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The Art of the Striptease

The history of the strip-tease is as controversial as the act of stripping. Some date the practice back to ancient Babylon. While the word was actually first used in 1932, the practice of women stripping to get a rise out of men goes back at least 400 years.There are references in early plays that mention 'strippers'. Legend has it that the Sumerian goddess, Inanna descended into Kur (the Underworld) by removing a piece of clothing at each of the seven gates. During her time in the Underworld, it was said that the earth was barren and fruitless. When she returned, the bounty of the earth returned. It is believed that this legend was behind the dance of the seven veils of Salome, who performed the dance for her step-father, King Herod referred to in the New Testament.

It was the ancient Greek lawyer, Solon who established a class level system of prostitutes. One class was called auletrides. These were the dancers, acrobats and musicians who were known for dancing nude in sensuous performances before audiences of mostly men. A few years later, in Ancient Rome the festival celebrating the goddess Flora called the Floralia had stripping females as part of the annual celebration. The strippers were considered by some to be in the upper class of civilization. In fact one stripper, became the wife of Justinian, the Byzantine Emperor.

Apotropaic Nudity

In Pliny's work, "Natural History", dated around AD 77, he wrote that a menstruating woman who walks nude can scare away natural disasters like hailstorms, tornadoes and lightning. If the same woman were to strip naked and walk around a field that pests would fall off the ears of corn. These ancient Romans also believe that a nude woman could calm a storm at sea by stripping. Early Irish legends tell of women lifting their skirts to chase off enemies or to scare the gods into ending rain. They believed that demons were repulsed when a woman lifted her skirt.

French Striptease

It was in the late nineteenth century in France that shows like the Moulin Rouge and Foiles Bergere were performed. The main attraction  of these shows was the women who would remove their clothing. One version of the show featured a dance of a woman who was removing her clothes in an attempt to find a flea that was crawling on her body. The infamous Mata Hari was a dancer at the Musee Guimet and performed one of the most famous acts in striptease history. She removed everything but her ornate bra and some ornaments on her head. Sadly, she was executed some years later as a spy.

America Changes Striptease History

As with many things related to sex, America took the idea and featured the exotic dancing in wandering shows and in burlesque theaters. Some of the more famous eaerly strippers included Gypsy Rose Lee, Sally Rand and the disrobing trapeze artist Charmion. Her act was filmed in 1901 as an early form of what would be considered today to be soft porn. In 1937, there was a legal ruling prompted by cultural objections to the practice that made striptease performances illegal. It wasn't until the 1960's that striptease dance was revived through go-go dancing. On June 19th of 1964, a woman named Carol Doda became the first legal go-go dancer in a show at the Condor Night Club in North Beach, San Francisco. Five years later, this 'top-less' club shed the bottoms too to become the first fully nude club in America.

In 1980, the Mitchel Brothers' O'Farrell Theater started what would become a staple experience at go-go clubs, lap dances. This club was also in San Francisco. Today, it's pole dancing that is the new fad of striptease clubs. Like it or not, stripteasing is a profession that is here to stay.

 

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