When you work as a reporter for a very conservative newspaper in Houston, the last thing you want your bosses to discover is that at night you are a stripper. Well, Sarah Tressler was outed as a stripper by a reporter from another newspaper who probably was hanging out at strip clubs all the time and got lucky when he found out the woman who was giving him a lap dance while his wife was at home with the kids was a reporter for the Houston Chronicle. The light bulb then went off in his head which said he could write off this whole strip club thing as work and even his wife would not get mad. So, after 34 visits, he finally got his story. Oh, and Sarah Tressler? Also a professor at the University Of Houston. How come all my professors were old guys in their 90's?
I don't get what the big deal is.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was the other way around, that she was a stripper outed as a reporter.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that Enty failed to mention the other Sarah Tressler headline at Gawker - "Jeremy Piven Boring At Oral Sex, Says Stripper/Gossip Reporter." Definitively too much information!
ReplyDeleteShe's listed as a Lecturer in the Communications Dept. at the University of Houston. Which of her communication skill sets does she teach? Her reporting/interviewing skills? Or her pole dancing/lap dancing/trick nonverbal talents?
ReplyDeleteGuess you can say she's a trick of all trades.
How does she pull off walking in those shoes?
What's the BFD? Does having another job make her any less qualified for the others?
ReplyDelete@Daveb Yeah, I saw that on Dlisted and was wondering why Enty didn't bring up that little tidbit too!
ReplyDeleteWhy do men constantly deride strippers when they are the ones who give them ALL OF THEIR BUSINESS?
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ReplyDeleteThis post reminds me of the porn star/teacher post from a couple of weeks ago. In that post, I was adamantly horrified.
ReplyDeleteIn this situation, I have more mixed emotions. Her job at the newspaper probably requires reporters to not do anything that would embarrass or tarnish the reputation of the newspaper, so that probably is what gives the paper grounds to punish or fire her if they choose to do so. And I must say, interviewing politicians and other people in your town while they know you are a stripper is probably not the best situation to be in when you are trying to break a serious story.
On the other hand, as a lifer in the newspaper business (me and the husband were both subjected to being newsies forevs,) I can assure you that newspaper reporters make NOTHING in pay, work grueling hours and often times have to work two jobs to carry on with their daily finances. No joke, I made more money hawking shoes in Macys for 15 hours a week than I did in my first full-time newspaper job.
So, maybe she's doing what she's gotta do, but if you want the respect of those you are reporting on and those you are serving in the community, you probably should rethink your second gig as a stripper.
On the other hand, newspapers are a dying industry and it's a sad thing because we need a reliable place to get news. And blogs and cable TV aren't really always the best places.
Sorry for the soap box.
Stripping is an honorable profession but I dont think we can forgive her for being an intern at US magazine!
ReplyDeleteShe Also writes a blog. Diaryofanangrystripper.com
ReplyDelete@Daveb, LOL!
ReplyDeleteOkay, sorry if I sound a million years old, but is there a different sense of what it means to be liberated and proud as a woman than it did back in the dark ages of 20-30 years ago?
Sidenote: a "lecturer" is nothing close to being a professor. Lecturers are just adjunct professors. They teach the classes, i.e., do all the shitty hard word without any benefits for a pitifully low sum of money.
I can just imagine what my dad (award-winning journalist, lecturer at a fairly prestigious journalism school) would say. Probably something like, "At least she didn't go into PR, because you have to be a real whore to do that."
ReplyDeleteI read it was the opposite that she was a stripper moonlighting as a reporter and the reporter part was what was outed. Regardless, who cares what she does for a living? She's not hurting anyone.
ReplyDeleteHer blog is hilarious!!!!!!! There is a link to it on dlsted. If you have a moment chek it out - she wrote about her underwhelming hook up with Jeremy Piven
ReplyDeleteI don't get why being a stripper is such a terrible horrible thing. It's *legal*. SFW?
ReplyDeleteAgreed, it's her own business, unless her newspaper employer prohibited side jobs, as my current corporate gig does.
ReplyDeleteOr unless it can be shown that her side job somehow interfered with her journalistic integrity - ie writing negative stuff about some competitive stripping establishment.
Otherwise, whatever. It's not like she works with kids.
Is that her Christmas stripper outfit?
ReplyDeleteSusan- that was an awesome comment!
ReplyDeleteI'm always of two-minds about topics like this.
Strippers shouldnt be ostrasized from working with children (IMO) if they're good teachers and dont let that influence their work, same can be said about this case. If she's a good reporter, that should be the focus here.
On the other hand, in the kid's case, if they found out somehow she was a stripper, that's not exactly the type of thing that is good for young girls and boys to absorb- that women can earn money out of objectifying parts of their body for men in a power exchange game that's as old (and archaic) as time.
Likewise, if while reporting, this woman was interviewing people who knew she was a stripper, unfortunatly this could compromise the reporting- and thus, the newspaper.
So I can see both sides of the coin here.
At the end of the day, for me at least, I just dont like the idea of a woman doing what she has to do to pay bills and perhaps being further punished and marginalized through the stigma of bring s stripper, because of this.
Not sure why they are calling the Houston Chronicle conservative...? Maybe to make it sound more scandalous?
ReplyDeletethe chron is anything but conservative.
She's a reporter, a professor, AND a stripper. Can somebody please find out where she gets all that energy?
ReplyDeleteHahaha right?! I love this comment
DeleteThe listing I saw had her as an adjunct professor. That is normally a courtesy title for part time, non-salaried and non-tenured guest or session lecturers. Usually it is for non-academics who have real life experience in the field and teach a class.
ReplyDeleteI had a blind date with a nice divorced mommy paralegal once, and her big admission was that she'd been a stripper years ago. Big deal.
