(Burks) Grad Research Assignment: Discussion Questions on Article or Essay (4 of 7)

Roach, Catherine. Stripping, Sex and Popular Culture. 1. New York : Berg, 2007.

1. In her writing "Fantasy, Power and Performance", Roach discusses Judith Butler's book, Gender Trouble, in which Butler defines gender as a performance or style or strategy. Roach compare's the dancer to the drag queen in an attempt to explain the idea of using performance as a clever way to undermine or subvert patriarchy. Discuss this idea in terms of stripping and wether or not the dancer is perpetuating dated stereotypes or undermining them.

A dancer almost never goes into dancing with the aim to undermine patriarchy. There are not many people who would throw away their innocence for the betterment of women. A dancer (usually) dances to make money. It is a bit of a stretch to assume that a dancer is taking on such a huge responsibility unto herself, single-handedly. The stripper does not undermine stereotypes, she perpetuates them. She is a parody of the western societies collective definition of feminine, not for activist reasons, but for financial gain. She has something to gain for her transformation; typically it is in the form of money or attention. She is aware of this performance, no doubt. She undermines the dated stereotypes, perhaps unconsciously. This isn’t her immediate goal. This is partially why there is a “stripper name”; not only detachment, but also a reminder that her job is to perform the hyper feminine.

2. In one chapter of her book, Roach discusses "the shoes" as a definitive signifier of dancer culture and performance and backs this up with personal interviews she did with both dancers and non dancers. Why is this shoe important as an iconic piece of the fantasy construct puzzle and what else signifies fantasy and performance in terms of this industry? Why?

The shoe adds height. Height adds power. Power is of much higher value than money. The shoe also forces good posture, which is required to keep balance. Good posture is “sexier” than bad posture because good posture projects the womans curves, which are intended to be sexy. Sexy brings money. Because of the hyper sexed, hyper feminine demands of the job, the dancer must push herself as such in as many ways possible. The shoe adds to the performance by forcing “sexy” posture, and giving her a few inches so that perhaps it is she that is looking down, literally (and figuratively) on her client. The shoe makes the performance. It defines the dancers performance, start to finish. When the shoes come off, the performance is over. When they go on, it is time to act.
Other signifiers of the dancers gendered performance?
Makeup
Color
Small or form hugging clothing