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Parenting
earthmama2011
member
Burlesque for Charity *also posted in Toddlers 12-24
earthmama2011
member
in Parenting
Okay moms, I'm sure this question has never been asked;)
I am participating in a local charity/fundraising event with a group of other women to raise money for cancer. We are doing different sponsored functions and events in order to get donations. One of the events is participating in a burlesque show. The ladies that decide to participate with be on stage taking part in an actual show, in front of an audience. They will strip down to panties and a corset (thigh highs as well). While doing this one of the girls will be collecting donations from the audience. I'm not really comfortable with this as I'm quite shy, and it is not mandatory. I have a young daughter and I'm not really comfortable with the message this gives her, although a lot of the ladies that are participating are moms as well and feel that it sends a positive message to their daughter.
I guess I'm trying to get opinions on whether other moms/women find it appropriate or not to strip for a charitable event? Do you consider it selling your body? If you have a daughter, do you think it's teaching a positive or negative lesson?
Thank you ladies 
*edit* I don't mean to offend anyone that does Burlesque. That was not my intention at all. The part that bothers me I guess it feels like we are basically stripping for money. Yes it is for charity, but that doesn't make me feel better about it.
Edit, questions for the moms that are (or have previously) been burlesque performers, when you perform is it normally about the money? To me it seems like a way of personal expression, I also think that perhaps the fact that the ladies goal is to get money somehow cheapens it too.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Burlesque for Charity *also posted in Toddlers 12-24
I wouldn't go as far as saying that it's selling your body, but I think that this idea definitely has potential for disaster written all over it. Either that or super awkwardness.
Don't get me wrong, I've seen some well done and very tasteful burlesque shows, but I don't think a bunch of amateurs will put on the same type of show.
I'm sorry, I did not at all want to make anyone feel bad. I too have seen a burlesque show (yes only one, haha) and it was really well done. The ladies were very talented, using balloons and feathers. But for some reason this just doesn't feel the same to me. I think I'm hung up on the part that we are supposed to be doing it for cash? I don't know. And yes, the level of show will be quite different I think.
Well, you don't take your clothes off for a burlesque show. It isn't like stripping. It's just "sexier" more old fashioned clothes. However, I get what you guys are saying about the amateur thing. I just don't get the big deal. I wouldn't take my kid till she was older, but she would end up seeing me in the clothes every once in a while.
NO, no children in the audience. Adults only. Although the video will apparently be posted on our charity Facebook page if all of the ladies agree.
Thank you ladies for your opinions.
They got completely nude at the show I went to. They dimmed the lights though, but you could still see stuff.
Nana, I get what you are saying. A lot of the Burlesque dancers to end up completely naked or only in a thong. And they did weird things during the second part of the show, like whipping each other. I don't know, maybe its's not a "normal" burlesque show.
Traditional burlesque you don't take your clothes off. It's meant to be sexy and appealing to both sexes. However, it's from a time when taking your clothes off wasn't the "thing". The idea is to leave something the imagination. I think lots of people take it a little far, though do it very tasteful.
Yikes, no we never did that. It was very similar to the movie Burlesque what we did. Lots of dancing, singing, and comedy bits done it tasteful yet sexy old school lingerie.
Michelle L'Amour is the most popular burlesque dancer in Chicago. She gets naked, but does it tastefully. But yeah, lots of nakedness.
She was on America's Got Talent.
Interesting. I never got naked. I'm not cool with that. Our group never got naked either. However, it was small scale and we typically only did shows for bars and such. I don't do it anymore since I have gained so much weight. It was a hobby thing.
As a former burlesque performer, let me clarify a few things for you. Burlesque is not and never was about the actual stripping (that's what strippers are for). Real burlesque is about the mental/psychological part of sexuality. It's what the audience didn't see, but imagines. It is more about the tease than skin.
One of our most successful skits had a nun dressed in a full habit, singing a raunchy spoof of "My Favorite Things", and the most skin she flashed was a two second peak at her stocking and garter. The audience went nuts.
If you aren't comfortable, don't do it. You and the audience won't enjoy the show if you feel uncomfortable and awkward. If you are the tiniest bit curious and feel adventurous, go for it. It is a lot of fun and very liberating. The advice I used to give the newbies was, "Don't go on stage as (your name). Create an alter ego filled with the courage to do all the things you wish you did but were afraid to and let her loose."
Thank you again everyone for your responses. Again, I hope it did not offend anyone. I truly do not look down upon anyone that is a burlesque performer.
I don't know if this will explain things better...I think it is wonderful when a woman feels confident and sexy and enjoys expressing this through the art of Burlesque, but for some reason this feels different to me. Maybe because the purpose it to get money, albeit for charity. I don't know, but thank you again for your opinions.
Actually, it's quite common for burlesque troupes to do charity fundraisers. My ex-troupe used to do an annual fundraiser for breast cancer research. We also did one for a widowed police officer's wife, a couple of food drives (canned goods were the price of admission), and one for the opening of a local LGBT organization.
Burlesque can be entertaining, but it's rarely "sexy" at least the shows I've seen. It certainly is not designed to appeal to the male gaze like strippers do. Again, at its best there is a lot of talent and showmanship involved to make it more of a vaudeville type thing. At its worst, its a weak protest of what a lot of women *wish* men wanted to see. Every burlesque show I've been dragged to there were a bunch of women in the front, hooting and hollering and cheering while the men in attendance were somewhere between polite and disinterested, unless their gf was on stage.