The Lusty Lady, Seattle, Washington - Not Your Average Establishment

"Have an erotic day" wishes the marquee of Seattle's very unique peep show, Lusty Lady. Situated between the giant hammering man of the Seattle Art Museum and world famous Pike Place Market, the Seattle Lusty Lady's purple neon provides the sky and people of the Emerald City with some cheap color to an otherwise dreary day.

It only takes a quarter to lift a screen to the dancers, but it only remains open for 15 seconds. So depending on how long you want to watch, you better bring quarters. That's a lot better than bringing ones and fives and tens. There is the glass wall that separates the audience from the dancers. Sure, it's like a cage in many ways, but there is no touching, no need for physical interaction. It is much safer, and calmer.

The room where dancers dance features two poles and often several women, who dance simultaneously. You stand in booths that are like telephone poles, and you can choose a booth in which the dancers can see you, or one that hides your identity.

There is no cover charge. You can walk in at just about any hour, with a few dollars in your pocket, get change, and watch lovely women dance with their clothes off, just enough to make your day better, and then leave. No harm, hardly any time or money spent. The women don't even have to know you were there. Of course, the smell is sometimes strange. They use a lemon-scented disinfectant, but some smells linger, smells I will not describe, smells that are not usually encountered in a bustling business district of a prominent city. But that just adds to the charm of the place.

The wallpaper is made by hand from the pages of Playboy Magazine, and because of that, when one enters the establishment, one can't help but conjure images of a teenage boy's room, a lusting, craving, young boy. Two purposes of served. Of course, the wallpaper matches the theme of The Lusty Lady-nude women. But it also makes a mockery of its customers, showing them for what they are, which gives the women power. It shows who is in charge, who really has the power.

You'll want to do your best not to touch anything, if for nothing else for your own piece of mind. It isn't difficult not to; it's very small, very simple, and there isn't even a front door, just a red curtain that you enter through, and a black curtain to slip past into one of the booths. The Lusty Lady as a whole is no bigger than a gas station, and the back side of it features booths where adult movies can be viewed. But those are rarely used; they aren't the main attraction, and you never really need to go back there. Yes, all can be seen within a few steps, and a few minutes, for a few dollars.

There are no drink minimums, no pressure to tip the dancers, no pressure for lap dances. The dancers know that the only way they'll make money is by dancing well, so that you keep the screen up. And don't think because the whole operation works on quarters that the dancers don't make money; the top wage in 2001 was $27/hour. But the laid back, set-your-own-pace style makes for a very relaxing, pleasant, unassuming atmosphere-aside from the smell. Oh, and it is very dark. Not dim, dark, even during daylight. There are no windows; they do a good job of keeping the sun out.

They also keep the cameras out, all but one, that of Photographer Erika Langley, who wanted to do a piece on the infamous strip club, one of the most famous and original peep shows in the country. The owners, women, ex-strippers, veterans of the trade, pioneers of the industry agreed, but only if she became part of their culture first. They said she had to dance with the strippers if she wants to photograph them. The owners of Lusty Lady want to modernize the industry; they want to revolutionize it. They want to raise the level of respect, and the rights of strippers. They are ex-strippers themselves.

Langley agreed to their counter offer, and eventually wrote a book about the place (called The Lusty Lady). Complete with photos and interviews, it juxtaposes the real lives of the dancers. It made the place famous. Langley chose it because it is unique. So did HBO, who did a biography special on The Lusty Lady, which aired in July of 2000. The Lusty Lady is widely respected, for its vision, its purpose, and for its ladies. Yes, it is a strip club, a peep show, but how many peep shows are across the street from an art museum, and just down the block from one of the most highly-trafficked markets in the world? Not many.

If you are ever in the neighborhood, in Seattle, down by the piers, by Pike Place Market, look down the road for the purple neon of The Lusty Lady. Even if you don't want to go in, read the marquee-they update it each day, a new clever slogan, like "The nude world order"-it will make your day cheerier. And if you have a couple bucks and minutes, take a peek, or a peep. It's infamous, and well worth it.