Striptease
A striptease is a performance, usually a dance, in which the performer gradually removes their clothing for the purposes of sexually arousing the audience, usually performed in nightclubs. The "teasing" involves the slowness of undressing, while the audience are eager to see more nudity. Delay tactics include additional clothes under clothes being removed, putting clothes or hands in front of just undressed body parts, etc. Emphasis is on the act of undressing, not on the state of being undressed: in some cases the performance is finished as soon as the undressing is finished.
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2 History of striptease 3 Notable Late Strippers 4 Notable Modern Strippers |
A strip club is a nightclub which specializes in striptease. Striptease performers are called, among other things, strippers or exotic dancers.
A variation on striptease is lap dancing or contact dancing. Here the performers, in addition to stripteasing for tips, also offer "private dances" which involve more attention for individual audience members. The contact can vary from a simple upclose dance with no touching, to physical contact with the stripper to, in some clubs, sexual intercourse. Variations on this theme include table dancing (performer dances on customer's table) and couch dancing (customer sits on a couch).
Striptease enjoyed a revival with the advent of burlesque theatre, with famous strippers such as Gypsy Rose Lee.
In 1940, humorist H. L. Mencken coined the term ecdysiast as a euphemism for strippers; it derives from the Greek ekdusis meaning "to molt."
Until the 1970s, strippers were almost invariably female, performing to male audiences. Since then, male strippers, performing to female audiences, have also become common. Male and female strippers also perform for gay and lesbian audiences respectively, as well as for both sexes in pansexual contexts.
Many erotic actresses in the US make their main living from their earnings as featured strippers.
Overview
History of striptease
Striptease is an ancient art: Salome performed a striptease for Herod, and for her reward asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter.Notable Late Strippers
Notable Modern Strippers
See also: Burlesque, New Burlesque, Striptease (movie), Striptease (book), The Full Monty
