Cornell hosts 'The Stripping Activist' event with a leftist activist striptease dancer
'Bella Sin will delve into the union of burlesque and activism, exploring how an immigrant performer navigates their identities to promote social change within the arts community,' the host advertised.
Bella Sin is 'a Mexican immigrant who has become a renowned burlesque performer, historian, and activist.'
Cornell hosted an event titled “The Stripping Activist: a lecture and Q&A with speaker Bella Sin” on April 11, according to an Instagram post from Cornell’s Gender Equity Resource Center, which helped host the event.
The post advertising the event stated that the event would feature a “Rustbelt Burlesque book giveaway, Haus of Sin beauty products raffle, and Mexican vegan food stall.”
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“Bella Sin will delve into the union of burlesque and activism, exploring how an immigrant performer navigates their identities to promote social change within the arts community,” the post advertised.
The Gender Equity Resource Center, which functions under the Dean of Students’ Center for Student Equity, Empowerment, and Belonging, aims to “foster a vibrant and supportive campus community to help empower students to bring their full and authentic selves to every part of their lives – on campus and beyond,” according to the Center’s page.
“We fully believe that it is best to champion gender justice from an inclusive and intersectional place that acknowledges and supports individuals across their multiple identities,” the Center’s page continues.
Bella Sin is “a Mexican immigrant who has become a renowned burlesque performer, historian, and activist based in Cleveland, Ohio,” according to Sin’s website.
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“Bella Sin has been researching the history of burlesque for the past fifteen years. Some of their areas of specialization include Latin burlesque throughout the Americas, LGTBQ+ burlesque, as well as the history of performers and venues in their current region, Cleveland Ohio. . . . Their class on Latin Burlesque emphasizes the often-overlooked contributions of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ to this art’s history,” states the “Biography” page on the website.
Burlesque performers are not new to college campuses. In 2022, for example, Campus Reform reported on Dartmouth College hosting a “drag and burlesque show on campus featuring a performer dressed as a topless ‘nun’” who identified as “non-binary.”
Campus Reform has contacted Cornell University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.