Tini Bikini’s has launched a new ad campaign featuring billboards in the downtown area that promote the club and feature large images of women in bikinis. In addition to promoting the physical location of the club, the billboards also prominently list a web address, “tinibikinigirls” (the domain extension has been dropped intentionally in order to prevent indirectly promoting the site through search engines that index this posting), which is presumably the website of the club. However, “tinibikinigirls” is not a website about the club, but is instead one that sells access to a variety of pornographic images produced by Petrick LLC, a company that lists its mailing address as the second floor of Tini Bikini’s. While Media Mouse is certainly would not spend money supporting either pornographers or those who profit from the industry and as such did not verify that the website being advertised by Tini Bikini’s contains what would be commonly considered pornography (in that women appear nude), a number of images that suggested that prospect with women appearing in objectifying and submissive poses. Moreover, the site’s disclaimer references women appearing in “sexually explicit conduct” on the site and the site’s source code contains the keywords “bikinis, girls, hot, chicks, sex, nude” to describe the site’s content, all of which cast significant doubt on the assertion that the site contains no nudity. Similarly, access to the site is sold at a rate of $19.95 a month, which considering the extensive market for pornography on the internet, likely would not succeed financially if the advertised pictures, videos, and “web cams” did not contain nudity. The billboards are owned by Viacom, a large corporate media conglomerate that profits from pornography.
Not only do the advertisements promote a website that contains objectifying and pornographic images of women in various states of near nudity, the website being promoted by Tini Bikini’s also attempts to attract potential customers with the prospect of semi-nude teenagers. According to the text on the website, the website will “fulfill your fantasies” by “showing… our young, hot, teen bodies,” and that it appeals to those who have a “taste” for “teen college girls.” While this language is disgusting and in itself and promotes the notion that it is acceptable for men to desire teenage women, the website’s promotion of the objectification of teenage women is taken to another level when one visits “collegegirlsbikinis,” another website owned by the same Petrick LLC and registered to the same contact (Brian Thayer of Holland, Michigan) as the “tinibikinigirls” website. The current “collegegirlsbikinis” website simply contains links to “tinibikinigirls,” but a version of the homepage online in February of 2006 had prominent links to websites promoting pornography under links such as “tiny teen models,” “high school party,” “teenage sisters,” and “little teen panties.” Both “collegegirlsbikinis” and “tinibikinigirls” contain text stating that they maintain records of the ages of all “models, actors, actresses and other persons” appearing on the site as required by US Code Title 18, 2257 and that all were over the age of 18 at the time of production. However, regardless of the age of the models, the site has to be considered within the context of an industry that profits from selling images of young women (and in many cases girls) and where men using pornography create a demand for increasingly younger women.
The websites should also be seen as providing further proof of a link between Tini Bikini’s and the larger pornography industry and the greater exploitation of women in a patriarchal society. While this link has never been in any doubt with the fact that the owner of Tini Bikini’s, Christopher Patrick, also owns Murphy’s Gentleman’s Club in Muskegon Heights, Tini Bikini’s is far from a benign club where women simply wear clothes that could be seen at any local beach. Instead, the websites reinforce the contention of many opponents of strip clubs who have long argued that strip clubs are a catalyst for recruitment into pornography. Additionally, it should make it abundantly clear that Tini Bikini’s and the men involved in related businesses are making a considerable amount of profit off the women who are convinced to work there, many of whom are recruited through advertisements in college newspapers, as is the case at strip clubs around the country where women are frequently economically exploited and are used by male club owners both for the immediate goal of earning money and the long-term goal of reinforcing male power and privilege in patriarchy. Moreover, clubs such as Tini Bikini’s and the related pornography industry are believed to have connections to sexual violence and without a doubt impact how men view women and promote the notion that women are sexual objects and that male domination and control are acceptable aspects of sex.
In addition to the aforementioned advertising in college newspapers and forcing dancers to stand outside in bikinis or walk around downtown, Tini Bikini’s has been sponsored by local radio station WGRD and is also using the website myspace.com to promote the club, using it both to post pictures of dancers in lingerie as well as to promote employment at the club. Far from being an “unaccepted” use of the website by the MySpace community, Tini Bikini’s sexually suggestive photos of women fit into the hypersexualized environment of MySpace, a site where both men and women routinely post revealing photographs and detailed personal information that is easily viewable by the public at large. According to postings on the website, Tini Bikini’s is currently running a “MySpace Appreciation Monday” promotion (somewhat akin to PlayBoy’s recent “Girls of MySpace” feature). According to a posting from a Tini Bikini’s “talent scout,” they pay between $100 and $200 a night with a $20 dollar first time bonus as well as “free tanning and food discounts.” Of course, there is no mention the realities of the sex industry in these advertisements or any descriptions of the type of verbal and visual harassment that women will face.
