title: Why does str.strip() automatically removes all the escape characters?
body: <p>Sample a string:</p>
  
  <pre><code>a = '   \r\rwww someString www\r\r\n\n   '
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>and Sample the following two results.</p>
  
  <pre><code>[In]: a.strip()
  [Out]: 'www someString www'
  
  [In]: a.strip('w ')
  [Out]: '\r\rwww someString www\r\r\n\n'
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Python docs' comment on the str.strip([chars]) is:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p><em>If omitted or None, the chars argument defaults to removing whitespace</em></p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Why is it removing all the escape characters as well?</p>