Horrible Prettiness

Burlesque was a cultural threat, Allen argues, because it inverted the normal world of middle-class social relations and transgressed norms of proper feminine behavior and appearance. Initially playing to respectable middle-class audiences, burlesque was quickly relegated to the shadow-world of working-class male leisure. In this process the burlesque performer lost her voice, as burlesque increasingly revolved around the display of her body.
Locating burlesque within the context of both the social transformation of American theater and its patterns of gender representation, Allen concludes that burlesque represents a fascinating example of the potential transgressiveness of popular entertainment forms, as well as the strategies by which they have been contained and their threats defused.

Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture
Robert C. Allen is James Logan Godfrey Professor of American Studies, History, and Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is author of Speaking of Soap Operas, coauthor with Douglas Gomery of Film History: Theory and Practice, and editor of Channels of Discourse, Reassembled and To Be Continued: Soap Operas Around the World.
A solid and often brilliant work that will challenge most readers' preconceptions about this genre of entertainment.

"New England Quarterly"
An exemplary work of cultural studies.

"Women's Review of Books"
An intriguing exploration.

"Winterthur Portfolio"
Groundbreaking in situating dance as part of a social context.

"Lingua Franca"