Real estate and sexual politics
Uncategorized, For Sale By Owner Homes March 23rd, 2007
As , Sarina McDonald AKA Ravenna Black, fired from Windermere for DWSRE (dancing while selling real estate), has been rehired by in downtown Seattle. Apparently Sarina tried to explain to her ex-Broker that what she was doing wasn’t sleazy and that it’s considered a neo-art movement, but he wasn’t convinced and he turned in her license back to the State.
Luckily, it seems that she’s landed on her feet and is back to work.
A new generation nostalgic for the glamour of the 1940’s and full of admiration for icons such as are determined to bring back burlesque. But for many performers, it goes beyond merely re-enacting burlesque and strip shows of the past. It is a political statement of power and sexual politics. This revival was pioneered by groups such as “” troupe, which coincided with the burgeoning popularity of many other older art forms such as the circus (), vaudeville () and dinner theater (), all with roots in Seattle, all with a slightly subversive slant.
Today, New Burlesque has taken many forms, but all have the common trait of honoring one or more of burlesque’s previous incarnations, with acts including cabaret, striptease, expensive costumes, humor and now, sexual politics.
Many individual artists come to mind who have created a whole industry around the sexual politics of burlesque, stripping and sexuality. has parlayed a talent for ballet and classical dance with an interest in historical costume design and modeling, into an entire glamour empire.
By coincidence, I met ethereally beautiful Miss Von Teese at the opening earlier this month in LA. Both she and I (and her former husband Marilyn Manson) collect Ryden and we were there to see his new gallery exhibit “The Tree Show”. (See Ryden gallery opening photos on . And lots of art on .)
So what attracts a young woman to burlesque performance?
As Linsey Lindber writes in ““:
The resurgence of burlesque has to do with reclaiming an art that has garnered a negative female stereotype for so long.
Traditionally, women have been told that their body and sexuality is something to be seen and enjoyed only by men, that we are not allowed to be both smart and sexy for our own pleasure, and that in order to be “beautiful” the female body must measure up to the standards codified by our Britney and Paris-crazed society. These are the ideas that neo-burlesque challenges by recasting those stereotypes. Watch a burlesque dame strut her stuff and remove key articles of clothing and you will see a confident, smart, sophisticated woman who is unafraid of social pressures and proud of her body and her sexuality. She mocks and makes jest of the role women have played in men’s fantasies—changing it over to ask the more important question, what role do I want to play in my own fantasies?
…. Do we challenge being part of a separate stereotyped “feminine” sphere by drawing so much attention to it and effectively mocking it? Absolutely. Are we promoting the agenda of the women’s liberation movement? While it may not be intentional, it speaks inevitability of a step forward in feminist thinking. It emerges in an art form like burlesque because everyone is ready for it to. And performers are interested in sharing this synthesis of sexuality and creativity with all women.
Burlesque is not the only long lost diversion that’s being revived by an ironic youth culture. Mocking the ideals of the past and “claiming” the activity for themselves, these women are taking the (usually negative) power of these other activities and infusing them with their own meaning.
An example of this is another lowbrow pastime that has been revived, taken back and imbibed with a power of its own, and that is women’s Roller Derby. For girls who had no interest in Title 9-funded organized sports or couldn’t stand any kind of “organized” anything in school with jocks or jockettes, Roller Derby has proven to be an alternative way to get and stay in shape, stay focused and stay strong.
Seattle has the with 4 teams and over 100 members and they race other girls teams all over the U.S. in , , a, and a 100 other U.S. cities.
Another “revival”, at least in Seattle, is Ladies Wrestling. The was started by Cissy Miller, and has become an annual wrestling match that has its No real estate agents are members (yet), but there is a software engineer, a published author and a practicing attorney with the State of Washington. Don’t ask, don’t tell!
It’s rare that a young person goes to school to become a real estate agent (though Washington State University is one of the few schools that actually offers a ). For most, real estate is a second career. Because of that, it seems naive to think that agents won’t be doing other, perhaps artistic, perhaps unauthorized or “unapproved” activities on their own time. Without mentioning any names, it’s well-known that a local Title LPO visits a Seattle several times a month. Is that grounds for discipline? No, not THAT kind of discipline (wink!) But is that anyone else’s business? Could be just another networking opportunity. Everyone’s so into transparency nowadays, maybe this is just taking it to its logical conclusion 
from New York Magazine
Tired of the constant barrage of in-your-face sex in popular culture? You’re not alone—which may explain the comeback of good old-fashioned burlesque.
from the Washington Times
from the Seattle Times