"Come on, boys," Chevrolette McAdoo gesturing with a cigarette in a rhinestone-encrusted holder, "I'm headed in for work now, I can show you backstage at the South Seas, too."
* * * * * * * * * *
Dancing is art. Nobody is denying that dancing is art. But I'll tell you two things heterosexual teenaged boys generally aren't interested in: dancing and art. Heterosexual teenaged boys are, however, extremely interested in the female form. Oh, I also don't want to erase heterosexual adult males (haven't they been erased too much from history already is a sarcastic thing that didn't need to be said): they, too, are extremely interested in the female form. For example, Merle Rideout taking nude photos of Chevrolette McAdoo earlier.
I'm trying, and failing, to begin some form of intelligent discussion about stripping. Maybe something that tries to explain the vast chasm between auteur and audience. Perhaps delving into the intent of an artist to put their skills and love of a subject into their intent to display it to a wider audience, to maybe formulate a love for it as well and how an audience doesn't experience any of this content because of boobies. I could try to write something deeply moving, showing greater understanding of women's bodies as the center of a style of artistic expression being completely lost on an audience that just wants to get laid. But I don't have the empathy or sympathy or understanding or intelligence or emotional depth to do anything of the sort. Maybe you should instead go read Dave Sim's "Jaka's Story," a surprisingly nuanced look at a young woman thriving in her love for the art of dance and how she's simply defined, by everybody outside her world ("her world" being a hidden, unused room in a vast mansion, perhaps a little heavy on the symbolism but it works), by her youth and beauty. I say "surprising" because 95% of the people you ask about Dave Sim will say, "Who is Dave Sim?" But 95% of the 5% who know who Dave Sim is will tell you that he's a misogynist. I might not say that (I also might say it!) but I also wouldn't declare he isn't. He's definitely anti-feminist and his self-declared major breakthrough on his understanding of women was when he was interviewing mothers and daughters for his Cerebus story "Mothers & Daughters," and he discovered that speaking with a woman that he wasn't attracted to and who he didn't want to fuck actually enabled him to listen to them and he decided they had nothing important or interesting to say. So apparently Dave Sim is one of those people who tells stories that they think are about one thing and never realize that the story is actually about themselves. Because, I mean, if declaring that women have nothing interesting to say and the only reason to talk with them is that you think you might have an opportunity to fuck them isn't misogyny, I think I might need a new dictionary.
"Jaka's Story" came before "Mothers & Daughters" which might be why it feels empathic and powerful. I guess Dave had yet to realize that he saw women as barely sentient fleshlights. His treatment of Jaka afterward certainly speaks to his self-professed realization though. She ruins Cerebus's life (possibly being the main temptation sending him to Hell after his death). She ruins Rick's life (due to getting an abortion without his knowledge). She ruins Pud Wither's life (by illegally dancing in his tavern (look, she was stripping but she still couldn't see that chasm between artist and audience)). She ruins Astoria's life (although that wasn't her fault; she was just a young girl manipulated by Lord Julius to get back at his ex-wife). For the main female character in the entirety of Cerebus, Dave Sim treats her awfully, laying the blame for many horrors at her feet due to her selfish and small-minded behavior.
Dave Sim may think he chose celibacy but, let's face it: celibacy chose him.
Did that make sense? Was that a clever burn?
What I set out to say was that everybody should make friends with a stripper because backstage opportunities!
"gesturing with a cigarette in a rhinestone-encrusted holder"
Pretty sure this is a phallic symbol (cigarette) in a yonic symbol (rhinestone-crusted holder).
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