Striptease

Striptease recreates the combustible mixture of license independence and sexual curiosity that allowed strippers to thrive for nearly a century. Rachel Shteir brings to life striptease''s Golden Age the years between the Jazz Age and the Sexual Revolution when strippers performed around the country in burlesque theatres nightclubs vaudeville houses carnivals fairs and even in glorious palaces on the Great White Way. Taking us behind the scenes Shteir introduces us to a diverse cast of characters that collided on the burlesque stage from tight-laced political reformers and flamboyant impresarios to drag queens shimmy girls cootch dancers tit serenaders and even girls next door lured into the profession by big-city aspirations. Throughout the book readers will find essential profiles of famed performers including Gypsy Rose Lee ''the Literary Stripper''; Lili St. Cyr the 1950s mistress of exotic striptease; and Blaze Starr the ''human heat wave''. who literally set the stage on fire. striptease is an insightful and entertaining portrait of an art form at once reviled and embraced by the American public. Blending careful research and vivid narration Rachel Shteir captures striptease''s combination of sham and seduction while illuminating its surprisingly persistent hold on the American imagination.