ReplyDeleteDoes her stripping get in the way of her reporting? I would think it would boost ratings for the news channel.
ReplyDeleteI strip everynight in my bedroom, when I'm changing out of my work clothes into my pajamas. I guess that would make me a stripper. I think the only difference is that she has lots of people watching her strip, where I only have a mirror in my bedroom, but I don't pay attention, especially when I'm putting on weight.
So what? *YAWNING*
ReplyDeleteI have that same outfit
ReplyDeleteI don't see where the Houston Chronicle is that conservative, but this probably has ruffled their feathers a bit. It's not like it's a big deal, unless her contacts have seen her perform. That can be a bit awkward.
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ReplyDeleteHow'd I know it was the Houston Press that outed her? I'll read about it tonight when I get to the bart (Houston Press is a free publication that you can find all over the city). I agree with those that said the Chronicle is not exactly a conservative paper, but compared to the Press it is extremely conservative, I guess.
ReplyDeleteDon't really have an opinion on this-gotta read the whole story first. And at U of H, all my profs weren't old guys, but never had one that looked like her. Then again, I was a Poli Sci major, so that probably had something to do with it.
Juicy! My father is a former professor with two doctorates and one of the most boring S.O.B.'s you would ever have the misfortune to meet. Snooping around his home office as a young teen I discovered a closet full of automatic weapons and later learned he had some shady (mafia) associates and was involved with some bad shiz. I'm sure instances of people leading double lives in one respect or another is more common than we think. Guess academia didn't pay too well, and in this lady's case journalism sure as hell doesn't. Wow. She's not a murderer or anything so hopefully this will be a turning point for her and she can make some healthy changes in her life.
ReplyDelete"Lecturer" is not really a professor. She probably gets paid $2,000 a semester to teach one class, no office, no benefits. Now, I had a clandestine two-year affair with a real, tenure-track professor when I was in law school. We eventually were married for 20 years.
ReplyDeleteWhat stinks is that she couldn't get a real, non-stripping job that paid the bills. She probably had to do this to pay off her student loans, with that shitty teaching job and the minimum wage newspaper job. She's probably thinking, "I got 2100 on my SAT's for THIS?"
Oh, and the blog has been changed to "private," and you have to be invited to see it. So, I'm bummed I didn't get in on the ground floor on this one.
ReplyDeleteThis seems harmless!
ReplyDelete"Otherwise, whatever. It's not like she works with kids."
ReplyDeleteEven if she did, so what? It's not like most of her **customers** are the PARENTS of kids.
Since she wasn't stripping in the newspaper office, I fail to see the problem. They don't own her and what she does on her down time. Girl's gotta pay her bills.
ReplyDeleteSure, lecturer / adjunct professor isn't much of a job for a lot of people; no benefits, no tenure, and so forth. But the flip side is that it can be pretty awesome too. I sacrifice a lot of my time to do it between two different colleges every semester (along with holding down a full-time job) and I won't deny that occasionally I ask myself whether it's worth it. But when a student comes up and tells me they enjoy my class, that absolutely makes it worthwhile. Some people volunteer their time to help others, and if I could afford to do that I would also. Instead, I make part of my living by trying to help people (hopefully) become better communicators, and I love it with all my heart :) I'm not saying this to get a pat on the back...I guess I'm saying that some things CAN be crappy in life--but sometimes you can make it better :)
ReplyDeleteFS, men have no problem with strippers as long as they stay in their proper place. It's when they go out and try to mingle in polite society that you know they're getting uppity and must be smacked back down.
ReplyDelete@wenx - I think what you do is very valuable. We need more educators that truly love what they do and do it with passion. *pats wenx on the back*
ReplyDeleteI am not surprised - reporting pays crap and adjunct professors get paid even worse. Stripping, when you are hot like her, I bet pays double, triple, quadruple, and for a lot less work. Kudos to her for having a well rounded career and getting paid.
ReplyDeleteAdjunct ain't nothing to sneer at. And I love Gawker. Smart writing. This and Gawker are my 2 regular sites. Haven't gotten around to that particular article..yet. She's a hot gal. More power to her!
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ReplyDeleteUhh, in what world is the Chronicle "conservative?"
ReplyDeleteBesides, the article I read said she was a freelancer. I think it would have been a bigger deal for her job at the University.
Thinking about it, she probably planted the story with the Press to get more exposure for her blog. Fastest way to get more pageviews.
Dominique Sachse with the local NBC affiliate (Channel 2 KPRC) here in Houston reported on Tuesday's 10pm newscast that Sarah Tressler was a "society" reporter for The Houston Chronicle. In other words she would report on the local galas and happenings of Houston's more affluent residents. I read The Chronicle daily and her name didn't jog my memory, but I'm sure this has become juicy fodder among the social circles of Houston elite and they will probably shun her and not allow her to report on their next soiree. I'm sure the Chronicle will drop her or change her assignment because the Diane Lokey Farbs and Becca Cason Thrashes of Houston would just die if this working girl showed her face at one of their haute-totty events. By the way, The Men's Club where she evidently works has a great prime rib buffet and is usually the strip club of choice for Houston's more affluent males (doctors, lawyers, oil company execs, pro athletes, and celebrities). In other words the husbands of many of Houston's socialites have probably had a lap dance or two from Ms. Tressler.
ReplyDeleteI see this whole thing being made into a Lifetime movie...
My wife was a stripper many moons ago. After doing that for a while she decided to join the army. Once we got stationed someplace and realized that we were hurting financially she contemplated maybe stripping on the weekends. Come to find out the military will not let their members strip at clubs to make money. They have no problem with their members patronizing the clubs, lusting over the strippers and giving Uncle Sam's money to them, however.
ReplyDeleteHypocritical is an understatement!