Dita von Teese’s speakeasy club, London, 2011

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 As a child, I always loved the movie Gypsy starring Natalie Wood. It is the musical version of  the famous and infamous Burlesque legend Gypsy Rose Lee. I love her for a lot of reasons including the fact that she was the fore-runner of Postmodern feminism and many femme fatale prototypes had been designed around characters like her. My grandmother’s favorite song of Rita Hayworth was “Zip”.

If you ever go through the lyrics, you will understand why it took brains to be a Burlesque legend. I love empowered women from any generations and Burlesque instead of being an “insult” to women (as many whining little repressed Stalinist-femi-fascists would like to claim) was the ultimate in female expression of our empowered sexuality…of course….those who do not have much “power” in their own lives may choose to villify incredible women like Gypsy Rose Lee and in her modern manifestation the incredible Dita Von Teese.

As a postmodern feminist, I say, Bring it on! I Loved the Dita von Teese’s speakeasy club in London and so did everyone else so perhaps repressed critics should just look to their own hysterical projections about the role of men, women and yes…..a drag queen was part of the burlesque show…haven’t anyone of you ever seen the movie Cabaret? ….tut..tut…honestly……:)

Pay attention to the lyrics of “Zip”….it is all true! I for one, was spending some of the evening checking out the club and part of the evening reading “Leonardo da vinci’s complete notebook” with the Kindle feature in my smartphone!  The cocktails were pretty delicious too!

Lyrics to “Zip” about Gypsy Rose Lee by Pal Joey

****This one is for you Grandma Shek in Heaven! Hope you are having a Happy New Year @ Minsky in the Sky! Your infuence as an educated modernist feminist, made me the postmodern feminist I am today! Love Cecilia XXOO

I’ve interviewed, Leslie Howard
I’ve interviewed, Noel Coward
I’ve interviewed the great Stravinsky
But my greatest achievement is the interview I had
With the star who worked for Minsky

 I met her at the Yankee Clipper
And she didn’t unzip one zipper
I said, Miss Lee, you are such an artist
Tell me, why you never miss?
What do you think of? Why you worried, and she said
“While I work my thoughts go something like this”

Zip, Walter Lippmann wasn’t brilliant today
Zip, will Saroyan ever write a great play?
Zip, I was reading Schopenhauer last night
Zip and I think that Schopenhauer was right

I don’t want to see Zorina
I don’t want to meet Cobina
Zip, I’m an intellectual

I don’t like a deep Contralto
Or a man whose voice is Alto
Zip, I’m a heterosexual

Zip, it took intellect to master my art
Zip, who the hell is Margie Hart?

Zip, Toscanini leads the greatest of bands
Zip, Jergens Lotion does the trick for his hands
Zip, Rip Van Winkle on the screen would be smart
Zip, Tyrone Power will be cast in the part

I have read the great Cabala
And I simply worship Allah
Zip, I am just a mystic

I don’t care for Whistler’s mother
Charlie’s aunt or Schubert’s brother
Zip, I’m misogynistic

Zip, my intelligence is guiding my hand
Zip, who the hell is Sally Rand?

(P.S For the benefit of  Stalinist-femi-fascits, when she jokes “I’m misogynistic”… Miss Lee was deliberately making fun of her critics! That something like this needs to be explained to “womyn” like you, reveal the level of your IQ! lol.)