a redemption story in Glamour mag

amazing story at the Breakpoint blog

Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Glamour -- what kind of articles do you expect from those magazines? The usual answer would be "the kind from which you want to shield your child's eyes at the grocery checkout line." And "'feminist' rantings about sexual empowerment in any and every form -- and line of work."

Well, Glamour started the year with an unexpected gem about redemption and restoration -- and changing the culture (H/T Thunderstruck). An article about Harmony Dust tells her story from abused child to stripper to a redeemed life in which she now runs Treasures Out of Darkness to reach out to women caught in the stripping industry. (Warning: an instance of profanity, descriptions of stripping.)

And rather than praising stripping as an "empowering" alternative for women "in charge of their bodies," Glamour presents the "industry" as Harmony sees it, which is exactly as it is: a "soul-killing" trap.

Although Treasures started with a budget of zero—“all we had was the church’s copier”—today it operates with a $10,000 grant and has 100 volunteers; Harmony would like to take the group national. The Treasures office, located in Harmony’s house, gets hundreds of calls and e-mails each year, and now offers services beyond phone help. “We will go with women to their first drug or alcohol counseling session,” Harmony says. “We have assisted girls with their resumes and provided job referrals. There are times when a caller has driven to my house late at night, just to talk.” Not all the calls are from strippers. “I recently met with a woman who asked me to support her after leaving the porn industry,” Harmony says.

This is what redeeming and restoring the culture looks like.