by Jill Radsken
Thursday, February 6, 2003
Society's take on nudity tends to ebb and flow, and these days we are not a modest bunch.
Just take a peek. There's the Nike ad of a man streaking at a soccer game. An ad for The Sims, the first family of video games, centers on a game of strip poker. Even the upscale catalog Red Envelope is selling the card game for $25.
And now striptease appears to be going mainstream. Wives and girlfriends are signing up for striptease classes at Crunch in Boston, which the fitness center started offering when it opened in July. They're buying ``For His Eyes Alone,'' a video that provides step-by-step instruction in a choreographed dance to do at home. They're visiting strip clubs such as Alex's in Stoughton for firsthand tips from the pros. And they're packing Grand Opening, an adult entertainment shop in Brookline, where owner Kim Airs teaches ``Taking It Off'' every other month.
Paulette Belmore said appreciating the art of tease is what her video ``For His Eyes Alone'' is all about. Belmore's Texas-based company, Women's Institute of Learning, sells the video for $49.95 at
www.learningwomen.com.
Three women dressed in professional attire perform a choreographed striptease, getting down to only a nude bra, panties and heels. The 45-minute video breaks the dance down into distinct moves: Seductive Entrance, Tease and Blouse Removal, Sexy Skirt Removal and Sensuous Bra Removal.
The host of the video is perky but methodical, telling the viewer to count out the moves carefully: ``We caress our man on (counts) 7 and 8,'' she says at one point.
``For His Eyes Alone'' seems to target a mature audience. The hostess refers to viewers as ``ladies'' and acknowledges the dance might be more of a workout than an erotic enticement.
``Rest when you need to,'' she suggests.
Belmore, who is 56, said she was prompted to make the video after noting increased attention in women's magazines to the art of at-home striptease. She's targeted ``the everyday woman who goes to the grocery store, has children, has a husband and works.''
Repeatedly emphasizing the video is tasteful, Belmore proudly pointed out the numerous e-mails she has gotten from long-married customers saying, ``You've really helped me spice up our relationship.''
Closer to home, Airs, a former stripper, led her Stripping 101 class Sunday night for women interested in learning how to take it off for their boyfriends and husbands. Most of the group of 15 - which included a dog walker, a nanny and a woman in her 50s - wanted to strip for a spouse or significant other.
The 22-year-old dog walker asked to be identified by her stripper name, Cookie Puss (Airs suggested creating a stripper persona). The dog walker stripped professionally years ago but said she was ``just in there to make money and leave,'' and was never good at it.
``I'm very clumsy,'' she said, explaining she took Airs' class to gain confidence for the striptease she wants to give her boyfriend on Valentine's Day.
``It's all about how you move,'' she said. ``You don't have to move your feet. You can just move your hips. It's about facial gestures.''
Airs said movement is important, but so are props and music. A feather boa, a garter, a wig and some gloves make for an instant striptease kit. And - though your audience might disagree - Airs suggested you leave some clothes on.
``Striptease is a tease. It's not `stripnaked,' '' she said. ``A lot of guys like it if you just keep something on.''
Airs credits a revival in burlesque performance for helping to bring striptease to a mainstream audience. Trista Beard, founder of the Burlesque Revival Association, said her troupe has performed to sold-out audiences at the Coolidge Corner Theater.
``With the new burlesque the most exciting part is the relationship with the audience. There's not this sense of objectification. That whole thing is dead,'' she said.
Beard, whose on-stage persona is Charlotte Charles, performs comic skits while stripping down to pasties or lingerie.
``There's no nudity in the show,'' she said. ``It's all about showing the audience how much fun you're having so they'll have a good time too.''
Of course, practice makes perfect, and some women go straight to the pros for pointers. At Alex's in Stoughton, amateurs compete on Sunday nights, and Pearl, the club hostess, teaches a few moves free of charge.
``We're more than willing to show you,'' she said, adding that sometimes women bring their spouses/boyfriends to find out about specific turn-ons.
The dog walker stopped by Alex's on her way home from Airs' class but said the scene ``was nothing like what Kim put on.''
``I don't look at stripping as going in to get someone excited and have sex. It's just kind of exotic and erotic,'' she said. ``I never knew I was so sexy.''
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