Burlesque West:
Showgirls, Sex, and Sin in Postwar Vancouver
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by Becki L. Ross
University of Toronto Press, UTP Toronto, 2009 $29.95
The sexy showgirl biz was as much a factor in reviving Vancouver’s postwar economy as railways, grain elevators, and sawmills. Who knew?
The economic impact of striptease is just one of the subjects examined in Burlesque West, an intensely researched peek at the industry in Vancouver between 1945 and 1980, when the city had a thriving strip scene.
Becki L. Ross interviewed dancers, nightclub owners, and others involved in the business to put together an exhaustive, thoroughly academic, yet readable study. She traces the heyday of striptease, when it required more talent and less exposure than today.
The book bemoans the industry’s decline into hardcore porn. “Like everything else, including Rocky Road ice cream, or chopped chicken livers, too much of a good thing kills the taste,” said a newspaper columnist quoted by Ross.
The author, a sociology professor at the University of British Columbia, received a lot of flak from the public for obtaining a $50,000 federal government grant to research Vancouver’s historic showgirl scene. But she forged ahead anyway, rigorously documenting a field that rarely receives serious study. It was probably money well spent.
— Nelle Oosterom (Read bio)
Nelle Oosterom is the Senior Editor of Canada's History magazine.