Personal with Bob Berkowitz. In fact, she made a point of saying she did not recommend it as a way of earning money. On TV and in the book she made it quite clear that it is not an easy or safe way to make money, however addictive that money might be. My sense of the book was that she came across as just about the only undamaged person in the business. She did discuss topics like drug use, prostitution, money addiction, and self-esteem, but since the book was about her personal journey, she didn't dwell on the problems of others. Perhaps it didn't appeal to people who wanted a more dramatic, negative, and victimized approach. She never said anything to give even the slightest impression that she was attempting a tour de force of sex work in the US. (I recommend Susie Bright or Carol Queen for that sort of thing.) This was a book about her personal journey, not yours. If your experience was different, then write your own book so we can read it, too.

I'll admit that my experience with "exotic dancers" is somewhat limited. I have only been to the clubs a half dozen or so times, and I don't know any dancers personally. I do hear by second and third hand stories that the scene does have a high rate of drug (including alcohol - it is a drug) use, prostitution, and other unsavory activities. There would probably be far less of such things if sex work were not forced into marginal areas of towns and the people involved treated like garbage by so-called "good citizens." The clubs I visited had full nudity.

The question of whether showing off one's body for money is degrading is largely a matter of semantics and personality. People who have an exhibitionistic bent are *not* degraded by such exposure, but exhilarated and empowered by it. Realize that there are different types of people in the world! Is it any less degrading for a coal miner to trade the health of his lungs for money, or a stock broker his/her ethics? Women in this society face degrading behavior all the time in every location and setting you care to name. (For that matter so do men.) If one looks beneath the thin veneer of common society here in the US, there is far more unsavory behavior going on than most will admit, and it happens in churches, boardrooms, and on Wall Street. This is a sick, sex-negative, anti-nature, and basically maladjusted society, and we all pay a price for that.

The discussion of nudity and appreciation of the human body and sexuality is a far too long and complex one to settle here. Read some history - When God Was A Woman, Ishtar Rising, or other material on how and why our current religious-based views of sex were created. Shame over nudity and sexual behavior is not universal, natural, "moral," or healthy by a long shot. Read Betty Dodson, Carol Queen, Susie Bright, Annie Sprinkle, Laura Kipnis, or some other of the intelligent, sex-positive writers.

My experience in strip clubs was transformative. I felt liberated and freed from centuries of lies. I experienced more spiritual release in those few short hours than in decades of Christian beliefs. I literally felt transported back to a time when women were proud of being sexual beings who owned, celebrated, and were masters of, their own sexual energy. I felt a deep sense of gratitude, wonder, awe, respect, devotion, and something so deeply spiritual that it sent me researching the goddess religions for understanding. Few women comprehend the tremendous power their body holds for men. (And there are forces in this society who don't want you to learn that, either.)

The complaints that she didn't seek "honest" work are humorous - maybe something honest like politics or working at Enron or pushing denatured foodlike toxins at a fast-food restaurant? I consider the no-strings, cash-for-a-look-at-my-body transaction in the strip clubs to be one of the most honest transactions in this society!

Of course, I realize that Heidi's real error was in writing what she really experienced and how she really felt, not what was expected or "politically correct." I find it interesting when women who respond to being sexually assualted/harassed by ramping up their self-esteem, owning and wielding their sexual power instead of becoming whimpering little victims who need someone to protect them, are attacked for it. Interesting how little is said in the reviews of the behavior of the people at Brown.

But then again, maybe some of the reviews are from folks at Brown............

I feel it is really a three star, but I gave it four in an attempt to create some balance. Her writing is okay, but not as insightful or powerful as Susie Bright, Carol Queen, Betty Dodson, or Laura Kipnis. Read them if you are looking for deep discussions of sexual issues. Read this book if you want to read one person's story.

I am an exotic dancer and have been for 4 years. I thought that this book was a very good documentary on heidi's life, but the overall content on dancing is very sugar coated. I have worked in very classy upscale strip bars and hole in the wall bars also. Every bar that i have worked in dancers have issues w/ prostution, drugs, gambling and much more and none of this was included in her book. She made dancing out to be a very ligit job w/ no problems. That is just not true i have not met many dancers like heidi they are like 1 in a millon. Im not saying this wasnt a good book im just saying that i think she left a lot facts on dancing out.In fact i am writing a book now about the hard core reality of an exotic dancer. Look for it in the spring of 2000.

I read this book when I was 23 and thought, "Wow! Even I could be a stripper!" Heidi makes this profession seem easy, fun and extremely profitable. I worked part-time as a stripper for three years after that and it was nothing like her book. She shows the fantasy side of stripping but doesn't touch on the realistic side. Now that I have survived through that experience, I realize how misleading the book was. If you want a true-to-life account of stripping, read STRIP CITY. I would, however, enjoy reading about how Heidi's life turned out after college.

I believe the person who rated the book a 2 only skimmed through the book with an already prejudiced view point. The author never saw herself as a sex goddess, in fact she thought just the opposite of that. The author is also a VERY practical person, which is what made the book interesting to me. She wasn't doing it for drugs, sex, or female dominance. She saw it as a practical means of paying for her education. What interested me in the book was that it answered questions that most people in society ask: What makes some women do stripping? How do they overcome the social stigma of stripping? and how does that decision then affect their life after having made that decision? Also, after having made that decision, are they then happy with their decision, or regret it later? This book answered all of those questions and was very well written also. I would recommend this book to anyone who has had similiar questions about stripping. But I would not recommend it to people with an already prejudiced view point and who are not open to a new prospective.

