Burlesque is it grotesque?

[claig]

Very sad state of affairs, burlesque becoming mainstream

Burlesque it's just grotesque

I hate the DM, and have disagreed with both claig and dittany on other topics.

I have a lot of respect for them as they are two of the (very) few posters on MN who do not hold grudges and argue each thread/viewpoint on its merits. Very poor form to bring up other threads; it has no bearing on the topic in hand.

I have done my research.

I have a few friends who are burlesque performers, and often argue with them about it. I know the scene
(it bores the living shit out of me, tbh) and I think it's the biggest load of disingenuous bollocks around. Repackaging exploitation and selling it back to women as 'alternative' and 'empowering' is a simple trick, but one which people seem to have fallen for. It's a con.

It is not the fifties. Feminism has happened (is still happening). Burlesque performers now cannot cite the same reasons for performing as those in 'the glory days' did, as context is all. It is now an active rejection of feminist principles.

And it is a load of wank.

And at the idea that it can't be exploitative because women run it...

I am struck by the way that many MN threads about women "performing" for men in prostitution, pornography, lap dancing, pole dancing, stripping, burlesque etc. divide into two camps.

The "antis" take a "women are objectified for the benefit of men" viewpoint and the "pros" take the view that "the practices you are criticising are not representative of the real activity and you don't know enough about the real activity" e.g. the type of burlesque in the Daily Mail article isn't "real" burlesque. Well, whatever it is, it exists and is being called burlesque, and is therefore being commented upon.

By the law of averages alone, I don't think all of the "antis" can be, or are, so ill-informed or so unworldly that they apparently fail to see the big picture every single time.

Burlesque is stripping for the middle class.

I was appalled to see a Burlesque dance act on FRiday night prime time TV.

I like Dita von teese. Why? She's sexy. Does that make me sexist?