‘This One’s for the Ladies’ film delves into Black women’s sexuality

For many Black woman, the topic of sex can seem taboo. But director Gene Graham wants to change that with his documentary This One’s for the Ladies, which explores the world of male exotic dancers in Newark, New Jersey.

Amanda Washington

Jun 8, 2019

Satan is one of the many men featured in director Gene Graham's film, "This One’s for the Ladies." (Photo courtesy of Gene Graham)

For many Black woman, the topic of sex can seem taboo. Unless its being rapped about in a song or portrayed in films, it’s seldom you hear Black women speak out loud about sexuality.

But director Gene Graham wants to change that. His documentary titled This One’s for the Ladies hit theaters yesterday. The NC17-rated film explores the world of male exotic dancers in Newark, New Jersey.

The twist in this documentary is the strippers featured are Black, and it focuses on the Black women who love them.

The film lives up to its NC17 rating by displaying plenty of frontal nudity. The documentary follows the lives of strippers from the New Jersey Nasty Boyz club, including a set of twins by the names of Tyga and Raw Dawg.

Graham noted in an interview with Jezebel that the documentary is also an exploration of class, community and sisterhood.

“They can be whoever they wanna be and do whatever they wanna do and express how they wanna express and have a couple of cocktails and, you know, touch some d**k, and have a good time,” Graham says of the women in the film.

Although the strippers are a huge portion of the documentary, it also focuses on the women who frequent the club. They’ve even given themselves nicknames like Poundcake, C-Pudding and even a sister duo known as Double Trouble, according to Vanity Fair.

The documentary includes interviews with the women and the male strippers to show their backgrounds as well as how they ended up in the exotic dancing world. Strippers and brothers Raw Dawg and Tyga’s back story is explained. In the film, they visit the housing project where they grew up and talk about how drug use affected their family. The film also highlights gun violence in Black neighborhoods, and how that has affected some of the characters.

This One’s for the Ladies is all about the ladies, but also about blackness, Black bodies and the things that happen in our communities.