Heidi, the author, is a very determined lady. Halfway through her education at Brown University, she was injured through the fault of the university. Thanks to Brown University's denial of the claim and other very underhanded treatment, the author became a stripper to pay for her tuition.

I found her unemotional treatment of the wrongs done to her to be fascinating and well written. Her saga emphasizes what determination and force of will can accomplish, despite opposition.

If I were advising Brown University, I'd suggest that they offer her big dollars to remove the book from circulation and then try to buy up all the existing copies. The author very coolly and unemotionally shows Brown University to be a mean spirited, uncaring place that treats its paying customers badly. They made a bad mistake in treating her so badly. However, the book is her revenge. Good job, Heidi!

I wonder how many of the negative reviews of this book were placed by people working for Brown University. I say that because the book is well written and thoughtful. I cannot fathom how anyone could give it a negative review unless they were being paid to do so to protect their employer's very exposed posterior.

This book does a service in that it brings out the harsh reality of college tuition and what far more young women than this country will admit will do to pay for a college beyond their means. Mattson however does not discuss the relationship of prostitution to stripping, pervasive influence of government and/or organized crime nor the long term effects such exploitive use of her beauty may have had on her relationships since.

If you look around colleges you will see prospering escort services and the like catering to women who need large amounts of cash for relatively few hours' work. This is a dimension Mattson only briefly touches on: that young women can legitimately earn money for college but the hard work and necessary hours for most available jobs will affect their performance in school. It is hard to judge in this case, because college tuition ,especially at an Ivy league school equals the price of a modest home or a nice condo paid in after tax income.

What Mattson does do here is raise awareness of what such costs will encourage women to do. She obviously had the achievement and intelligence to make it into Brown but not the financial aid necessary to make work and attending the school all that feasible. In some ways you can say the educational system as such can work against promising students who come from less affluent families. Should someone with a good head and shallow pockets be prevented from realizing their potential? Should there be a halfway point where the student can work and get enough aid such that stripping and/or prostitution is not so attractive a way out?

We might also ask reading this book if there is anything in Mattson's past that could have influenced her towards the stripping/sex/fantasy for money business even hadshe not attended Brown? Was she abused? Had she had bad experiences in the past with men?

I own an adult night club, or Strip bar as some people call it. I found this book lying around and read it. It was ridiculous!!!! The story of Heidi's life is far too common( A nice girl struggling to get herself through college), YEAH RIGHT!! Haven't these girls ever heard of scholarships?. girls strip at my club and other clubs for EASY and FAST money. Men pay good money for these girls to take it off. The night club industry is not at all like the book describes, there's drugs, affairs and alcohol everywhere.

I can't vouch for the accuracy or lack thereof,

but Heidi seems to be very forthright about everything

she says or does, so for me, the book rings true. Admittely,

I don't have that much experience with exotic dancers, but

her story seems humorous, entertaining ---and Heidi sounds like the kind of person I would love to meet. What a cheerful personality she seems to have! Most refreshing. To the bashers,

try giving the book another read--perhaps with a more open mind

and fewer biases.

I'm a family counselor and I read this book after a young(19 YR old) woman brought it to my attention. She read the book and according to her, the author painted such a pretty picture about stripping, that now this young women wanted to become one. she was slaving away in at two jobs while attending medical school, but after reading this book, all she thought about was flashing her ----'s and making fast easy money. I convinced her boyfriend to take her to several upscale strip clubs and four months later, she came back and told me, she was very disapointed to see the reality of strip clubs. She said alot of the girls are noticeably intoxicated or loaded, alot of the girls openly make offers for sex to the customers and after she talked to some of them, she realized most of them had low self esteems and problems with relationships. Mt point is, if Heidi, who in my opinion comes across as a conceded shallow person, is going to write a book about her life as a stripper, than write the whole truth. I'm sure she saw drugs, alcohol and prostitution in the places she worked, maybe she was the ONLY good girl in the stripping industry, but in reality, strip clubs have lots of problems with prostitution, alcohol, drugs and affairs. We all struggle financially, especially when trying to raise a family and get an education at the time, but the majority of people go out and earn a respectful paycheck. As a woman, I would rather work two or three jobs, than to someday have to tell my husband or children that I took my clothes off for strangers, that I danced naked for them and grinded my rear end against their genitals and that I allowed them to see my ----'s. Strippers have been around since the beginning of time and they will continue to be around, men (married or single, rich or poor) will continue to pay their $20 for their four minute lap dance, and the alcohol, drugs and prostitution that comes along with strippers will always be there! So if anyone is going to write a book about stripping, write about the whole issue, not just the I did this and I did that part!

I just finished reading this book and I was not impressed. The story of heidi might be somewhat interesting. UIt talks about her struggles as a college student and a stripper, but unfortunately too many questions are still left unanswered. The author does nothing to portray the stripping scene, the competition between strippers, the customers. In my opinion, the book lacks any sense of reality. It basically only covers a girls sob story as to why she was forced to strip for a living, nothing else.