During my Bachelor's Degree I created a series that delved into the complex world of female empowerment and sexuality. I wanted to challenge the male gaze and its depiction towards women. The series was taken at a Burlesque show, where erotic dancing empowers the performers on stage through theatrical elements. Is the sex appeal we see on stage lost behind the curtain? Notice that during the series, you never see the performers on stage. Instead, they are stripped of their characters.

 

As Naomi Wolf once said, “Men are visually aroused by women’s bodies and less sensitive to their arousal by women’s personalities because they are trained early into that response, while women are less visually aroused and more emotionally aroused because that is their training…” In this instance men are visually aroused by the sight of the performers but, is the fantasy lost backstage? These performers are in control of the male and female gaze by reclaiming their bodies and sexuality, embracing them as sources of power rather than objects of passive observation. Burlesque redefines eroticism on its own terms, emphasizing consent, playfulness, and mutual enjoyment.

​

Burlesque embraces diverse bodies, identities, and expressions of sexuality. This image in particular challenges gender roles and creates the idea that a homosexual male, dressed in drag can alter the heterosexual male gaze by provoking excitement and arousal through the creation of a woman on a man's body. In these ways and more, burlesque takes control of the male gaze by offering a platform for self-expression, critique, and empowerment that challenges conventional notions of beauty, desire, and spectatorship.

 

I’d like to give a huge thanks to Cherie Bebe’s Burlesque Revenue for allowing me to document the behind-the-scenes action that is often so forgotten. The artistry, confidence and beauty of all these performers is really special.