Mettler’s had two crappy bouncers who were sometimes OK with dancers experiencing sexual harassment and assault. They’d only throw out customers when their bosses gave them the word. They’d make comments and engage in behaviors that inhibited rape culture.

Brian Kass was one such bouncer. When I first started at Mettler’s, a customer smacked my ass and was made to leave. Another customer said to me, while Brian was standing next to him laughing,

“In his defense, you’re really hot.”

Brian’s laughter at the customer’s comment promoted rape culture, because it blamed the victim for her assault, rather than the predator. On a subsequent night, Brian let that customer back in. He informed me that the customer was a friend of one of the owners.

Kyle Schuh was another bouncer at Mettler’s. He had a girlfriend, but would regularly get lap dances and patronize the strip club while he wasn’t working, to ask out a dancer named Harley. Kyle generally did not throw out customers or do much to stop assault. If I acted as my own bouncer and prevented an assailant, Kyle would instruct me not to protect myself. I never saw Kyle do anything when customers engaged in verbal assault, such as using the word “bitch” to describe strippers in the workplace.