Soldiers, not surprisingly given the nature of their job, are the focus of many traumatic news stories. Sometimes they are perpetrators – as with Abu Ghraib. or this horrific attack on civilians in Afghanistan. Often of course they and their families are victims.
In the context of these life-and-death concerns, it seems a bit incongruous that injured soldiers should have been prevented from attending a burlesque show. The Times (£) reports that a charity called Stubs had bought tickets for 25 soldiers to attend Crown Jewels: Best of British, but the excursion had been vetoed by the soldiers’ commanding officer.
Whatever one thinks of burlesque – and here’s an interesting perspective from a performer, Chocolat the Extraordinaire – it is obviously a perfectly legal activity. Chocolat reveals the mundane side to burlesque, stripping away the glamour, but some of the women commenting underneath say they find burlesque empowering, or simply fun, and the few men who join in the discussion (as fans rather than performers) seem more friendly than sleazy. Here is the conclusion to an interesting essay published by the F Word back in 2007.
While I still hold a few reservations, and have no doubt that many see burlesque as exploitative and demeaning, I cannot bring myself to disapprove of something that let me celebrate my body and feel utterly at home in my skin. In these days of the ever-raging ‘size-zero’ debate, cosmetic surgery and surveys which constantly tell us how few women actually feel happy with their bodies. I think that we should not totally discredit something that makes many women feel happy and confident about themselves so easily, and we are perhaps missing some wider issues with how society views and expresses female sexuality by narrowly condemning things such as burlesque.
And here is a rather more sceptical feminist perspective. I don’t have strong views myself – but, like most commenters under the Times article, I don’t think the soldiers’ outing should have been cancelled.
