-- I was, in fact, not thinking only of or even primarily about burlesque.
-- Burlesque is one of the tropes I'm thinking of, but again, not the only one.
-- Women get objectified. Period. Whether we're dancing on a box at Pop Roxx or are on a stage at Hubba Hubba Revue. The difference? How we use that space, how we subvert that objectification. I don't think it's accurate to say that burlesque is just about naked girls.
-- I was thinking also of some of the reasons I didn't go to the Femme Conference a couple years ago--I don't feel particularly reflected in that identity as I've seen it defined, discussed, or presented.
-- I remember going to the Great Dickens Fair with
-- One of the problems with things retro is that shit used to be a lot more blatantly racist and sexist. So, if you can't find a way around that, you might want to leave the past in the past.
-- I'm thinking of conversations I've had with trans women about other trans women who they didn't think "worked hard enough" to pass--by not doing things I don't do, not because I don't "have" to or haven't been told to but because that's not how I choose to construct my identity as a woman, especially when it means denying my identity as a black woman.
-- I participated in the Big Bad Blond Wig Bar Crawl... in the Marina a few months ago. It was fun, and as much as I thought I'd feel like a punchline wearing a Marilyn Monroe wig, I didn't. I rocked that shit.
-- And while I respect Dorothy Dandridge and Josephine Baker for what they accomplished when they accomplished it, I also am aware of the sacrifices they made. I don't want to straighten my hair, lighten my skin, or wear a skirt of bananas. And in 2008, I shouldn't have to.
-- I really, really, really wish Harlem Shake Burlesque were still an active troupe. I do look forward to seeing how Alotta Boutte interprets the 80s theme at the next HHR.
-- I have an idea for a Diana Ross act.