BOOK REVIEW: Horrible Prettiness - Burlesque and American Culture

The seductive preen of a pinup styled performer...Or maybe the popping of a ballon neglige to the sound of seedy trumpet. Whatever you imagine or burlesque, the history of the profession is far more colorful than anything you may have imagined. In Horrible Prettiness, Robert C. Allen dives back--way back--in to the origins and complicated history of a profession that is rich in culture. The book can-cans through  the shifting of early American social, gender and religious norms, dips into the evolution of entertainment and theatre, shimmy's through a tense class structure, and strips down to a very different look at the origins of feminism.  

To give a peek, take this tantalizing snippet. Burlesque started in a place quite different from the sexualized performance we imagine it today. Early burlesque was more akin to vaudeville, or an all female stand up, in an era where this behavior was definitely not a womanly pursuit. Donning male costumes and a mouth to match, women would make astute observations about politics, class and gender roles, having a voice on the stage out of reach to them offstage. Burlesque was originally the entertainment of choice for the respectable middle class, but when the power dynamic started to shift, we quickly found men pushing the female performers into the shadows--the silent and sexy attraction, devoid of a voice, existing solely as a body.

This is a fascinating scholarly read, albeit a bit heavy at times. But the journey from minstrel burlesque to coach dancers to todays striptease is a great little number. 

Available on Amazon