Neoliberal Postfeminism, Neo-burlesque, and the Politics of Affect in the Performances of Moira Finucane.

Abstract

In the late 1990s, burlesque performance underwent a dynamic revival in the USA, UK, Europe, and Australia. Emerging as a sub-cultural genre that predominantly gave focus to feminist and queer themes, by the end of the 2000s the neo-burlesque revival had flourished into a near-global trend that can be read as a troubling example of the dual commodification of performance and the female body in neoliberal times. Reflecting the intersection of postfeminist and neoliberal discourses, neo-burlesque performances frequently create paradoxical representations of female subjectivity that promote individualism, sexual agency, and abstract notions of empowerment, while rejecting feminism as a social m..