LA CLUB SCENE: ARE WOMEN THE CURRENCY?

Young girls in LA are always dying to get into the hottest clubs, mainly around the sunset strip. Many women can get in at no charge and be served free drinks. Here's the catch: they have to be young, pretty, and can only get in with a promotor. These club promoters are almost always men in their thirties looking for young girls to make the clubs look popular. They most often can be found wearing Pacsun skinny jeans, douchey shirts, and a huge ego.

The more beautiful girls they can herd in, the more they are paid. Promoters will record and take photographs of these girls, often underage girls, and post the videos on their social media accounts to draw in more business for the venue. I have participated in this deal first hand and once watched a promoter inform my friend that she did not "look good enough" in a video he was taking for his instagram story.

In extreme cases, sometimes promoters go as far as getting “their girls” to hook up with them. Another good friend of mine (who would like to remain anonymous) recounted to me, “My promoter told me there would be a ‘super fun house-party’ after the club so we went with him there. When we got there, he poured me a shot and asked me to go with him to the bathroom, telling me ‘he just wanted to talk’. He then proceeded to ask me for head, lifted up my skirt, and told me ‘you have a nice ass for a skinny girl.' I went along with it, but there is definitely a sense of entitlement these promoters have”. The girls brought to clubs are already seen as an object to promoters since they are a mere paycheck to them. Something that is only valuable to them if they look sexually appealing on their instagram stories. Once someone is objectified it becomes that much easier to harass them.

While clubbing for free sounds like a total win, one has to wonder: is the club promoting scene just another way to objectify women? Turning them into a currency to be used to attract business and sometimes assuming they are up for literal grabs? Trading women for money? I am not here to judge women that partake in this deal. My friends and I have gone to these popular clubs with promoters quite a few times for the sake of partying and drinking for free (which is why I know about this in the first place). I do think, however, it's interesting to analyze the way objectification of women is still prevailing in many pockets of young girls's lives which we may not give enough attention to for the sake of convenience.