The Happy Stripper: Pleasures and Politics of the New Burlesque

by Jacki Willson

If the burlesque stripper, with her bawdy spirit and unruly insubordination, has emerged for many as a new 'empowering' model for the sexually aware woman, then she also strikes horror in the heart of second wave feminism. Embodied by high profile artistes such as Dita von Teese and Catherine D'Lish, the explosive revival of striptease, burlesque and overt female sexual performance has proved no less alluring to a new generation of women artists familiar with the provocative work of 70's performance artists such as Hannah Wilke and Carolee Schneeman. Eloquent on 'prettiness' and power, desire and 'knowingness', money, sex and class, and with an extensive knowledge of burlesque's rich tradition, Willson raises long overdue questions about women's erotic expression within a 'postfeminist' condition. The 'new burlesque' demands above all a response - this fresh, brazen, provocative book at last provides it.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Reference

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 8, 2007

Reviews

[Dexter · Rating 2 out of 5]

It really really feels like Jacki Willson saw one burlesque show, googled a bit, and then decided to write a book on the top three search results and label it as "new burlesque." She focuses on Dita Von Teese as the "queen" of burlesque and occasionally mentions other modern burlesquers such as Immodesty Blaize, and then claims they are representative of all burlesque. It really really feels like she only experienced burlesque once and did the rest of her research online. Maybe this wasn't her intention, but it's definitely how it reads.

Maaaybe half of the book talks about burlesque. The rest is (admittedly interesting) an overview of the history of feminism and feminist performance art and some random, loosely related sections about hijabs and veiling. She then sort of connects these things with burlesque, mostly repeating information from other sources. She concludes each section with a series of provocative and compelling questions, which she never answers.

Dita Von Teese may be the "queen" of burlesque, but Willson doesn't clearly note the difference between mainstream and underground burlesque. While there is no widely accepted distinction between the two, plenty of researchers (and performers too) recognize that there are two large forms of modern burlesque. Dita represents a certain type of burlesque while the majority of underground neo burlesque has very little in common with her. Many of the critiques and questions Willson brings up are in fact answered and confronted in a number of neo burlesque troupes.

Willson says that her impetus for this book was encountering a burlesque performance who happened to be a lesbian, but the book almost exclusively focuses on heterosexual cisgender female performers (not even exclusively burlesque performers). She claims this is because there is already a "prolific" amount of research on femininity and lesbianism. I don't doubt this. However, I can speak from personal experience that there is a huge lack of research on queer burlesque - a bizarre lack considering that a large number of modern burlesque performers are queer (as demonstrated by Willson's own experience). Willson continues to focus on the male gaze even after admitting that the majority of neo burlesque audiences are female, and only discusses performers (again, only a fraction of what she talks about is even burlesque) as heterosexual cisgender women. She does not take into account male burlesque performers or performers who exist outside of or in between the binary.

Maybe I'm being too picky. Obviously one book cannot discuss every single aspect of burlesque. But I was extremely disappointed with this book because it didn't live up to its title. MAYBE a third of the book focused on burlesque and all of those sections were essentially paraphrasings of other sources with little to no new input. The title implies that the focus is "New Burlesque," but in reality the focus is Dita Von Teese and a series of feminist performance artists (not burlesquers).

Essentially the book has no real focus. There are too many elements that are not clearly linked together and not thoroughly explored. If this were not titled as a book on burlesque, I would be less harsh on it. But it's in the title.

[MH · Rating 4 out of 5]

In her history of feminist reactions to female nudity in performance, Willson asks whether these displays of body and sexuality are statements of empowerment or detrimental acts of objectification, and eventually concludes that "this is a veritable minefield with no clear-cut answer. This is a tricky issue (176)." She's right - it's different things, for different performers, audiences, and critics, at different times, and the great value of the book is how thoroughly, and engagingly, she asks these tricky questions and finds a history of feminist thinkers diametrically opposed in their answers. It's not really a history of burlesque (and it's paper-thin about modern burlesque shows), but as a look at these heated arguments it's awfully interesting.

[Lotti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for my Master's dissertation discussing burlesque, feminism and empowerment. I would have left this book unrated but feels weird doing that so 3 stars (standard).

I enjoyed this book. It had a lot of interesting points, and a lot of points I disagreed with. It will be a great resource for my research project. I've written something of a full review for my literature review but it's currently a very messy draft that I don't want to look at.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was going to be a book on burlesque but it turned out to be so much more. Willson looks at periods in time when burlesque was most popular as they coincided with times of great change and unrest in western society. She also tackles the question of whether burlesque performers are feminists or pandering to the patriarchy. Some really good arguments/opinions in this book that will have me pondering long after reading.

[Soozie Bea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent 'starter' read on the politics and development of Burlesque.

[Lola Montgomery Marley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m in this one too.

[J C Mitchinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book looking at burlesque and feminism in a critical way.

Interesting perspectives, a necessary for anyone interested in the burlesque: feminist or not? debate!

[KristenR]

792.7 W68H

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yup...Indy research...