Strollerderby : burlesque

What Burlesque Can Teach Your Daughter

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Fri, 01 May 2009 21:00:00 GMT

Burlesque is not the first thing that comes to mind when I consider how to impart healthy self-esteem to girls. But Deirdre Timmons, the director of A Wink and a Smile—a new documentary about the resurgence of burlesque—thinks her 12-year-old’s exposure to burlesque has helped her have "no body image issues whatsoever." As she recently told Halogen Life, "I'd like to think it has a healthy impact on her being around on these women who are comfortable with their bodies."

Timmons was originally drawn to burlesque as a documentary subject in large part because of its deviation from mainstream standards of beauty. She says, “I think a lot of women started to see burlesque happening and thinking, ‘That’s my body up there. That woman is my age, and I thought I was supposed to stop being glamorous and sexy.’”

As part of her work for the film, 42-year-old Timmons studied and performed burlesque herself, which meant that her daughter became very familiar with the medium. “When I was learning how to dance myself,” Timmons said, “I was making my daughter write down the choreography, and I’d be like, ‘Should I bump here or grind here? Which way are my tassels twirling?’”

Depending on Timmons’ routine (I’m assuming she chose not to share a super risqué, striptease-type number with her daughter), that sounds to me like a wonderful mother-daughter bonding experience. Burlesque aside, it can only be beneficial for daughters to see their mothers fully devoted to and fulfilled by their work—particularly when the mother allows her children to share in her work life.

Not being an avid burlesque connoisseur myself, I can’t make a final judgment on its abilities to empower women. But judging from the movie trailer below (NSFW), the women interviewed certainly seem to be interested in burlesque for reasons I fully support: self-confidence, enjoyment, and embracing their eccentricities no matter what other people think.

Still, burlesque is about sex appeal—it’s wonderful for kids to know that rhythm, stage presence, and talent are not dependent upon having a certain kind of body, but you certainly wouldn’t want your daughter coming home with a feather boa and sequined underwear.

Judging from this trailer, would you let your teens or preteens see this movie?

Photo: Halogen Life

They Say: Kids Who Watch Adult TV Have Sex Earlier

RIP, Shirley Jean Rickert, Star of "Our Gang"

Kate Tuttle — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:02:00 GMT

This obituary first caught my attention because I grew up watching old, old reruns of the "Our Gang" movies and shorts (both because our local station alternate them with the Three Stooges and because my father pressed me to watch them, in his never-ending quest for his children to understand his own Depression-era childhood). Unlike Spanky, Alfalfa and Buckwheat, or even the pre-murderous Robert Blake, little Shirley Jean never made a huge impact on me. I wouldn't have remembered her face (that's her on the far right), much less her name.

But reading her obit provides a fresh glimpse into how little the lives of Hollywood's child stars have really changed. Discovered in a "beautiful baby" contest at 18 months, Rickert was pushed into show business by her mother, eventually landing a role in the "Our Gang" crew at age four. She acted in five of the Hal Roach-produced comedies in 1931, before the big stars joined the troupe (her fellow rascals included Wheezer, Chubby, and Stymie). She went on to star with Mickey Rooney in the Mickey McGuire series, playing a character named Tomboy Taylor.

When the movies fizzled for her, she found work as a burlesque dancer, billed as Gilda and Her Crowning Glory for her long blonde hair. She told fans that she "would appear on a kiddie TV show on Saturday morning as Shirley Jean of the Our Gang/Little Rascals and disrobe on stage at night for the little kiddies' parents."

Today's former child stars, when they flame out, end up on one of VH1's celebreality shows, or perhaps on the Sober Living House. In the 1950s, options were more limited. After stripping, Rickert worked as a bartender and a hardware salesperson. Of her life in show business, she told a 1999 interviewer, it was never her idea.

"We had fun," she said. "The mothers on the other hand, were awful. Stage mothers are just vile women, including my own."

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Crafty: Spice Up Your Week

Adrienne Martini — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:00:00 GMT

The following may or may not be safe for work. It kinda depends on where you work. If, like me, the only one looking over your shoulder is your cat, then go ahead and click. Unless you don't want to expose your cat to a burlesque video. In which case, I don't want to know about your relationship.

Have you ever found yourself complaining about the high price of pasties?

With just a few supplies and a roll of toupee tape, one blogger came up with a way to make your own for only a fraction of the cost.

The possibilities are endless -- plus it'd be a piece of cake -- cheesecake, natch -- to whip a few pairs of these up before the weekend. I'll let you know if I find a DIY feather boa tutorial.

Photo credit: misscedar.com