Mayor LaGuardia’s Campaign during the 1930s against burlesque performances in New York City
What is obscenity? According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, obscenity is the state or quality of being obscene which means that is offensive to modesty and or decency. During the 1930s and 1940s, New York City was infected with burlesque shows. During these times this shows were considered indecent and immoral by Mayor LaGuardia, his license commissioner Paul Moss, and John Sumner. Women were used as objects of entertainment. In 1934 Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia took office. Fiorello LaGuardia was a decisive and objective man. Mayor LaGuardia saw a very problematic situation for New York City when it came to this kind of performances. The targets of LaGuardia ‘s wrath were burlesque houses, where strippers had alternated turns with stand-up comics and the other acts since at least the turn of the century (Newyorkmetro.com). Clearly, LaGuardia was focused on stopping these displays of female degradation. It is important to mention that were two kinds of entertainments displays during this time. One group was the burlesque shows, which degraded females by displaying them as sexual objects. These shows were targeted towards the low income and illiterated people. The other group was called Ziegfeld Follies, which was aimed for the high elite people. This form of entertainment was a very refine and elaborated, but also did contain degrading displays. Regardless, Fiorello LaGuardia’s campaign unfairly opposed Burlesque performances instead of the Ziegfeld Follies, since it was politically easier to take action against shows that were supported by the lower class.
What actually was Burlesque? It was a popular and inexpensive form of entertainment whose basic ingredients were girls, gags, and music (Minsky’s Burlesque,26). These shows where aimed for mostly low income and illiterate people. One of the most controversial facts that Burlesque performances confronted was when one of their actresses had an accident on stage. She had a detachable collar that as soon the audience saw her pulled off they started applauding for an encore. As Mae (the actresses) came back to bowed they clapped like crazy. For a moment Mae lost her head and decided to came back to the stage and unbuttoned her bodice as she left the stage again (Minsky’s Burlesque,34). The audience couldn’t believe what just happened that night. It is possible that the Mae’s came back fact was one of the first nudity displays at that time.
According to s. 163 of the criminal code obscenity is the “undue exposition of sex or sex that includes crime, horror, cruelty and violence”. In the trial court, the judge concluded that by interpreting s. 163 and its definition of obscenity, it violated our s. 2(b) right of freedom of expression guaranteed in Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The trial judge believed that we must hold the Charter paramount if any law contradicts it, and this doesn’t necessarily mean we have to strike down the contradicting law. Therefore Butler was acquitted of his 242 counts under s. 163 of the criminal code. In regards to the remaining 8 charges, they were related to 8 films, which contained material that was legitimately prescribed under s.1 of the Charter (the justification for the violation in the Charter was demonstrably justifiable).
was frowned on. Skirts would fly upward and legs would show! And it was not
Vaudeville was very popular from the late 1800s to the early 1900s in North America. Vaudeville shows were made up of many random acts that were placed together in a common play bill. Some acts were, for example, plays, clowns, jugglers, comedians, etc. Once the radio was introduced, vaudeville’s started to become less popular as the radio’s popularity started to increase. The radio started out with maximum five programs but as the demand for radios increased so did the amount of programs, which went up to almost 500. Radios was the place families and friends gathered to hear the news, sporting events, music, entertainment, etc. One show millions of people listened to was The Burns and Allen Show, starring George Burns and Gracie Allen. Allen was the one who had all the punch lines and was very silly and Burns was the straight man, serious, and was the one who allowed Allen the opportunity to say her punch lines. Burns and Allen were one of the few people who succeeded in different medians and brought changes to the way entertainment was performed.
New York is confined by America's conservative views. The New York society functions on the principle that different is bad. Anyone who strays from the norms of society is a threat. The people in New York vocalize their disdain for homosexuals and in some cases even threaten physical violence against those who are bold enough to come out of hiding. Eric describes the New York atmosphere to his partner using the metaphor "alleys and alley cats" to represent those who prey on the openly homosexual.
Popularity for live performances heightened exponentially during the late nineteenth century. The United States flourished with circuses, ballparks for sporting events, night clubs, world and state fairs, as well as theatrical road shows. Growing amusement parks, such as Coney Island, attracted customer attendance not just by supplying thrillingly-fun rides, but by also providing an array of the newly emerging vaudeville theatrical shows. Vaudeville was gaining much popularity because it strived to appeal to people of all socioeconomic classes and cultural background as well as offered low admission prices. It consisted of a diversity of individual performances which could range from comical skits, singing, acrobatic stunts to magic shows. “Variety theatre drew larger audiences than the ‘legitimate’ theater which presented classical performances” (Administrator). For this reason, vaudeville theatre was gaining much attraction because it was able to enthrall the population with a wide range of
Kabuki theatre has a very long and rich history. It began in the 1600s, around the same time that the American colonies were being founded. A Japanese shrine maiden, Okuni, is credited with creating Kabuki theatre. In its earliest form, Kabuki consisted of large ensemble dances performed by women. Many of these women were prostitutes off stage. Due to the fame and fan base that these prostitutes acquired because of Kabuki, the government in this time banned women from performing onstage. This was done in an effort to protect the public’s morality against what was seen as a form of lewd entertainment (Kabuki History, 1996). After women, the main characters in Kabuki programs, were banned from performing on the stage, men stepped in to continue the Kabuki productions. This change in characters brought about a very important shift in Kabuki. No longer was the focus on beauty and dance. What became important was the skill of the actors, and the drama that they portrayed. This put Kabuki on the road to becoming a dramatic art form, rather than a show of dancing with beautiful women. At the same time, there was a renaissance happening in Japan, which promoted and encouraged arts and culture. This is known as the Genroku period.
