Is Burlesque the Long Tail of Stripping?
I’ve watched the re-emergence of burlesque with a kind of awed bemusement. There appears to not only be a professional burlesque circuit, but also extensive amateur activities as well. It’s kind of like R-rated karaoke.
There’s no denying the trend–there’s a local festival, schools and 13,244 photos on Flickr (work-safeness may vary). I went looking for an article on this subject, and found this one:
Over the last 10 years, women have dusted off pasties and tassels in a rediscovery of classic burlesque, which ended its heyday in the early 1960s with the sexual revolution and increase of sex and nudity in other venues. Now, an over-sexed public is cheering for the sexy glamour of burlesque, which offers a glimpse but doesn’t bare it all.
Here’s something I suspected, and this article confirms it: “Today–amid the powerful influence of the multi-billion-dollar-a-year porn industry–the audience is more middle-class, urban and female.”
That’s interesting to me, as neo-burlesque (as it’s called) is obviously not about the titilation, but about the performance itself. Clearly, then burlesque isn’t the long tail of stripping, because it’s aimed at an entirely different audience.
I really don’t know what to make of this trend (there’s also a related, puzzling trend concerning roller derby). I guess I’m all for women taking ownership of their sexuality, and clearly there’s enough interest to make for a viable economy in which lots of different groups can participate.
I should note, however, that this is one of those trends whose visibility may betray the actual size of the burlesquing population. Sex sells, so I’m sure every media outlet has covered neo-burlesque some time in the past five years or so.
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