The eroticism in neo-burlesque

Owen, here is my answer to your questions:

It is indeed hard to investigate whether the ideals and motivations coming from the performers match up with those of the audience, for the simple reason that I have problems finding spectators or fans online other than the ones that become performers. I do plan on exploring that aspect in my “live”, “physical” upcoming field.

For the needs of this research, I have decided to put aside the interconnections between the performers, and focus on the online gender performance by analyzing elements of websites such as still pictures (narrative, discursive and aesthetic aspects), videos, web design elements (symbolic), texts (tonality, direction of the communication, intent), and so on… I’d like to see if it challenges or consolidate the gendered norms commonly mediated by the market. I do want to come back to the relationship between the performers, more specifically in between the subversive and naïve ones, in order to see if I can identify some underlying meaning to their cohabitation on the same stage or scene, as well as what is the purpose of their community.

As per your last question: “Is the erotic side of it meant to be genuine? Or is it critical of those who do see it that way?” Before being associated with adult entertainment and eroticism, burlesque was mostly about slapstick humor and spoofing the pretention of the elite, divinity, power and so on… The “female shows” appeared with time and became a main demanded feature in burlesque shows. The strip-tease part of burlesque is now one of the main (but not exclusive) focuses in the revival movement. I see the erotic aspect of burlesque having different meanings for different performers. For instance, some people want to reappropriate themselves the medium of strip-tease (as a form of democratization), explore this facet of their personality, exhibit themselves, joke around and have fun, and sometimes, meanwhile, spoof the current object status of the women. While considering the erotic aspect as a performance, it can also be an expression of the erotic imagery of the performer. With that regard, I believe the erotic aspect is an acknowledgement of the human nature, and, more importantly it is a medium to subvert the sexualized object status of the women towards sexual subjectification.
Neo-burlesque appeals to a wide audience of girls of any sexual orientation, which is interesting also. Like previously mentioned, I still need to investigate the motivations of the spectators, but it seems clear in so far that at least not everyone go there to get turned on. In addition, one of the troupes I have been following in terms of performances, for instance, qualifies their shows as erotico-retro-chic, which definitely stages eroticism in sympathetic terms. I would consider the erotic aspect as a type of conversation with the audience, just like humor and so on. The relationship with humor is also interesting with regards to the fact that sexuality is often considered so fatally or emptily.
I hope this answers your questions! Please feel free to ask others, it is actually very helpful in my research process!