I know this is a dating sub, but we discuss a lot of things from body hair to porn. I have some female friends who are into amateur burlesque, both watching and performing it. I went to their shows, the audience was 99% women and the men were probably gay. Why has a performance originally intended to titivate men been embraced and "reclaimed" by women? 💎 This was not a strip club atmosphere. The women were all shapes, sizes and colours and their acts boardered on performance art. It was lively and colorful and a "safe space". My theory is that porn has become so hardcore and ubiquitous that men have zero interest in burlesque (why pay to see a show, when you can see a woman being tortured and degraded for free on your phone?). Plus the women into it are doing it for fun, and decide how they want to present themselves (cellulite? No problem! Saggy boobs? Fine!). When trafficked women are being gang raped on camera, it probably feels refreshing to put on some rhinestones and prance around to Aerosmith. FYI my friends definitely don't see themselves as "sex workers".