Burlesque: Is It Ok To Like Sexy?
Some comebacks I can do without. Like that of Mike Tyson, for example. But generally speaking, I think we all can all appreciate something great coming back for another round. Take, for instance, the career of Bill Murray, The 2005 Astros and increasingly, burlesque shows.
Ahh, Burlesque. From my narrow window onto the world, I’ve noticed an uptick. Perhaps it’s going on with every social pigeonhole, but it seems to me that the burlesque I’ve been hearing about is targeted – and it’s targeted at me. Not ‘me’ as in ‘a heterosexual male,’ but rather ‘me’ as ‘person who reads Vice magazine while listening to the Arcade Fire.’ The first proper burlesque show I saw was at one of A Cupcake’s notorious 1415 California parties earlier this summer; a voluptuous Marylynesque woman performed a classic/y striptease that included a stint in a bathtub. It was fantastic, and I didn’t feel the least bit guilty watching it (unlike when in strip clubs, where I always feel a more than a little dirty).
There has been a mixing of girlie shows and indie rock at least for the past couple years it seems. New Years 2004 at Don Hill's featured both The Fever and the women of Burning Angel. The Suicide Girls have a touring show (which was confirmed to play Houston while I was writing this).
But burlesque’s resurgence has moved beyond organized commercial ventures. Somehow, the sexuality of the strip-tease has become pedestrian. I can’t remember a single time at a Spinning Kitties Thermal gig where there wasn’t at least one person who got up and rocked the pole on the bar. The other week, 1415 had a wet t-shirt contest with actual real participants (as opposed to the prize chasing strippers that were brought in). How has this happened? Why is the playful exploitation of ones own sexuality becoming more acceptable? Can this really all be blamed on the Scissor Sisters or Avenue D?
I don’t really know what to think. My white liberal angst tells me that I should spend Wednesday night hunkered down with Gloria Steinem doing intellectual penance for enjoying the objectification of the female form. But I think the safe money is on finding me at the touring Fluffer Girl Burlesque Show at the Proletariat. I have no idea why I won’t feel scummy watching it, but I won’t. And I know the place by all rights should be a sea of white caps in khakis, but it won’t. No, it’ll be boys and girls like me who I suspect also won’t feel guilty in the least around all that nudity. Perhaps I’ll ask them what they think.
Show info:
Fluffer Girl Burlesque Show
w/ Clouseaux
Wednesday July 27
The Proletariat
$10, 21+
Ahh, Burlesque. From my narrow window onto the world, I’ve noticed an uptick. Perhaps it’s going on with every social pigeonhole, but it seems to me that the burlesque I’ve been hearing about is targeted – and it’s targeted at me. Not ‘me’ as in ‘a heterosexual male,’ but rather ‘me’ as ‘person who reads Vice magazine while listening to the Arcade Fire.’ The first proper burlesque show I saw was at one of A Cupcake’s notorious 1415 California parties earlier this summer; a voluptuous Marylynesque woman performed a classic/y striptease that included a stint in a bathtub. It was fantastic, and I didn’t feel the least bit guilty watching it (unlike when in strip clubs, where I always feel a more than a little dirty).
There has been a mixing of girlie shows and indie rock at least for the past couple years it seems. New Years 2004 at Don Hill's featured both The Fever and the women of Burning Angel. The Suicide Girls have a touring show (which was confirmed to play Houston while I was writing this).
But burlesque’s resurgence has moved beyond organized commercial ventures. Somehow, the sexuality of the strip-tease has become pedestrian. I can’t remember a single time at a Spinning Kitties Thermal gig where there wasn’t at least one person who got up and rocked the pole on the bar. The other week, 1415 had a wet t-shirt contest with actual real participants (as opposed to the prize chasing strippers that were brought in). How has this happened? Why is the playful exploitation of ones own sexuality becoming more acceptable? Can this really all be blamed on the Scissor Sisters or Avenue D?
I don’t really know what to think. My white liberal angst tells me that I should spend Wednesday night hunkered down with Gloria Steinem doing intellectual penance for enjoying the objectification of the female form. But I think the safe money is on finding me at the touring Fluffer Girl Burlesque Show at the Proletariat. I have no idea why I won’t feel scummy watching it, but I won’t. And I know the place by all rights should be a sea of white caps in khakis, but it won’t. No, it’ll be boys and girls like me who I suspect also won’t feel guilty in the least around all that nudity. Perhaps I’ll ask them what they think.
Show info:
Fluffer Girl Burlesque Show
w/ Clouseaux
Wednesday July 27
The Proletariat
$10, 21+
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