Woman’s thesis research spawns burlesque troupe

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BY COLLEEN KENNEY / Lincoln Journal Star

 Kim Matthews calls herself white trash. “I’m third-generation waitress,” she says with a laugh, a single mom, a working-class girl with hard living in her past who grew up in a family where being sexually open was no big deal. Now she’s working on a master’s degree in history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and well on her way to the middle-class world.

It’s been strange, she said, hanging with the middle class. She’s had to adjust the way she speaks and acts. But it has inspired her to think about how society has viewed working-class women like herself over the years.

For her thesis, she decided to focus on the history of the striptease and burlesque industry from the 1900s to the 1970s — an industry that both economically empowered and exploited working-class women.

“I’ll also be looking at the politics of the whole whore-Madonna type of thing in that we’re going to be using the form of burlesque to question that whole idea of women,” says Matthews, 38.

Why does society make icons out of beauty queens but stigmatize strippers, even though many were doing it just to survive, she asks.

Matthews, who has a theater minor, decided to further explore these themes by forming a burlesque troupe called the White Trash Divas. Her flyers say:

Wanted: White trash divas for a new burlesque troupe!

(No nudity, just good clean fun.)

She’s looking for about 15 women of all ages. About six women have signed up so far.

She has scheduled dates in September for the troupe to perform at the Joyo Theater.

There will be thrusting hips and eye contact, she says. But also a history lesson interspersed with the dancing and bawdy skits and a message:

Women are not two-dimensional.

“I look at my burlesque piece as a feminist piece,” she says.

Her thesis will include the local history of striptease, burlesque and go-go dancing. She’d like to interview women who worked in the industry in Lincoln and Omaha during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. But these women can be hard to find, she said, because they usually got into it for just a short time and then spent the rest of their lives covering it up.

The interviews, she stressed, would be confidential and for academic purposes only. Anyone interested in either the burlesque troupe or the thesis research can e-mail her at kmatthews1@neb.rr.com or phone 261-5206.

Matthews also has written a play called “The Pink Kitten” about burlesque women. It has been accepted for the short-play laboratory for this year’s nationally recognized Great Plains Theatre Conference in Omaha, featuring playwright Edward Albee.

Local reaction to her burlesque idea has been positive, she said.

“I make sure they understand I’m creating a political statement with it, I’m questioning the concept of burlesque while doing burlesque.”

Quips

The thing I miss most about my childhood: I grew up on a drag strip. My dad drag raced. So from age 10 to 16, I drag raced. … My car didn’t go very fast. It was a Nova. It ran 15 seconds for a quarter mile. … When I was younger, I could tear down a motor and put it back together.

The food I could eat every day and not get tired of: The pumpkin curry soup from Open Harvest. I have food allergies — I’m lactose intolerant, wheat intolerant — I don’t process red meats well. So it’s one of the few things in the world I can eat right now.

My family thinks I’m: My kids think I’m weird. My friends think I’m cool, though.

If I could have a superhuman power, it would be: Reading people’s minds — but I’d have to have a switch I can turn on and off, though. I’d hate to have no control over it.

My pet peeve is: When people don’t ask why. When they just accept things. Complacency.

If I could convince people of one thing it would be: That stereotypes are just representations, generalizations. They’re not real. I’d like to convince people of the idea that everyone has feelings and all lives are valuable.

The person I admire most is: Madonna. Seriously. I love Madonna, how she just pushed it. I was a kid in the ’80s, so I watched Madonna shake her stuff.

My most embarrassing moment was: We’re talking burlesque, here, so how embarrassed could I be? My friends say I’m fearless.

Reach Colleen Kenney at 473-2655 or ckenney@journalstar.com.