I consider feminism to be more about the power to choose your own path and destiny and not be constricted by tradition or the expectations of what society has. There have been different ages of feminism, in my opinion, throughout recorded history. It's just that most peope think of it in the most recent terms.
Today you have the choice to be submissive, or you could choose to be dominant, or somewhere in between. Sure, we still have, and will most likely will, have sexual and societal stereotypes for both genders to follow. But there is much more choice today than there has been.
On von Sacher-Masoch's writings, you have to account for the time period, as well as his particular viewpoint. As a male, and interested in women, of course he is going to write something like that. Not that it makes it any less or more true, but still his viewpoint is kind of skewed. What would society be like if the men from his era had retained the fashion of dressing up and wearing lacy shirts, hose, buckled shoes,etc? Men (wealthy ones, as was the standard for all fashion of those times) sometimes outdid the ladies in their finery and makeup and wigs. What if things had changed and men had retained their style and women had risen up to take on more powerful roles in shaping and controlling society (taking their lead from Elizabeth - a woman who shaped Britain's future history). Granted I'm jumping around a bit with time scales here.
Burlesque dancers evoke something from the past. Most of them do dress in hyper-feminine attire, but part of that is because they are on stage and they are wanting to attract attention. For the most part, a woman could wear a garter belt and stockings today under her dress or skirt and most people would never even know (though who doesn't like the tug of their garter when they walk?
What type of garters do you prefer? A more traditional garter belt (ha! not too traditional these days), or do you take it a step further and get into the open-bottomed girdles too?
But today's burlesque is wildy different than what it used to be. You see some girls who can do the fan dance, but most burlesque troupes do dance routines that aren't quite what one expected from the 50's. If you haven't checked them out, go see the Lolli Bombs who have regular shows at the Pocket Sandwich Theatre off Mockingbird. Though if you really like it... try to catch one of the shows that happens every so often with really big names, the ones that play at the Lakewood and such. Wow... Some of those ladies are extremely talented and such a joy to watch!
