“I didn’t want to think about spiritual woo-woo or goddesses or mindfulness. But Legs, without even deliberately intending to, led me to see that all those things supported my individuality while helping me be of more service to my students. She led by example, keeping her sharp sense of humor even as she maintained her kindness and sensitivity.” - Jo Weldon, Headmistress of the New York School of Burlesque and author of The Burlesque Handbook
Stripped Down is about one woman’s journey into deeper levels of acceptance and love of herself through the powerful art form of burlesque. When she was young, she “felt adrift...like I was water, taking the shape of whatever container I was currently poured into." Like many, she felt anxious around her appearance, struggling with an eating disorder and toxic beauty standards. When Anna discovers a vibrant form of self-expression in the most unlikely of places, the rest of her life begins.
She explores her growth and development through the book, but even more: in sharing her story, she can teach every reader the same things she learned.
Chapters include:
• Why This and Why Me?
• Burlesque the Beginning: The Celebration of the Sensual, Sacred Feminine
• The Myth of Separation: How Being "Not Enough" Led Me to Burlesque
• Hiding the Magic: Fear and Limitations of the Female Form & Feminine Energy
• Judgment: Releasing the Ties that Bind
• Burlesque as Medicine: The Revolution Starts Within
• Making Peace with the Body
Anna, through her alter ego Legs Malone, explores what creates limitations - money, power, misogyny, trauma, systemic racism, shame - to help the reader break free. By saying yes to the messages that lie deep in her heart, she shows us how the opinions, judgments and fears of others fall away as her unexpected path emerges - and how you can do it too, with or without burlesque.
As she says so eloquently in Stripped Down, "When one person makes the brave choice to own their joy and honor their unique voice, it acts as a giant game of dominoes. Inspiration and recognition build and resonate with each dropped and fallen thought of not-enoughness."
If Yes Please, Year of Yes and Girl, Wash Your Face had a baby birthed by Dita von Teese, it would be this book.
