Striptease The Untold History of the Girlie Show

The fascinating, untold story of the history of undressing: over fiftyyears of taking it off. Striptease combined sexual display and parody, cool erosand wisecracking Bacchanalian humor. Striptease could be savage, patriotic,irreverent, vulgar, sophisticated, sentimental, and subversive--sometimes, allat once. In this vital cultural history, Rachel Shteir traces the ribald artfrom its nineteenth century vaudeville roots, through its long and controversialcareer, to its decline during the liberated 1960s. The book argues thatstriptease is an American form of popular entertainment--maybe the most Americanform of popular entertainment.Based on exhaustive research and filled with rare photographs and periodillustrations, Striptease recreates the combustible mixture of license,independence, and sexual curiosity that allowed strippers to thrive for nearly acentury. Shteir brings to life striptease's Golden Age, the years between theJazz Age and the Sexual Revolution, when strippers performed around the country,in burlesque theatres, nightclubs, vaudeville houses, carnivals, fairs, and evenin glorious palaces on the Great White Way. Taking us behind the scenes, RachelShteir introduces us to a diverse cast of characters that collided on theburlesque stage, from tight-laced political reformers and flamboyantimpresarios, to drag queens, shimmy girls, cootch dancers, tit serenaders, andeven 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 1950smistress of exotic striptease; and Blaze Starr, the "human heat wave," wholiterally set the stage on fire.Striptease is an insightful and entertaining portrait of an art form atonce reviled and embraced by the American public. Blending careful research andvivid narration, Rachel Shteir captures striptease's combination of sham andseduction while illuminating its surprisingly persistent hold on the Americanimagination.

Rachel Shteir is Associate Professor and Head of the Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism Program at the Theatre School of DePaul University.