Showgirl is Divine Feminine Embodied

What if the Showgirl isn’t really dying? What if her true self, the Divine Feminine, is finally being revealed?

I thought the Showgirl was dying

I have written a couple of blogs about the Showgirl and how she is dying. One where I described a recent trip to Las Vegas and an oldie, but goodie that asks “Who Killed the Showgirl?” When the Showgirl production I had starred in 20 years ago had closed in February of 2016, I really thought it was the last nail in the coffin for the Showgirl.

This sudden desperation to save her and keep her memory alive overcame me. I felt this incredible calling to preserve her memory somehow. After all, I owe her so much to my own becoming of a strong and powerful woman. 

I started a podcast to try to save her

I had no idea how to save her until I went to a Global Bluebells reunion in the summer of 2019. What happened on that trip was the impetus that I needed to begin the Showgirls Life podcast. It felt like the next right step for my business, and I was eager to learn the stories of the women that graced the stages before me.

There is nothing quite like being in a room with over 300 former Showgirls, Bluebell dancers and dancing nudes. The energy was intoxicating. These women, ranging in age from 28 to 82 years old had all experienced the privilege of being a “Showgirl” in one way or another—some for a short time, others for nearly a lifetime.

I was inspired to learn their stories and hear how their experiences differed from my own. So I set out to pitch each new friend I had met that weekend to be on the show as a guest for their own episode sharing their story of how they became a Showgirl and how it impacted their life afterwards.

What I learned from producing the podcast was mind-blowing

During the course of the last year and a half, recording over 60 episodes, speaking with 40+ guests, I learned that the Showgirl isn’t dying, she’s just taking the facade off. Honestly, this realization has just been revealed to me in the last couple of months.

Each call with each guest revealed the sadness we each were feeling that the last Showgirl production in America closed. Followed by the fear that she would fall out of favor in popular culture and history forever. 

Knowing that I wasn’t the only one that was heartbroken over the closing of Jubilee!, and the confusion over why it had to happen the way that it did helped me uncover more understanding of what the Showgirl was really about. Each conversation revealed more and more to me something that I have suspected for awhile now.

The Showgirl was an evolution of our divine feminine power expressed

I was a Showgirl, or more precisely, a dancing nude, for five years. (There is a difference. And only the OGs and Showgirl historians know and understand the difference.) To me, it seems like such a short time to hold that position, but I was privy to her power and presence from the moment I stepped foot on that stage.

I used to believe that in order to be a Showgirl, you had to have the most incredible, well-constructed and dazzling costumes, impeccable dance technique and ridiculously long limbs. I now realize that it wasn’t about the costumes, the talent or even the physique. (Though wearing $10,000 Pete Menefee and Bob Mackie costumes twice nightly does help bring her out to play quite easily.)

Each one of us creatures up on that stage was channeling the energy of the Divine Feminine while we poured our hearts out onstage through song and dance. We were showing the world how beautiful and powerful women are, night after night. Ultimately, the Showgirl helped make Las Vegas the Entertainment Capital of the World with her presence. 

And that’s just it. 

It was all about presence 

As Pete Menefee, Emmy winning costume designer, has said in a number of interviews,

“It was just like gilding the lily.”

Pete Menefee

He knew just how incredibly beautiful we are, his job was to accentuate it with his glorious costume designs.

Through the creation of those magnificent Showgirl productions and the artistic genius of a handful of visionaries, we as women, were allowed to fully express ourselves, our power and our brilliance onstage.

As women, we were safe to express, but only in this way

Onstage, we could allow our lights to shine, adorned with the most beautiful costumes ever created for women to wear. Not only were these the most meticulously constructed costumes, but they were designed by designers that understood how to accentuate our physical attributes in a way that was not vulgar and actually accentuated our physical beauty.

We got to get on that stage night after night and shine—the brighter, the better! It’s no wonder all Showgirls miss the stage!! What we really miss is the ability to shine brightly without feeling in danger.

Embodying the Showgirl was one of the greatest gifts of being a woman

As I have been coming back to myself, I am more aware that the time I spent on the Jubilee! stage was the most formative time of my life as a woman. I was surrounded by gorgeous people, inside and out. Luckily, I was exposed to a less patriarchal model of how women “should be.”

But I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why I didn’t feel like “myself” after I left the show, had babies and pursued my design career. It has taken me over a decade to finally understand what happened to me after I left the show, and what I needed to do to get back to that brilliant and powerful self that I was on that stage.

The power of a woman was allowed to be shown and adored onstage only

Or so I thought. It’s been quite the exploration coming to realize that I had somehow, over the course of my life, given myself permission to shine, but only onstage. I wasn’t allowed to be too smart, too good or too much anywhere else in my life. But the stage was free range to fully express.

I hid behind Gazella for awhile because it was the only way I would give myself permission to shine without being judged or criticized. (That’s the power of an alter ego!!)

Being a Showgirl, dancing topless onstage and performing at the highest level night after night was the most empowering thing I had done. And probably why I still have Showgirl dreams to this day!

Why are women so enthralled by her?

The Showgirl represented so many things to audiences of old—beauty, grace, femininity, sensuality, passion, and of course, presence. She was the ultimate icon of glamour and beauty. Her subtle and indescribable power that has inspired and influenced women, even today, are unmatched by any other icon in history—except the goddess.

And you know what?

She lives inside every one of us

Not as a Showgirl, but as the Divine Feminine that has been re-emerging to power in the world over the past ten years. Maybe longer.

So many women have adopted the term “Showgirl” to elevate their titles in theatre and strip clubs because they wanted to align with that power and grace that the Showgirl exudes on and off stage. (And probably to elevate their position on the spectrum of feminine power.)

Perhaps not everyone can be a Showgirl, with the feathers, glamour. Exuding all her glory on a massive stage filled with hundreds of other gorgeous glamazons. But all feminine identifying can resonate with the energy that the Showgirls tapped into on those stages.

That powerful Divine Feminine energy. The goddess energy. The powerful energy that used to get us into trouble throughout history. Burned, hung or assaulted, just for being powerful and in touch with our desires and pleasures. 

Times have changed and we are no longer in danger of that persecution.

It’s time to activate that power within you. Are you ready to give yourself permission to shine and be the powerful woman you came here to be? I have a few spots available to work 1:1 with women who desire and are ready for their transformation. Apply to work with me to amplify you.

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