Mia
Mia is the most seasoned of the five principal characters, and the story of the plight of each woman is told from her point of view.  Born into an affluent multi-ethnic family, Mia’s close relationship with her family came to an abrupt halt when she secretly married her aunt’s step-son, Ronnie.  Her much older spouse, Ronnie, had an unknown career to his wife, and the newlyweds began to struggle with money.  One night over eating fries and drinking milkshakes, Ronnie asked Mia if she would try exotic dancing in order for them to support themselves financially.  Initially appalled by his suggestion, Mia re-thinks the offer as a means to pursue her dream of opening her own dental practice.  With her career goals in mind, Mia steps onto the stage of The Ranch.

Bre
A beautiful girl who hid behind baggy jeans and loose-fitting shirts, Bre was the star of her high school basketball team. Raised by her grandmother due to her absentee parents, Bre realized in high school that her good looks could lead to an illustrious modeling career. However, wanting to pursue her dreams of being discovered required money that her grandmother just didn’t have. Bre’s desire to travel to the larger cities, and build an impressive portfolio continued to loom over her head until she one day heard of a quick way to make a large amount of cash. With a fake driver’s license, and a fabulous makeover, Bre headed to an audition at The Ranch hoping to make the funds to become a star.

Omyra
Sitting in the bathtub and playing with the bubbles, Omyra’s father sneaked into the bathroom and rubbed his fingers along her vagina. While the incestuous sexual abuse began when she was only six years old, the nightmare didn’t end for Omyra until she ran away from home as a teenager. Living with boyfriend after boyfriend and entering into unhealthy and toxic relationships, Omyra found herself being forced into sexual trysts and drug use. Fed up with being reliant upon one abusive man after another, Omyra decided to go after the bundles of money she heard she could earn at The Ranch so she could once and for all be completely independent.

Kai
Having witnessed years of her father’s heavy substance abuse, Kai never really had much of a childhood. Falling in love with her high school sweetheart, and then losing him due to gang violence all made for a very bittersweet sixteen. With a heavy heart, and being mad at the world, it wasn’t too hard for Kai to end up in the wrong company. Introduced to drugs and alcohol, her style of partying like a rock star required money that her minimum wage job couldn’t afford. At the suggestion of one of the neighborhood guys, Kai went to audition at a place called The Ranch. Though it may have sounded like a job where she would have been milking cows, all Kai kept her eyes on was milking in loads of cash.

Crystal
Growing up without a mother wasn’t easy for Crystal. Having a step-mother at home, only to later abandon Crystal and her father, made the pain of loneliness hurt twice as much. In a single parent household, Crystal’s father did all that he could to provide for his daughter. Although she was never ungrateful, Crystal’s idea of a life was not limited to a roof over her head, and being able to get by with the bills. She always dreamed of more, and considered a college education to be her ticket to success. However, getting pregnant and thrown out of her home proved to be a challenge which she believed she could overcome. Getting into shape and learning to love her post-pregnancy curves, Crystal decided that a quick stretch at The Ranch would only be a detour to the life she always envisioned for herself and newborn daughter.

A shocking legal loophole discovered by authorities in Rhode Island.

While teens can’t pump gas or climb ladders on the job because of protections in workplace laws, there is nothing on the books keeping 16- and 17-year-olds from stripping – as long as they’re home by 11:30 on school nights.

Authorities discovered this loophole during a police investigation into a 16-year-old runaway found working at a strip club in Providence.

Rhode Island State Representative Joanne Giannini is working to change the law. She spoke to Kiran Chetry on CNN’s “American Morning” Friday.

WSB News Sept. 28, 2009
ATLANTA (AP) Georgia’s top court has ruled in favor of five exotic dancers who argued that their right to perform was effectively stripped by an Atlanta ordinance that bans people under 21 from places where alcohol is sold.

In an unanimous opinion published Monday, the State Supreme Court found the local law conflicts with two state laws dealing with underaged persons who serve alcohol as part of their jobs.

When read together, “it is clear that the Legislature’s intent is to allow persons who are over the age of 18 but not yet 21 years old to dispense, serve, sell or handle alcoholic beverages as part of their employment,” read the opinion written by Chief Justice Carol Hunstein.

Attorneys representing Deanna Willis, Danielle Barbee, Ashlie Startley, Olivia Almeida and Rachel Haxo had labeled it a right-to-work case.

Justices agreed, writing that the city ordinance “directly impairs the operation of these general statutes by prohibiting persons aged 18 to 21 from entering in or remaining at the premises of licensed establishments where they are legally entitled to hold jobs that involve dispensing, serving, selling or handling alcoholic beverages.”

The opinion reversed a Fulton County Superior Court ruling that upheld the city ordinance.

The five women were 19 or 20 in 2007 when the city passed a law forbidding people under 21 from entering and remaining in businesses where alcohol is sold for consumption on the premises.

It exempted convenience stores, stadiums, concert halls and many other places, but not adult entertainment clubs like the Cheetah Lounge, where the women worked and where alcohol sales are a major source of revenue.

The women filed a lawsuit claiming the ordinance was unconstitutional because it violated their free speech rights. After a trial judge ruled in favor of the city in January, the women appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court.

A message seeking comment on the ruling was left with the city Monday. City officials have argued that the ordinance doesn’t ban women under 21 from nude dancing only from dancing in the strip clubs that make most of their revenue from selling alcohol. The goal, they say, is to prevent underage drinking.

But Alan Begner, an attorney who represented the five women, said city council members adopted the ordinance with no evidence that the dancers were underage drinkers.

“I’m really happy for a lot of adults who are under 21 years of age who now have employment opportunities that they once had, but had taken away,” he said. “This really is a case about both the right to work and whether a state can change the age of maturity from 18 to 21 in a haphazard way.”

