Following on from the Stip Club thread (which itself followed on from the Strep Club thread, where we all got together and shared our infections); what are the thoughts on this?

In terms of the stigma attached to it, it's worlds apart from stripping (and is usually more likely to carry that 'empowerment' tag); despite the fact that it in the grander scheme of things, it pretty much is the same thing most of the time (not that fully-clothed burlesque acts don't exist, I presume. And is there man-burlesque?). What are the key differences? Well, I guess, for one, that more women do burlesque by choice - i.e. not for the stone cold READIES - than do the ladies you might encounter in yer average pasty barracks/stripclub.

Genuine artform, or a dirty pleasure bored middle-class twentysomethings?