Stripper idol

This season on “American Idol,” the men will perform hits from the 1980s while giving nude lap dances to guys in the audience.\nWait. That’s my dream version of American Idol. But if it becomes reality it appears that one contestant already has a leg-up on his competition.\nThe Associated Press reported that American Idol contestant David Hernandez worked at Dick’s Cabaret, an Arizona strip club, for three years where he appeared fully nude and performed lap dances for the “mostly male” clientele. (Translation: it was a gay strip club.)\nAccording to the club owner, Hernandez “had the look and the type that people like, so he made pretty good money.” That’s good. In case the “Idol” producers boot him from the show, he’ll have a lucrative fall-back.\nHernandez left this personal factoid out of the “Things you’d be surprised to know about me” confessional segment during last week’s episode. Maybe he didn’t want to let America in on his little secret. Or maybe he knew the gay men in the audience wouldn’t be all that surprised. Most likely he was trying to hide a part of his identity he knew others would attack and condemn.\nLast season also featured a sex controversy when racy photos of “American Idol” screecher Antonella Barba surfaced on the Internet. Her scandal blew over and she remained in the competition. But in 2003 Frenchie Davis was disqualified from “Idol” when her pictures surfaced on an adult Web site.\nIt’s troubling that Hernandez, Barba and Davis all felt pressure to be secretive about their past ventures for fear of being discovered, punished and publicly shamed. Odds are they would have been much better off simply being upfront about their various expressions of sexuality from the start. But I won’t fault them. Other social pressures forced them into a sexual closet where they had to hide.\nThese repressive social forces are evident in the “scandal” that ensued upon discovery of Davis’s and Barba’s photos and now in the developing brouhaha over Hernandez’s gay strip club resume. (Sadly, I won’t be surprised if producers punish Hernandez and dismiss him from the show even before this column prints). Our culture has become increasingly sexualized in many ways, yet there are still strict rules and norms about supposedly acceptable expressions of sexuality. Stripping and public photos and any overt expression of homosexuality clearly violate the rules of sexual repression.\nBut there is nothing inherently shameful or wrong about expressing sexuality. It’s a natural part of humanity that we’ve all been wired to express in many wonderful (and quite honestly, fun) ways.\nI hope Hernandez survives the so-called controversy of natural expressions of human sexuality. If he does, I’d love to see him flaunt that sexuality to his advantage in an upcoming episode. My song recommendations: Madonna’s “Human Nature” or the Pussycat Dolls’ “Buttons.” \nEven better: Tune in for Showtunes theme night. He could perform the show-stopping finale from “The Full Monty.”\nHe’d get my vote.