He said he was unsure if the plaintiffs still work at the Cheetah Lounge.

Ronnie and I began discussing household finances. Out of the $5,000 I had saved, he stated that there was only about $175 left. I hadn’t worked in over two months, and we were living solely on that money. I still had no clue how he afforded our living, but he always had his contribution ready and on time. He would leave at the strangest hours, claiming he was off to work, while I would turn in application after application, praying that someone would actually call me in for an interview.
Never had I been in such a predicament. I had never dealt with payments such as rent, cable, phone, food, or gas, much less a car note and insurance. I knew it was bad karma—punishment for my selfish actions and disgraceful behavior. I wept like a small five-year-old lost and separated from her mother.
Ronnie carried me from the deck to our living room, where the skylight gave life to our soft and plush almond-colored carpeting. We lay staring at the moon while he convinced me that all would be okay.
“What’s for you will be for you. Remember that,” he said, reassuring me.
That’s really all it took for me to fall asleep in his arms. As we headed to the Pancake Factory the following morning, our conversation about finances continued.
“Mia, don’t take what I’m about to suggest the wrong way,” Ronnie began. “Try to analyze my ideas with an open mind.”
“What is it, baby? What were you going to say?” I asked. Ronnie hesitated for fear of my reaction but pressed forth anyway with carefully chosen words.
“Did you ever think about dancing?”
“Honey, you know I love to dance! But how can you make money dancing? In music videos? In plays? It’s a bit farfetched, don’t you think?” I asked.
“No, Mia. I mean dancing in a night club, as an exotic dancer.”

She knew that there had to be more. It wasn’t fathomable for her to be so lifeless and still not live the way she wanted to. She had a silver Ford Taurus that got her from point A to B and no further, and she couldn’t afford a decent apartment. The only rooms she could find within her budget were in shabbier parts of town than where she was now, not to mention requiring a steep increase in the rent she was now paying to Theresa. She would’ve preferred to be driving in something a bit more luxurious—a Cadillac or maybe even a Jaguar—but these were notes she could only afford in her dreams.

Crystal kept her savings in check and helped the household in every way possible. She wanted to eventually purchase a house in Arlington or Fort Worth, but for the time being she contributed to every bill and expense there was. Theresa was grateful for such a considerate tenant and did everything she could to help Crystal. The entire family lived by the statement “One hand washes the other.”

It was actually a blessing in disguise, with Theresa knowing what type of man Crystal’s father was. After all they’d been neighbors for years and knew all too well that his daughter’s pregnancy was entirely too big a wound for his pride and ego. Christmas was around the corner, and Crystal was five months shy of twenty-four. She had officially had enough of the retail bit; it just didn’t make sense to continue with something that was leading her on a long path to nowhere. She was ready for something new, and once the new year arrived, she brought her dreams of The Ranch to life once more.

Crystal had saved enough capital to live comfortably during a planned hiatus as she figured out what she needed to do with her life. She discussed her ideas of resignation from GUESS with Ronda and Theresa, feeling that it was courteous on her part to give a heads-up about her life and goals with them. They were gracious hosts, and she wanted nothing more than to keep the serenity she found within their home at peace. She still didn’t know if she had what it took to get hired at the club, and she didn’t feel that she should let Theresa in on her quick money scheme. Six years had passed since the last time she dialed The Ranch, but one lovely spring day in April, she took it upon herself to pick up that handle once again.

“Thank you for calling The Ranch Gentlemen’s Club. How may I direct your call?”

Family groups have expressed serious concern after it was revealed children as young as seven are taking pole dancing classes.

The pole dancing trend has spread across Australia in recent years, with teens and pre-teens among those attending pole fitness classes.

Instructors maintain the classes are purely for strength and flexibility, but critics have slammed them for what they believe is “sexualising young children”.

Eleven-year-old Angela was diagnosed with coeliac disease earlier this year, and is now taking up to three classes a week to improve her strength.

“It’s really fun and you get to learn a lot of different moves. People think it’s pole dancing but it’s not. It’s great exercise,” she told News Ltd.

Her mother yesterday defended the exercise, saying that she stays and watches her daughter train every class.

“It’s not slutty or anything. I’ve seen pole dancing on TV and they don’t do anything like that here,” the 42-year-old said.

“It’s building up her strength after she got ill and it doesn’t put too much pressure on her muscles. She’s much stronger, healthier and more confident now.”

But the Australian Family Group has condemned the practice, and suggested it could provoke paedophile attacks.

“It certainly provides a great opportunity for paedophiles to see the children in a sexual way,” said spokeswoman Angela Conway.

“By putting children in a pole dancing exercise class you’re teaching children a sexual body language that they don’t know the meaning of but adults do,” she said.

“There are plenty of exercise tools out there. Why choose a pole, the classic phallic symbol of the pornographic world?”

Angela Perry, owner of Sydney’s Pole Fitness Studios, defended the practice.

“You’re not about to deprive people from doing (an exercise because it) could be taken as sexual,” she says.

“Most definitely not are we sexualising children.

“Its fabulous exercise.

“We don’t have routines, we don’t have adult themes.

“We teach people to hang, we teach them to flip, climb (and) spin.

“These are all gymnastics or circus based tricks.

“There’s not anything to do with dancing … people are wandering their minds up the wrong path.”

Women who attend the classes wear casual clothing and go barefoot.

The Australian Federation of Parents and Citizens’ Association warned parents to be careful with letting their children attend pole dancing lessons.

“Normally the P&C supports any sort of fitness regime to help kids get healthy but with the reputation of this industry, parents need to be very careful,” said spokeswoman Sharryn Brownlee.