What is Striptease?
[[Image:Gustave Moreau Salomé 1876.jpg|thumb|right|[[Salome]], by [[Gustave Moreau]]]] [[File:Gaston Bussiere- Exotic Dancers c 1880.jpg |thumb|A striptease]] '''Striptease''' is an [[entertainment]], by females usually, before an [[audience]]. It is often included in the theatre form called [[burlesque]]. With music and dance, the stripper gradually removes her clothing. It is a very ancient dance form, and occurs in many societies. Stripping is done in a teasing manner, but without being obscene (for example, by delaying to take an item off). While hiding certain parts of the body with hands or pieces of clothing, stripper dances around. Sometimes, plays are arranged, the strippers are disguised as Arabic dancers, [[Salome]], [[Lolita]] or other well-known people. The spectator sometimes identifies with the stripper. Erotic [[dream]]s and [[exhibitionism|exhibitionist]] [[fantasy|fantasies]] may be projected into the striptease. == Ancient == === Salome === The [[Sumer]]ians had a [[myth]] of the goddess Inanna descending into the Underworld. At each of the seven gates, she removed an article of clothing or a piece of jewelry. As long as she remained in hell, the earth was barren. When she returned, [[fecundity]] abounded. [[Salome]]'s dance for [[Herod Antipas|King Herod]] is referred to in the [[New Testament]] ({{Bibleverse||Matthew|14:6|NIV}} and {{Bibleverse||Mark|6:21-22|NIV}}). However, the first mention of her removing seven veils is in [[Oscar Wilde]]'s play of ''Salome'' in 1893. Some have claimed as the origin of modern striptease.<ref>Toni Bentley 2002. ''Sisters of Salome'': 31</ref> After Wilde's play and [[Richard Strauss]]'s [[opera]] ''Salome'', first performed in 1905 the [[erotic]] 'dance of the seven veils', became a standard routine in opera, vaudeville, film and burlesque. A famous early practitioner was [[Maud Allan]] who in 1907 gave a private performance of the dance to [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Edward VII]]. === Greece & Rome === In ancient Greece, the lawgiver [[Solon