The Aesthetics of Glamour in the Subversive Art of Burlesque

Abstract

This article explores glamour as a complex and contested cultural phenomenon situated at the intersection of aesthetics, gender politics, and feminist critique. While glamour has traditionally been associated with the spectacle of the female body and framed as a patriarchal tool of control, contemporary feminist and queer theories highlight its disruptive potential. Drawing on theoretical frameworks from Laura Mulvey, Judith Butler, Susan Sontag, Naomi Wolf, Deborah Ferreday, and Angela McRobbie, the article examines how glamour operates as a visual code that oscillates between accessibility and unattainability, discipline and emancipation. Special attention is given to the performative practices of neo-burlesque, which reappropriate glamour through parody, exaggeration, and camp aesthetics. Performances by troupes such as The Velvet Hammer, queer reinterpretations of Cabaret, and artists including Perle Noire, Dirty Martini, and Moira Finucane illustrate how glamour becomes a site of negotiation between patriarchal beauty norms and feminist reclamation. In contrast, the highly stylized burlesque of Dita Von Teese highlights the persistence of the traditional glamour aligned with the heterosexual male gaze. By analyzing the inclusivity, gender fluidity, and political agency of neo-burlesque, this study argues that glamour should not be understood as either purely oppressive nor liberating, but as an ambivalent and dynamic practice that continues to evolve in dialogue with feminism, queer theory, and contemporary performance culture.