Reclaiming the Burly-Q: Appropriating it as a Feminist Performance Art

In the activist world of reclamation, who decides what should be fought for and what gets left on the wayside? One thing that third wave feminists can agree on is that we don’t always agree. Whoa, that’s right you’ve seen that dirty word feminism twice now! Let’s define it shall we dears, just to clear up any misconceptions. When you read that go ahead and substitute it for the struggle for social, political and economic equality between men and women. There we go, moving on! Now, being a sex-positive feminist (go look it up baby doll it’s some good sexy reading) I feel very passionate about reclaiming specific creative outlets such as the performance art of Burlesque. I myself have participated in burlesque shows and am fully active in the burgeoning Pin Up culture in DFW, and cannot adequately describe the empowerment I feel when I get on stage or sell some pasties to another broad at a show! 

This isn’t just striptease…far from it. This is about expression and entertainment, about gorgeous rockabilly/pyschobilly/goth/rock/glam/ what-have-you ladies of all shapes, sizes, and ethnicities getting on stage and knockin’ everyone dead by how in control they are. It’s mesmerizing when done right, and boy do those women know how to do it right! This is a harkening back to a classier standard of performance, one in which pride can be taken. This is about women deciding when, where, and how they will shake it! When these ladies demonstrate the love of their bodies and the satisfaction they feel from a cheering audience, it is always sexy. I’ve had the sincere pleasure of working and interacting with quite a few of the up and comings in the North Texas and DFW burly-q circuit…and frankly I’m hooked! It never fails that in every troupe there are beautiful, unconventional, empowered, and bold women who are just plain obsessed with Pin up culture and they have their bright eyes set on takin’ back the golden era of burlesque! 

See, women got shafted in the 1940s and 1950s…and well, this unfortunately carries on presently. But no more, we want this time back, and in full glory! Burlesque that is for women by women, and pro-woman is thankfully not at all hard to find anymore. There is a new breed of burlesque taking over; one where tattoos and body modifications are welcomed, and where the "any figured" woman can feel at home on stage! With each performance these classy dames are re-writing the standard of beauty, which has been bias and unnatural for far too long. So the next time you feel like participating in a little activism, go to a burly-q and support your local Pin ups and Burly-q Queens and prepare to be seduced and shimmied into satisfaction! 

xoxo

Vinny