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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to want to back out of this hen do?

75 replies

Hennightpanic · 21/01/2015 23:37

Back in October I agreed to go on a hen do. I asked the organiser at the time whether there would be any male strippers etc and she said no. Now with six weeks to go it turns out that part of the entertainment is indeed a male strippers show. I really really strongly don't want to do this, how bad would it be to drop out do you think?

OP posts:
Eastwickwitch · 22/01/2015 06:36

Is the bride a close friend? Would she actually enjoy seeing strippers?
If you not being there would ruin the evening then nip out while they're on. Otherwise decline the whole thing.

BeatleJuiced · 22/01/2015 06:47

I wouldn't go either and I would be honest about why.

bigbluestars · 22/01/2015 06:48

God horrible. I'd politely decline with no qualms.

If the host thinks strippers are a god idea then I would be questioning the rest of the night too- L plates, vomiting, general sleasiness.

Does the bride know there wioll be strippers? Is she the host or someone else planning them as a surprise.

GraysAnalogy · 22/01/2015 06:49

Back out.

If any of my hens ever, ever organised a stripper I wouldn't speak to them again.

LumpySpacedPrincess · 22/01/2015 06:57

Don't go, I wouldn't.

Hennightpanic · 22/01/2015 06:59

I don't know if the bride knows or if she will enjoy it! We're not very close friends so I don't think me not being there would ruin it in that sense, it's just about numbers for booking.

OP posts:
Honeydragon · 22/01/2015 07:07

The brides already getting married, a wedding party and a wedding party.

She doesn't NEED any of these.

No one should be forced into an experience or environment that they will find stressful.

As for threatening you that if you pull it than the hens night is cancelled, than it's been poorly organised anyway, or people have already been dropping like flys once they've had further details and you're not alone on your feelings.

You wanted decline at the beginning of strippers were going to be present, that right is still yours.

iklboo · 22/01/2015 07:36

I'd bet that if the husbands or boyfriends of these women went to a strip club or lap dancing club for the stag do they wouldn't think that was 'a bit of fun' or that their OH's were stuck up.

I can't see the appeal of an oiled up, over muscled bloke waving what looks like a bag of chicken giblets in your face anyway.

Hennightpanic · 22/01/2015 07:42

I just don't understand why you'd book that sort of thing for a group of women where you don't know how they feel about it.

OP posts:
Only1scoop · 22/01/2015 07:44

To be honest if you are not close friends it doesn't really matter if you don't go. Just let the organiser know you can no longer make it you don't need to be specific.

pictish · 22/01/2015 07:46

Cos it's traditional isn't it?

I'm not fond of strippers, male or otherwise, but I'm going to agree that it's not about you and what you do and don't want. It's your friend's night. You can leave to 'take a phone call' at that bit if you like, but don't ditch the night altogether.

SacredHeart · 22/01/2015 07:52

If you hadn't expressed your dislike before accepting the original invite I'd say go and remove yourself.

But you did, so you are perfectly in your right to decline. The organiser doesn't know your reasons for not wanting strippers (which are valid even if you "just don't like them) so to arrange it after being told that without discussing with you is rude, insensitive and frees you of any obligation to feel guilty.

Hennightpanic · 22/01/2015 07:53

Tradition, really? Since when?

OP posts:
SacredHeart · 22/01/2015 07:57

Since 90s ladettes decided they could get just as drunk and sexually objectifying as their male counterparts.

Hennightpanic · 22/01/2015 07:58

Great Confused

OP posts:
marshmallowpies · 22/01/2015 08:01

It seems like the world is split between those who think strippers are 'just a bit of fun' and those who hate them - and sometimes you don't know till you experience it for the first time. The first and only event I went to that had strippers was a work party and it was excruciating.

If you already know it makes you uncomfortable and you said so up front, I think you're on solid ground. I hate the implication that by backing out there's the sense that 'well YOU'RE no fun are you?' - strippera are lots of people's ideas of no fun!

Hennightpanic · 22/01/2015 08:11

I could just about cope with watching sonething on stage, but the worry is the "audience participation" ConfusedConfusedConfused

OP posts:
ghostyslovesheep · 22/01/2015 08:18

Don't blame us 90's types I owned the 90's and I detest strippers and also wouldn't go

This isn't about the bride to be it's about the silly person who booked after telling people no strippers where involved

Laddets where a media invention - we where not trying to be men just women drinking and stuff

Trills · 22/01/2015 08:21

You said ahead of time that you would not go to an event with strippers.

The organiser went ahead and decided that was what was happening.

If you drop out, she can't say she wasn't warned.

If you dropping out is a problem, she'll need to find a way around it.

Trills · 22/01/2015 08:23

It's not even about strippers really.

Do you want to come to this event?

OK as long as there are no clowns, I'm terrified of clowns.

Yes that's fine.

...time passes...

See you Saturday, we've booked the clowns during dinner

Er, no, I can't come to that part, I already told you how I feel about clowns.

ilovesooty · 22/01/2015 08:23

At least you've found out in advance. At the last hen do I attended I said I didn't want to have anything to do with a male stripper only to be asked for my financial contribution to it on the night.

Nolim · 22/01/2015 08:36

Dont go.

kaykayred · 22/01/2015 09:02

How close are you to these people?

One person dropping out is not going to be the end of the world. If all of a sudden a FEW people are dropping out, then that is utterly her fault for organising something that people are uncomfortable with. You specifically asked about the strippers, she said no, so to then book something which went against that is frankly idiotic.

It is the bride's evening, but at the end of the day, people aren't going to do something they feel uncomfortable with, and the bride shouldn't expect them too. If a bride wanted all her hens to do a parachute jump, I'm pretty sure the majority of people would support her doing it - provided they could stay on the ground.

Can you not just tell her "I can't come to this part of the evening" and meet them afterwards (even if it means eating separately)? If needs be you could say "I am happy to work around the show and meet you afterwards, or to pull out of the whole thing. But me not attending the show is non negotiable". Could you not just say a family issue has come up and avoid the whole argument?

It sounds like the strip show is less of a seedy strip club with people walking around in thongs and being paid for private dances (e.g. the sort of clubs that men go to), but more like some sort of Las Vegas show where the strippers are on a stage? I've never heard of a strip club offering a meal and buffet...

That isn't quite the same. It seems much more like a burlesque dance than someone part of a strip club. Firstly, they have a routine, they do a show, and then that's it. They aren't obliged to give "personal" dances in a seedy dark room around the back. They don't need to "solicit" money from the audience - they get paid for their routine and that's it. Likewise, any interaction with the audience is strictly controlled by the stripper - they call specific people onto the stage, get them to do specific things, then that person leaves. They aren't forced to engage with complete scumbags.
It's not like they have people grabbing them and trying to feel them up. There's a clear division of space between audience and performer. Aren't male strip "shows" (like the one mentioned by the OP) pretty much intended to be super tacky anyway? It's not like the audience are actually expecting to get turned on.

I think for male strippers, the better equivalent is when you "order" someone to come in dressed as a police man when you're at home or in the pub or something.

That is epic wrong and cringe.

PerpendicularVincenzo · 22/01/2015 09:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

GlitteryLipgloss · 22/01/2015 09:11

Go! If one of the strippers come near you, you just have to say 'no thank you!' - that's if you get a look in anyway!