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Spectacles of Agency and Desire: Dance Histories and the Burlesque Stage

"The Bachelor Frolics"

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Pleasure in Burlesque: Power in the Erotic When we conceptualize empowerment through burlesque performance, we must consider the different ways that pleasure manifests in performance. Is the performance an embodiment of that performer’s own pleasure, or is the performance simply catering to the spectator’s pleasures? Or is the pleasure shared?

Audre Lorde discusses the erotic as a form of power in our racist, patriarchal, and anti-erotic society: “For the erotic is not a question only of what we do; it is a question of how acutely and fully we can feel in the doing” (54). She cites the common phrase “It feels right to me,” and articulates how that ability to acknowledge “the strength of the erotic into a true knowledge for what that means is the first and most powerful guiding light toward any understanding” (56). Acting and indulging in pleasure is powerful, especially in our society that teaches us, especially women, to suppress our desires (Lorde, 57). If we look at certain strip performances from the 1940’s-1960’s we can observe what appears to be performers pleasuring themselves. Their upward gazes, their soft smiles, and their tendency to touch themselves portray felt pleasure.

Indulging in pleasure renders a sense of empowerment. But although these videos portray embodied pleasure, we must question whether the pleasure is actually felt, or whether it is simply performed.