As mentioned in the previous path, in the McCaghy Collection there are interviews from the 1960s with anonymous burlesque dancers asking them personal questions from their families and home lives to opinions about the industry. These interviews give a lot of information into the personal lives of the dancers and why they decided to enter the industry. The dancers vary in marital status, social classes, religions, and many other defining characteristics. Some entered the industry at a young age, others after they had multiple children. For example, one dancer age 34 was divorced after 12 years of marriage and left her seven children with her mother to pursue a performing career. She explains that “people come to see stripping because they are lonely" and that 90% of the girls performing have engaged in prostitution (McCaghy). She grew up in a lower class family and the money in the industry appealed to her. She explained that she was making more money than she could in any other profession or occupation. Her first stripping experience was at age 31 and had no opinions as to the rightness or wrongness of her occupation. A younger dancer, age 25, began her career as a male prostitute before receiving a sex change. She became a stripper at age 18, does not drink, and wants to be “the #1 stripper in the country” (McCaghy). The variety of backgrounds and upbringings of these exotic dancers point to a common thread of diversity in this profession.
A lot of the performers worked other jobs such as waitressing, seamstressing, or as a dance teacher. One woman explains that “when she entered the stripping business she was a naive person” (McCaghy). She was in the business strictly for the money and wanted to go back to school to obtain a 9-5 job in real estate. Many identified themselves as catholic, however, some had differences in their practices or beliefs. For example, one woman was worried that if she went back to the catholic church she would not be forgiven. She didn’t believe that she was going to hell but “probably purgatory” (McCaghy). She explained that Rose la Rose was like a mother to her. Another woman who identifies as Jewish explained that she “doesn’t go to temple but keeps the religion in her heart” (McCaghy). Overall, these interviews give a great insight into the burlesque voice and the different reasonings behind entering the business, their opinions on stripping and prostitution, and the diversity and details of the life of an exotic dancer at that time.
Works Cied:McCaghy, Charles and James Skipper. Binder of interviews. Series 6, Box 7. Charles H. McCaghy Collection of Exotic Dance from Burlesque to Clubs. Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theater Research Institute, Ohio State University Libraries, Columbus, OH. 2 Dec. 2015.
