While on the road for this anti-trafficking trip, I have been amazed at how many times I have seen advertisements for various sex shops and strip clubs along the road advertising themselves as “Gentlemen’s Clubs” and that label themselves as “a fine establishment.” It begs the question What is a gentleman? As boys we see images of well-dressed men with status and power, who know how to woo – yet respect – women. We see this represented in classic cinema icons such as Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, and the like. But it seems as if this romantic ideal of gentlemen is lost. If the measure of a such a man is one who goes to strip clubs to take advantage of young girls and struggling single moms in their desperation, then like Benjamin Martin in The Patriot, I’ll take it as a compliment when someone says I’m not one.
