While reading chapter five, the first thing that peaked my
interest was Olive Logan’s opinions of burlesque. After publicly ripping into
all burlesque performers and directors, Logan continued by stating she was only
directing her negativity to those that were not “decent young women.” She then
listed following the questions that if answered yes, meant she was directing
her negativity toward that woman.
·
Is your hair dyed yellow?
·
Are your legs, arms, and bosom symmetrically
formed, and are you willing to expose them?
·
Can you sing brassy songs and dance the can-can,
and wink at men, and give utterance to disgusting half-words, which mean whole
actions?
·
Are you acquainted with rich men who will throw
you flowers, and send you presents, and keep afloat dubious rumors concerning
your chastity?
·
Are you willing to appear tonight, and every
night amid the glare of gas-lights, and before the gaze of thousands of men, in
this pair of satin breeches, ten inches long, without a vestige of drapery on
your person?
When reading this, I almost laughed out loud. Are the above
questions not similar to the qualifying questions one would ask of today’s
actresses?
“Is your hair dyed yellow?” I wonder how many actresses
actually sport their natural hair color. I would bet a very low number. In fact,
how many women in the country, no matter if they are on TV or not, sport their
natural hair color? Probably a low number as well. I find the cultural acceptance
of dying hair in the 19th century to be quite interesting.
“Are your legs, arms, and bosom symmetrically formed, and
are you willing to expose them?” Being gorgeous and racy are nearly a necessity
to be an actress today!
“Can you sing brassy songs and dance the can-can, and wink
at men, and give utterance to disgusting half-words, which mean whole actions?”
How often do we see singers, actors, and dancers crossing over into each others’
industries?! All. The. Time.
“Are you acquainted with rich men who will throw you
flowers, and send you presents, and keep afloat dubious rumors concerning your
chastity?” Ever heard it’s not about what you know. It’s about who you know. I
think that is part of what Logan was saying here. All that a young girl could
sleep her way to the top…some things haven’t changed.
“Are you willing to appear tonight, and every night amid the
glare of gas-lights, and before the gaze of thousands of men, in this pair of
satin breeches, ten inches long, without a vestige of drapery on your person?”
I’m not sure if you all watched the Super Bowl last night, but my sister and I
couldn’t help but think that Katy Perry’s outfit seemed to be quite modest.
Then I thought it was kind of sad that we thought a crop halter top and short
circle skirt were modest. So doesn’t being an actress (or performer) today ask
you to wear very little clothing a lot of the time?
I guess I just thought it was ironic that this critique was
coming from an actress when today’s actresses are on par with burlesque
dancers. Even more irony-actresses playing burlesque dancers like Christina Aguilera
who started out as a brassy singer. That’s enough irony to last me the rest of
the week! In conclusion, I wonder what Olive Logan would say about today's entertainment industry.
Shelby - I had much of the same reaction to Olive Logan's comments on burlesque. I thought it was especially ironic that she was herself an actress, advocate of women learning a trade and thought that literature and drama were two realms in which women and men were on equal footing. One of her objections to burlesque was that it was run like a business rather than a theater production. It was, according to Logan, the antithesis of theater. Was what Logan did really so different from what the Thompson's of the time did? Both worked onstage, performed in front of crowds, and at the end of the day, they took home a paycheck for there performance. Like you said in your post, it's all very ironic.
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