70
Popular Culture Review
what a strip search was, and became quite upset since the only experience [she]
had was dancing topless as a go-go girl" (Woodlawn, p. 14). Later
Woodlawn enlarges on her life as a stripper;
Tamara [a hormone queen] was a crazy Cuban who worked as
a belly dancer in straight bars around Manhattan as well as
upstate. Julie [another transvestite] loved to tantalize straight
men, and got the idea of becoming a stripper. Tamara gave her
some pointers but told her her tits were too tiny. “A big bust
means big tips, doll," said Tamara, who jiggled her generous
double-D\s for dollars at Wanda's Strip-O-Rama in New Jersey.
Well, Julie was destined to become a star jiggler herself, and
traveled to Yonkers for a new pair of honkers. (Woodlawn, p.
93-99)
According to Woodlawn, Julie, with her new if synthetic Jugs, made good money
and was having fun. On a visit. Holly and Julie saw a “go-go girls wanted" sign
and Julie urged her friend to try for it. Woodlawn secured that position and began
dancing:
I wore bikini panties with florescent flowers I had made out of
crepe paper, strategically placed around my crotch to hide any
flaws in my character. It really wasn't that difficult to pull off,
since all I had to do was tuck m yself between my legs.
(Woodlawn, p. 99)
Stripping does call for attention to at least two anatomical problems posed by the
proposition of a male passing for a female.
Men have played female roles in traditional theatrical and stage
productions far longer in the Western tradition than have women. In fact, the entry
o f women to the field was coupled with a strong social stigma (strippers are still
branded as prostitutes in spite of copious statistical and common sensical refutation).
Moreover, drag and camp shows have been popular for decades if not centuries^’.
It is important to remember that the focus here is upon transvestite
entertainers successfully performing as female strippers in an unaware heterosexual
setting. Professor Don Paulson’s research (1996) shows a good deal of 6