The hotel accommodations are usually poor. In some places she must
"double up" with somebody. Sometimes it is a male companion.
In the burlesque shows this is not regarded as out of the way. The
chorus girls of these vulgar attractions are usually "castoffs" or "has
beens" from the comic operas or more wholesome attractions. Their
charms have diminished, therefore they must accept these more lowly
positions.
The dressing rooms of men in many of the smaller theaters are in close
connection of those of the women. Recently in the city of Chicago a
crusade was started against these places. Some alterations were made,
but the condition in many instances is unimproved.
The young girls are taught and drilled that sex is to be forgotten on
the stage.
Here feminine traits are to be left at home. If a girl is asked to kiss
or throw her arms about a man, no matter what character he may be, it
is her duty to do so. If she is asked to bare her body to the public
gaze, with nothing but skin tights to cover her nudity, it is her duty
to do so. That is what she is being paid for.
The animal nature of the audience must be satisfied.
Every year the vulgarity becomes more and more apparent. New and more
suggestive novelties must be introduced to satisfy this "taste." The
songs must have a "meaning"--the dances, some of which bring the blush
of shame to the brow of even the most hardened theater-goers--must also
arouse the passion.
The good girl first rebels at such. Day in and day out, as she
rehearses, she sees other girls doing the thing that is required
without kick or objection. She gradually falls into it herself. It
does not look so bad after she has bowed to the manager's wishes
several times.
It isn't long before the things that once caused her to blush and
falter seem to be a natural consequence. The things against which she
once fought are repulsive no longer.
She gradually falls into line with the others. Her innocence is a thing
of the past.
She is no longer a girl--she is a woman "who knows."
It was about a year ago that I saw a young girl, a beautiful little
creature scarcely nineteen years old, at a Chicago theater. She was a
beauty, even in comparison with the other comely girls in the squad of
beginners.
While they were resting after an act I talked with her. She frankly
told me she was stage struck, but that her desire to become a great
actress was inborn and not gained by association. Before she came to
the city from her home in a little town out in Iowa she had seen but
one show. Her ideas of the stage had been gained from books and from
day dreams.
Her conversation was the essence of innocence. Her family had been
particular about her rearing. They had been in moderate circumstances
and had given her everything in their power. She had come to Chicago
to attain her ideal--to become a great actress.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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