[3] Since the 1950’s, a sexual revolution has spawned in America, accordingly downgrading previous anathemas in society, like pre-martial sex, masturbation, and homosexuality. For example, according to an article describing the sexual revolution, “In the 1950s, less than 25 percent of Americans thought premarital sex was acceptable; by the 1970s, more than 75 percent found it acceptable” (Stossel 74). Norman Podhoretz recounts how in the early 1950’s obtaining pornography was like trying to buy illegal drugs. But Playboy changed all of that, as it emerged as an “acceptable” form of pornography in 1953.
The setup of the show was a mix of song, dance and dialogue. The unique quality presented in the show was the Vaudeville type numbers. Vaudeville theatre was very popular variety shows during the 1920's. Star hopefuls start out with an act and hope to be discovered someday. Some types of acts are musical numbers, dance num...
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Obscene is defined as “disgusting to the senses, repulsive”. California law defines obscene matter as “taken as a whole, that the average person applying contemporary statewide standards, appeals to the prurient interested, that taken as a whole depicts, or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way and that taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value”. Obscenity refers to the examination of books, periodicals, plays, films, television and radio programs, news reports, and other communication media. The objectionable material may be considered immoral or obscene, heretical or blasphemous, seditious or treasonable, or injurious to the national security.
The Stonewall rebellion has been considered the birth of a new wave of a liberation movement that changed the world for millions of lesbians, gay men, drag queens, and drag kings of all races, ethnicities, and ages. Yet, it was certainly not the first raid nor the first moment of protest for homosexuals. The raid at Stonewall was preceded by decades of police harassment of gay establishments. The first recorded raid of a gay bathhouse was in 1903, at the Ariston Hotel Baths at 55th and Broadway in New York where 26 men were arrested. Seven of them received sentences ranging from four to 20 years in prison (Chauncey, 1994). Countless raids, arrests, and imprisonments occurred in the decades that followed.
The Stonewall Inn served as the backdrop of the Stonewall riots in 1969. In the 60’s, very few businesses were friendly to open homosexuals, and tensions amongst gays and mainstream culture were coming to a breaking point. Homosexuality was not as accepted as it is today, and there were few places for people to be open about their sexuality. The Stonewall Inn, apparently owned by members of the Mafia, was considered a safe haven for drag queens- the transgender community. It catered to male prostitutes, homeless youth- those were cast aside by a society that did not accept them. Police had raided the bar in the past, on a regular basis. But on June 28, 1969, the story took a turn.
Susan Brownmiller is a feminist, the founder of Women Against Pornography, and an author of several books (57). The essay “Let’s Put Pornography Back in the Closet” comes from the book Take Back the Night, published in 1980 (57). She clearly wants to inform and persuade the audience of this essay to believe that pornography is degrading to women. In her introduction, Brownmiller tries to gain the reader’s sympathy by stating, “Free speech is one of the great foundations on which our democracy rests” (57). However, she does not think that pornography should be protected under the First Amendment. Her reasoning is biased and based on her own moral beliefs.
Cabaret provides for its audience an animated and a uniquely exciting dramatization of Berlin, Germany just before the Second World War. The story of many Germans living in an uncertain world is shown through just a few characters. Life is a cabaret, or so the famed song goes. After watching "Cabaret," you'll agree to an extent, but also realize how unsettling the assertion is. Taking place in the early 1930s, a portrait of life in decadent Berlin, is both uplifting and grim. Not your typical musical, it is comedic and dramatic, realistic, very tasteful, and ultimately thought provoking.
In the wee hours of June 28th, 1969, members of the gay community were forced to enter a string of intense protests when the New York City Police began to raid the Stonewall Inn, a popular hangout spot for drag queens and members of the LGBT community, in Greenwich Village. This occurrence was one of the first times in history in which enraged citizens of this community actually took a stand that would permanently alter not only their own lives, but also the lives of countless men and women for many years thereafter. As a response to this event, the Gay Liberation Front, an organization that identified mistreatment of gay individuals as systemic and fundamentally unjust, formed to instill a new language and style of homosexuality. However, the GLF was ultimately run aground due to identity politics, and its criticism regarding its apparent favor for white gays and perceived disregard for white lesbians and people of color. Nevertheless, it was innovative in that it was one of the first organizations to advocate gay equality that borrowed ideas and ways of operating from antiwar demonstrators and groups such as the Black Panthers.
I think ‘Sensation’ exhibit should not have been censored because it is the new form of art. Through out time art is used to express people’s feelings and emotions in all forms. It is also used to represent the period of time an artist is living in. Today’s art represents the people of this time. If it has sexual elements, there should be no objection to that. There is more sexual acts shown in movies and television than in these pieces of art. ‘Sensation’ was shown in an art museum, not in a public area where everyone can see it. Mature adults who want to see it should have all right to see the art. No one is being forced to look at something they do not want to. The thing that is not right is having to censor ‘Sensation’ because everyone