Dita in Inked Magazine March '09
Dita Von Teese recently interviewed with Inked magazine for their March issue. The interviewer asked some compelling questions, not the typical crap journalists are always asking. (Although the questions about her ex-husband, Marilyn Manson, seem to still apply even though they’ve been divorced for what? 2 years now? Jeez, let the girl forget her mistake!) Anyway, one question had me raising my eyebrows:
Q. What do you think of L.A. “burlesque” groups like the Pussycat Dolls?
A. I did a lot of shows with them, but I had a lot of legal issues with their creator over the years. It’s so far removed from what it originally was. I think it’s really great they decided to become a pop group and they’ve left the pseudo-burlesque alone. It drives me crazy when the media or groups like the Pussycat Dolls try to sanitize and take away the sexual and nudity aspects of burlesque. I’m sorry, but if you’re not up there taking your clothes off and dancing around in pasties and a G-string, it’s not burlesque. It can be cabaret, or it can be cute and funny and retro-showgirly, but it’s not burlesque. They were strippers, and that’s the way it was.
Well, finally! I’m so glad someone said it. Even better that Dita has, since she is the reigning queen of burlesque. I’m so tired of psuedo-burlesque scene queens and wannabe pin-up girls! So much so that I started this blog.
When did it become okay for women to tease? If I’m going to throw down some hard-earned cash on entrance fees, website memberships and tickets to your show, I’d like to at least see some tits.
I remember when Dita first came on the scene (or, rather when she went mainstream) all of these burlesque troops popped up in major cities everywhere. I suppose I should be happy the burlesque revival is getting a lot of media attention, but it became a watered down version of the original somewhere along the way. What should be a full-on strip tease out of Mr. Pearl corsets and 100% real nylon stockings has become a group of wannabes in Hot Topic lingerie and go-go boots pretending to be lesbians and giving each other spankings. Borrring!
Dita, you’ve set the bar too high!
Ps. Does anyone else find it funny that a magazine about tattoos does a feature on someone whose only tattoo is a beauty mark? I’m not knocking her tattoo, it’s really cute. I’d get one if I didn’t already have a beauty mark.
The Notorious Dita Von Teese
by Alison Prato, Photos by Sheryl Nieldsd
