Attitudes Towards
Burlesque & Stripping in New Zealand.
For the past year I have
been asked a number of times to perform burlesque at private parties
or corporate events. It's a request which I completely dread and I
groan loudly whenever one lands in my inbox, which may sound strange
coming from someone who loves burlesque and needs the money. But
basically, I hate that the person making the request doesn't know
that burlesque involves stripping, is usually performed solo and an
act doesn't usually last more than 6 minutes. I'd forgive their
ignorance if it wasn't for the fact that I have photos and footage of
my acts on my website from which they have got my contact details.
So once we've got over the
fact that it's not a group performance lasting 15 minutes involving
costuming and dance “like the Moulin Rouge” or what they do in
the movie “Burlesque”, there comes the sticky conversation about
how much I am to reveal. From here the micro-managing begins where
they decide what they deem to be 'decent' and thus me having to
change my act to suit their 'requests'.
Now, I do charge more for
these 'requests', and so I should because I have to re-choreograph
and play around with costuming, but why I should have to begs the
question, why request a burlesque performance at your event? Is it
because it's 'cool', the latest buzz word? 'Cool' it may be but if a
semi-naked performer is not appropriate for your event, don't book
one!
These types of bookings have
got me thinking a lot about attitudes towards stripping, specifically
in New Zealand. I do find it laughable that revealing pasties and
g-string is considered too risque or too sexual. There's more flesh
and sex on the television from 8pm than you'll find in most burlesque
acts here. And in my opinion, there are examples out there of women
dancing suggestively and wearing revealing costumes that have simply
been accepted. Most music videos, cheerleaders for rugby games,
promo girls at car shows. So I remain puzzled as to why burlesque is
deemed too risque.
Upon reflection, all the
people who have booked me for events have been women, except one, and
guess what, he was more than happy for me to do my thing and not tell
me what I could and couldn't take off. Now, I moved to New Zealand
in 2004 and I remember my first trip to the beach like it was
yesterday. I took my bikini top off, like many women do in Europe
when sunbathing at the beach, and I could sense eyes were upon me,
and I don't mean they were admiring my chest, they were eyes of
condemnation and disbelief. I learned pretty quickly that day that
Kiwi women are a bit prudish.
Not only that, but being
sexy and feminine isn't as prevalent in Kiwi culture as it is in
Europe. It didn't take long to figure that out either. I just looked
at what women were wearing when they went out on the weekend or to
restaurants or the theatre. I think Kiwi women feel that their male
counterparts won't take them seriously or respect them for being
'girly.' Not that it matters why Kiwi women present themselves the
way they do. My point is that being sexy and feminine in New
Zealand's culture is deemed to be wrong almost or a bad thing or
simply, not the thing to do.
I see the effects of this
thinking in the burlesque acts by Kiwi performers. In my first
couple of shows in Auckland back in 2007, I was the only performer
stripping down to pasties. It wasn't until I got Eva Strangelove up
from Wellington that I was no longer alone in revealing pasties. And
that was one of the primary reasons I got her up to Auckland, because
she did go all the way, so to speak, pasties and g-string.
But even after 5 years of
the scene growing, the majority of burlesque acts are 'cutesy' and
performers have hang ups about revealing their bodies. I'd say the
majority of performers don't strip down to g-strings, they end up in
frilly pants or granny nickers. I only know of 1 performer in this
country who has stripped down to a c-string. Now, I'm not saying
that in burlesque you have to strip down to pasties and g-strings,
I'm saying that performers here don't seem to be as comfortable about
their bodies and displaying them in public as performers do abroad
because, undoubtedly, performers abroad reveal more.
Performers abroad are also
far more confident, direct and unapologetic about being hot. Acts
are less cutesy and more raunchy, sexy, suggestive and, well, HOT.
And yes, you can still tease the audience by being direct and sexy.
It seems that tease here in New Zealand means being cute and
coquettish. And to be clear, I know not all burlesque acts require
you to be a sexy siren, but even if you're doing comedy or playing a
character, exuding sexiness and confidence is required. Venus Starr
is a perfect example of this. Her character is cute when she's
hooping but, at the same time, she gives off that vibe of sexiness
and just generally being shit hot.
