New Burlesque: Is it empowering or demeaning to women?

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25782781

New Burlesque: Is it empowering or demeaning to women?
by John Hess

"Burlesque? Of course it's political," I was told in no uncertain terms.

Anyone who thinks of this risque entertainment as just nipple tassels and fishnet stockings needs to think again, says Dr Jacki Willson, a Nottingham-based academic expert on Britain's New Burlesque and its renewed popularity.

But not everyone welcomes the revival of this entertainment which was popular in Victorian Britain. And it's sparked some debate: Does burlesque empower or demean women in 21st Century Britain?

I've been hearing from all sides for BBC One's Inside Out programme. There's a new generation of intelligent, savvy and creative university-educated women, who have embraced this new wave of a music hall tradition.

Shock waves
"It's not just about stripping," Eliza DeLite told me. She's a rising international burlesque star.

She had her first experience of performing after attending her university's burlesque society at Leicester's De Montfort.

"It's not about nudity," she added.

"It's about what you are NOT showing, and teasing the audience with fabric and costumes."

Eliza is one of an increasing number of burlesque performers in a thriving East Midlands scene. She runs her own club, the Electro Tease at Leicester's "Basement" venue.

"A lot of burlesque performers are coming off a stage wearing more than you would see on a beach," added Miss DeLite.

(continued)

[Audley Strange]

People really are great at filling their head with shit to justify anything don't they? I don't understand why some folk think everything any women does has to empower or demean their entire gender. To me it seems that kind of orthodox collectivist bitch thinking is one of the major factors in keeping women from achieving what they want in the West.

[mistermack]

People really are great at filling their head with shit to justify anything don't they? I don't understand why some folk think everything any women does has to empower or demean their entire gender. To me it seems that kind of orthodox collectivist bitch thinking is one of the major factors in keeping women from achieving what they want in the West.

Which is shoes, obviously, and to lose a few pounds.

[JimC]

I couldn't help thinking of the Tom Waits song, "Pasties & a G-string"

Smelling like a brewery,
Looking like a tramp
I ain't got a quarter
Got a postage stamp
Been five o'clock shadow boxing
All around the town
Talking with the old men
Sleeping on the ground
Bazanti bootin
Al zootin al hoot
And Al Cohn
Sharin this apartment
With a telephone pole
And it's a fish-net stockings
Spike-heel shoes
Strip tease, prick tease
Car kease blues
And the porno floor show
Live nude girls
Dreamy and creamy
And the brunette curls
Chesty Morgan and a
Watermelon Rose
Raise my rent and take off
All your clothes
With the trench coats
Magazines bottle full of rum
She's so good, it make
A dead man cum, with
Pasties and a g-string
Beer and a shot
Portland through a shot glass
And a Buffalo squeeze
Wrinkles and cherry
And twinky and pinky
And FeFe live from Gay Paree
Fanfares rim shots
Back stage who cares
All this hot burlesque for me

Cleavage, cleavage thighs and hips
From the nape of her neck
To the lip stick lips
Chopped and channeled
And lowered and louvered
And a cheater slicks
And baby moons
She's hot and ready
And creamy and sugared
And the band is awful
And so are the tunes

Crawlin on her belly shakin like jelly
And I'm getting harder than
Chinese algebraziers and cheers
From the compendium here
Hey sweet heart they're yellin for more
Squashing out your cigarette butts
On the floor
And I like Shelly
You like Jane
What was the girl with the snake skins name
It's an early bird matinee
Come back any day
Getcha little sompin
That cha can't get at home
Getcha little sompin
That cha can't get at home
Pasties and a g-string
Beer and a shot
Portland through a shot glass
And a Buffalo squeeze
Popcorn, front row
Higher than a kite
And I'll be back tomorrow night
And I'll be back tomorrow night