"Inside the Topless Sisterhood"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35654337

This article gives a glimpse into the ethos of being a showgirl / performer / dancer. 

I find it interesting the differing opinions of the women about going topless in a performance. 

There's kind of a view in society that breasts are obscene due to the sexualisation of them, and thus going topless in a performance of this kind implies perhaps a sense of cheapness? or "sluttiness"?. The women who go topless at the Moulin Rouge (and other similar places) autonomously choose to do this. There are a host of professions that involve women being topless; dancers like these & burlesque performers, models, sex workers etc. 

"The show ended but somehow we couldn't bear to leave. The conversation returned to breasts: to cover or not to cover. Annoyingly, Katie was right. Seeing the show did change my mind. There was no grinding and no jiggling, it was a remote kind of beauty, a thousand miles from twerking. It was as old-school as a nude statue." This quote from the article implies that the context of the nudity changes the feel, as if a woman autonomously choosing to go topless while "grinding and jiggling" is somehow worse or less tasteful than the girls in this performance. I personally am uneasy on this, as I feel like women should be able to choose what they do - if a performer wants to go topless and grind and jiggle they should not be seen as cheaper or less respected than a performer who chooses to do something different, or not go topless at all. Though  looking from the other way it's obvious that performers who go topless also think they are "higher in the food chain" than women who choose not to do so. There's judgement on both sides of the coin.

When the autonomy is taken away from the woman is when it really is a problem. A performer (or anyone) should not be forced into a situation where they are uncomfortable and they should be able to make their own decisions and have those decisions respected by others. 

Nevertheless the article does highlight a real sense of unity, an unspoken bond between the groups of performers. A real sisterhood, a family of sorts. From what I've personally seen of the local burlesque community there does seem to be this bond between performers which is really lovely to see people bonding together instead of attacking each other.