I remember seeing a show in
Auckland in January this year where the acts were quite tame and on
the cute theme, until a performer took it up a level by pouring
chocolate sauce and whip cream over herself and having a good roll
around. And I thought – good for you for being unashamedly sexy
and suggestive. I also remember when her music started, an audience
member blurting out, “Isn't this a stripper's song?”, which I
thought was an interesting comment, especially since that person does
burlesque too.
Now, I've been hearing a few
derogatory comments lately coming from burlesque performers about
strippers. I assume performers who say such things are in fact
intelligent enough to understand the irony and hypocrisy in dissing
stripping and strippers. Although, I have heard from a number of
self-professed Dita lovers that they didn't know she was a stripper
until I told them, right after their diatribe on strippers and how
Dita is the perfect example of class and elegance.
So I can only assume that
burlesque performers are negative about strippers because they've
been to strip clubs and had a bad experience. And fair enough, I've
been to my fair share of clubs in this country and some of the
strippers were terrible. But others were very good – skillful pole
dancers who looked after themselves so had great bodies, had put
thought into what they were wearing and their appearance, and knew
how to be entertaining in order to'work' their customers. I've also
been to burlesque shows with terrible performers, just saying.
I think criticism of
strippers comes from people's perception of the 'sleaze' of strip
clubs. And again, fair enough because some clubs are pretty sleazy.
But the sleaze element isn't actually in the stripper's control. And
I think this is best illustrated by the White House's “No Pussy
Touching” policy. It's the men introducing the sleaze by their
behaviour. Most strip clubs have a policy of girls not bending over
when they're naked, so it's not like the strippers are legs akimbo,
inviting their customers to give their pink bits a finger poke.
I remember taking Angie
Pontani to the White House and she was horrified about the No Pussy
Touching policy because in America, nobody dares touch strippers
without permission or they'll get pummeled by the door men, so the
idea that Kiwi punters would even think to do it shocked her. So
yes, Kiwi strip clubs can be pretty sleazy.
Also I believe the
succession of strippers doing and wearing the 'same thing', adds to
the sleaze element in people's minds. Unlike in America where there
are featured dancers in the club who can perform acts that are more
burlesque in style, strippers in Kiwi clubs are restricted to what
they can do. Crucially, they aren't in control of their music, they
just have to dance to whatever is on. One stripper who also does
burlesque told me she did wear her burlesque costumes on stage at
work once and noticed that she couldn't land any lap dances. She
guessed this was because she looked too 'expensive'. They have to
dress a certain way in order to get the customer to spend. So again,
the strippers aren't really in control of what goes on in the club.
That's all dictated by what the punter wants. Now, if burlesque
performers who bitch about strippers could think about these points
before opening their mouths, they'll sound less ignorant, bigoted and
hypocritical.
I think the fact that
burlesque performers feel they have to distance themselves from the
'sleaze' by being negative towards strippers, shows how worried they
are of public perception. One thing I did note when asking for
burlesque performers who work as strippers to get in contact with
their stories, were the amount of people who had stripped once upon a
time on the other side of the world, asking me not to tell anybody in
fear of people's reactions here. And fair enough, as I described at
the beginning of this piece, there are quite a few hurdles in the
Kiwi public's attitude towards sex, femininity and body image that
burlesque performers have to get over. But there's no need to pass
the judgement baton on (hurdles, batons – must be the Olympic Games
soon).
And no, I don't have an
answer to changing public attitudes so that, for instance, corporate
bookers don't micro-manage out the stripping in your burlesque
routine. But perhaps recognising and then trying to challenge these
perceptions will help. So next time you're at the beach and don't
want to have bikini top tan lines, take your top off! If enough
people do it, it'll just become accepted.
Thank you to those who
shared their stories and ideas with me. Names of people who said or
did certain things have been omitted deliberately. Only I know who
you are and it shall stay that way.
So don't go asking who
said this and who did that.
