Performing Asexy: Asexual Identity and Neo-Burlesque in Mississippi, Texas, and Floridasarah Givens
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Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2019 Performing Asexy: Asexual Identity and Neo-Burlesque in Mississippi, Texas, and FloridaSarah Givens Follow this and additional works at the DigiNole: FSU's Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS PERFORMING ASEXY: ASEXUAL IDENTITY AND NEO-BURLESQUE IN MISSISSIPPI, TEXAS, AND FLORIDA By SARAH GIVENS A Thesis submitted to the School of Dance in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts 2019 Sarah Givens defended this thesis on April 10, 2019. The members of the supervisory committee were: Hannah Schwadron Professor Directing Thesis Jen Atkins Committee Member Ilana Goldman Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, thank you to Hannah Schwadron, Jen Atkins, and Ilana Goldman for pushing me, encouraging me, and supporting me through my time in the American Dance Studies program. To Shaken Not Stirred, for enthusiastically welcoming me into their community. Lastly, to my friends who have served as soundboards, motivational speakers, and emotional support groups. I would not have made it this far without you. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ............................................................................................................................................v INTRODUCTION: ASEXUALITY, NEO-BURLESQUE, AND AUTOETHNOGRAPHY ........1 Asexuality: A New Field of Research and an Absence of Representation .................................2 Neo-Burlesque: Female Performance and Re-Writing Fantasies .............................................14 This Thesis: An Autoethnographic Process ..............................................................................17 CHAPTER ONE: IN THE AUDIENCE: NEEDING A HERO ....................................................21 Hattiesburlesque: Body-Positivity, Self-Love, and Creative Agency .......................................23 Donning Femininity: Excess Femininity in Neo-Burlesque .....................................................28 Performances of Deviance: Hattiesburlesque in Concert..........................................................33 CHAPTER TWO: ONLINE PERFORMANCE: FINDING A HERO .........................................41 Queerlesque: Community, Affirmation, and Support ...............................................................45 Hana Li: Gender Place and the Ultimate Asexy Tease .............................................................52 Staging Asexuality: Representation and Identity Performance ................................................59 CHAPTER THREE: CENTER STAGE: BECOMING THE HERO ............................................62 Shaken Not Stirred: Nerdlesque and Embodying Popular Culture ...........................................63 Revisiting Femininity: Recognizing Gender Identity ...............................................................68 Performing Asexuality: Conceptually, Choreographically, and Performatively ......................70 CONCLUSION: TO PERFORM ASEXY ....................................................................................83 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..........................................................................................................................88 Biographical Sketch .......................................................................................................................94 iv ABSTRACT This Masters in American Dance Studies thesis addresses the performance of asexual identity in the neo-burlesque performance art. With a heavy emphasis on autoethnography, I present neo- burlesque as a genre that creates space for queer identity performance. I focus on three case studies: First, as a live audience member, I examine Hattiesburlesque as an example of neo- burlesque’s celebratory and self-loving spirit. Then, through online engagement, I analyze the work of genderqueer, asexual neo-burlesque performer Hana Li and her involvement in the queerlesque community of Dallas, Texas. Finally, as a performing member of Shaken Not Stirred Burlesque, I explore a self-choreographed solo routine celebrating asexual pride in order to gain embodied experience of performing identity in neo-burlesque. In doing so, I add to the sparse but growing field of asexual research and depart on a personal journey of self-discovery and self- expression. v INTRODUCTION ASEXUALITY, NEO-BURLESQUE, AND AUTOETHNOGRAPHY When I began tossing around the words, "asexual burlesque," I got responses ranging from confused fascination to enthusiastic misunderstanding. With little to no context around what I meant, well-meaning acquaintances took it to mean an "unsexy" burlesque show. My hairdresser thought of burlesque that purposefully aimed to not be sexy or to reference any sexuality at all. "Oh that'll be tough," a guest speaker at the university said, assuming that I was trying to take the sex out of burlesque. Just how much sex is in burlesque? I knew it was there, but from what I had seen and experienced it was not an overpowering element. Is it a hyper- sexualized form because of its content, or is it hyper-sexualized because of how it is perceived? In what follows, I take on these fairly simplistic assumptions and their queerer performance alternatives through an analysis of current burlesque practices in Mississippi, Texas, and Florida. First, I approach Hattiesburlesque in Mississippi through the physical experience of being a live audience member. Then, I virtually engage with the works of asexual, genderqueer performer Hana Li and the Dallas queerlesque community through the use of the internet. Finally, I include my own embodied research as a performing member of Shaken Not Stirred Burlesque in Tallahassee, Florida, and my process of creating an asexual pride solo routine. As I investigate these three case studies, I discuss the concept of asexiness and my own progression of needing, finding, and becoming an asexy hero and performer. Throughout this thesis, I refer to asexuality as a sexual orientation defined by experiencing no sexual attraction towards others. Asexuality is not the absence of sex, nor does it translate to unsexy. Rather than unsexy, I use the term "asexy" in an attempt to define myself in relation to my neo-burlesque performance experiences. In the asexual community, the definition 1 of “asexy” is purposefully vague but always positive. I, perhaps paradoxically so, apply this term to the art of neo-burlesque in order to analyze and celebrate a form that is so regularly hyper- sexualized in popular understanding. I ask, what can it mean to use "asexy" as a theoretical framework and applying it to neo-burlesque? Furthermore, what does it mean for performers to claim asexuality on neo-burlesque stages? What does it mean to purposefully be asexy? In this thesis, I address these questions and discuss several assumptions surrounding neo- burlesque and its intersections with asexuality: firstly, the view that neo-burlesque is inherently sexual or sexy (and how these terms differ). Secondly, I dispel the belief that in order to celebrate or display asexuality an asexual person must desexualize their body and their performance. And finally, I discuss my personal burlesque experience as Amethyst Ace and the creation of an asexual pride neo-burlesque routine. Throughout this thesis, I use the word "asexy" as a tool to further understand asexuality, neo-burlesque, and identity performance. Asexuality: A New Field of Research and an Absence of Representation Asexuality has only recently become a visible orientation, and there is still very little scholarly research. Anthony F. Bogaert, professor of psychology and community health sciences at Brock University, defines asexuality as "a lack of sexual attraction [towards others]." He explains that the lack of sexual attraction does not mean all asexuals are sex-repulsed or uninterested in sexually-themed performances and activities. Asexuality, like sexuality, is a spectrum ranging from sex-positive (being interested in or enjoying sex and sexual themes) to sex-repulsed (being completely disgusted and averse to sex and sexual themes), with many places in between. 1 The Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) also defines 1 Anthony F. Bogaert, Understanding Asexuality (Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012), 18. 2 asexuality as an absence of sexual attraction and emphasizes the diversity of experiences in the asexual community. 2 Neo-burlesque performer Hana Li, one of the main foci of chapter two, identifies as gray-asexual, which generally means somewhere between sexual and asexual. Gray- asexuals may fluctuate from experiencing to not experiencing sexual attraction, or they may have a low sex drive. The term has also been used by sex-positive asexuals who do enjoy sex, but only under certain circumstances. 3 Li describes her own experience, blogging, "It's hard to explain why I identify as grey-a without getting into the dirty details, but basically I don't experience sexual attraction save for a couple of exceptions."4 It is important to note that even though asexuals may not experience sexual attraction, some may experience another type of attraction, such as romantic or aesthetic attraction. Loosely defined, aesthetic attraction is attraction to the