ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the author’s experiences of visiting different showgirl spectacles. Viewing pleasure is so often associated with the male gaze – this chapter interrupts that assumption by focussing on the author’s experiences as a woman and her quest to look out of curiosity, sisterhood, and a need for joi de vivre.
The chapter maps traditional showgirl spectacles, updated showgirl spectacles, topless revues, reflexive showgirl spectacles, strip clubs, commercial burlesque, avant-garde cabaret, and new burlesque. Reflecting on these live encounters, the focus of the chapter is working out what enhances pleasure and what elements might obstruct it.
