You should first read "My Birthday Suit: A True Story," by Anne. It can be found elsewhere in this folder. A NOTE TO "MY BIRTHDAY SUIT" ANNE by Joe Doe Hi, Anne! It's great to see you're a part of the group, and your recent post inspired me to go back and read your excellent "My Birthday Suit." Although it was a real-life experience, it really has all of the elements I defined in "A Good Strip Search Story": 1) You "were innocent of any crime that justified your stripping." You were stripped when you went down to the police station TO PAY AN OVERDUE TRAFFIC TICKET. You were an attractive 23-year-old woman; one has to wonder if a Donald Trump or even an ordinary 23-year-old male would have been treated the same way. 2) "Events should conspire against the victim to gradually remove her control over the situation; she isn't strip-searched because she is a hardened criminal; she is stripped because of a series of trivial mistakes or unlikely coincidences." First, there was the traffic stop itself (crossing the yellow line). Although you don't say so in your story, I remember your mentioning in another post that you were searched because you were on vacation and didn't pay the ticket. Then you hadn't read the letter you received in the mail before you went in, so you didn't realize what it meant, and didn't bother to get a lawyer. The police station was close to where you worked, so you thought you'd just drop it off. You didn't rob a liquor store. Trivial mistakes, coincidences, and happenstance all conspired to move you closer and closer to the examination room...and the rubber glove! 3) "Her predicament may be arranged by a rival, or by a malevolent authority figure abusing his power, or it may be totally accidental. But, no matter how bizarre the circumstances, she is quickly powerless to resist." Bingo again! There was no reason to search you. If they thought you were a threat, they wouldn't have let you sit in the station, uncuffed and unguarded, while they filled out the paperwork, then leave you again while they went to get the matron. Yes, it was procedure, but was "procedure" a handy excuse to strip you naked and make you squat, and bend, and spread? Strange how attractive women alone in police stations seem particularly vulnerable to "procedure." I remember reading one story where two women went to post bail for a male friend; they were searched, but the man who had been arrested was not. "Procedure," I suppose. It is clear from your account that the officer who searched you enjoyed doing it, as did the other cops who got to see you before and after. Is it unreasonable to assume that their enjoyment (as much as your traffic ticket) triggered the search? And although there are countless, endless things you could have done to avoid the search BEFORE it started (don't cross the yellow line, do pay the ticket on time, do bring a lawyer with you to the station), once it started, you were truly helpless to resist. 4) "The victim may consent to some or all of her search, and she might become aroused by some aspects of it. But she should also find the whole procedure deeply and intensely humiliating." CHECK! On one level you enjoyed the search, but you also found it deeply degrading and humiliating. Congratulations, Ann -- you're the perfect victim. 5) "The victim should be powerful, successful, and intelligent. She should fully appreciate the injustice of the outrageous indignities she is subjected to. If the victim tries to use her superior power or intellect to avoid stripping, she'll be thwarted by her inferiors." This is an interesting one. You mentioned that you didn't pay it for "uncharacteristic reasons," which implies that you are a responsible and well-organized person who made a simple mistake. You had mentioned in another post that you had been on vacation, which implies that you had some disposable income, and the station was near where you worked. Your reasoned, intellectual arguments "All this for a traffic ticket?" and, "Is this really necessary?" were batted away by (what was most likely) a low-level civil servant with a badge. You don't say what you did for a living, but it's obvious from your post that you are highly intelligent. Do you think your intelligence and sophistication made you a more attractive target for the officers? When you were booked, did they ask where you went to school? What you did for a living? Did you get a sense that they enjoyed taking "a college girl" down a peg or two? Additional Questions 1) The "prison reality" shows on cable seems always to stop at the visual search. They don't do the cavity searches unless there is some specific reason to think the perpetrator might have drugs or a weapon. There was a show on TV last night that showed felons being admitted to two different prisons, and they got a visual search only, not a cavity search. And these were hard-core felons, not traffic scofflaws! However, they were also MEN. Do you think you were given the "extra attention" because you were an attractive female? 2) You mentioned the cop asking if you "enjoyed yourself." Did any of the other cops make any comments to you about the search? 3) See my questions for 5) above. Do you think the officer who strip searched you (and who obviously got off on it) saw your file, and therefore knew about your education level and general background? Did you think there a "power reversal" aspect to it, where the officers enjoyed putting a pretty professional woman who was obviously NOT a criminal through a strip search? 4) You mentioned cardboard on the windows. Do you think someone might have been able to see into the room, or that there might have been video cameras or one-way glass in the room? 5) Did you ever see any of the officers again, under different circumstances? In my fantasy world, I imagine your meeting one of the officers at a school event, or community fund raiser, and having her give you a sly wink or a knowing smile. Did you ever have any contact with the police, or that station house, again? 6) Did you ever fantasize about going back to the station house again? Did you ever consider confessing that your dog didn't have a license, and you wanted to check the rules with them to make sure you didn't get arrested? (Ha-ha!) 7) Presumably after your experience you talked with other people. In your account you wrote that the victims were "usually females, almost never men, which led me to the conclusion that, since most police are men (especially those in policy-making roles), they mostly do it because they get off on the idea of women going through this." Did you ever hear any stories about how men who went to that station were treated under similar circumstances? Any stories about other women? Going back to 1) just above -- do you have any anecdotal evidence that suggests that men were given a warning while women were given cavity searches? 8) You don't describe the physical appearance of the cop that searched you. Was she butch, or did you have any reason to think that she might be a lesbian? Was she older, or heavy set, and, if so, do you think jealousy might have contributed to her obvious enjoyment in making a pretty young woman prance around naked? 9) It's been a while since this happened. Was there ever a strip search scandal in your town? 10) Did you ever have any other similar adventures? 11) If you could star in a Joe Doe story, what is the scenario you'd like to play out? Would you like to visit that station house again? Take a tour of the jail? What would the circumstances be? Here's your chance! Thanks again for posting, Anne! I hope to see you at the new group, too. Edited by C. Lakewood