SuicideGirls started as an online community featuring pin-up photography to celebrate “alternative beauty and indie culture from around the world.” This self-proclaimed “sorority of bad a– bombshells and geek goddesses” was created by founding partners of the company SG Services Inc., Sean Suhl and Selena Mooney (“Missy Suicide”). After doing some research, I discovered that initially, Sean and Missy started the website “just to see hot punk rock girls naked,” however, SuicideGirls soon became hot news with their burlesque performance tours across North America, beginning in May 2003. They have previously performed at various avenues such as the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia and at the 2004 Reading and Leeds Festival in U.K. They have also opened for the Guns N’ Roses 2006 tour of the U.S. and Canada.
SuicideGirls is coming to Philadelphia at Theatre of Living Arts Nov. 9 with their “Blackheart Burlesque” show featuring music, tongue-in-cheek humor and striptease performances poking fun at “Star Wars,” “Game of Thrones,” “Planet of the Apes” and more. The show has been choreographed by renowned instructor and choreographer, Manwe Sauls-Addison, whose resume boasts of working with high-profile celebrities like Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez and Lady Gaga.
On Nov. 11, I had the opportunity to get inside the head of SuicideGirls’ founder and ringleader, Missy Suicide. In an online interview with The Triangle, Missy revealed what started the project, SuicideGirls, its interpretation in media and combining the tricky concepts of sexuality and young women in media.
The Triangle: How did you come up with the idea of SuicideGirls?v
Missy Suicide: I came up with SuicideGirls as a way to celebrate the diverse and beautiful real world women that I knew who were also intelligent and interesting. I wanted to showcase their beauty and give them a platform to share their thoughts with the world.
TT: SuicideGirls started as a website featuring pin-up photography of these “Suicide Girls.” How did this idea of a website transform into burlesque performances around the world?
MS: Pin-up modeling and burlesque performances have gone hand-in-hand for decades, so it only made sense that we would put the SuicideGirls “spin” on burlesque, just as we had with pin-up modeling!
TT: SuicideGirls has been interpreted as an attempt to empower women. Are the feminist implications of this concept intentional?
MS: Feminism means so many different things to so many people, but in my definition, I am personally a feminist. I absolutely believe women are equal to men, and I advocate women’s rights.
I may not have thought much about what the company could do for feminism at the beginning, but we now receive hundreds of messages and emails every week from women who are inspired by and empowered because of SG. Again, everyone has a different idea of what “feminism” means, but helping a young woman to recognize her own unique beauty sounds pretty empowering to me!
TT: Did you have a personal experience that motivated this project?
MS: Most of the first SuicideGirls were close friends of mine, and knowing these gorgeous and talented women was my biggest motivation by far. I’m fortunate to have known so many other women who believed in my vision and wanted to be a part of something fun and somewhat subversive!
TT: How is it working with Manwe-Sauls Addison?
MS: Manwe is incredible! He has such a great ability to take an idea that I come up with and turn it into something amazing. Most of the burlesque numbers started just as a theme and a song, with Manwe creating eye-catching and provocative choreography.
TT: SuicideGirl has come a long way since its founding in 2001. What all has changed about it, other than the increased media visibility? Has the core idea behind it changed? What new transformations have taken place on this platform?
MS: I think the most recognizable change from 2001 to today would have to be the expanded opportunity for spreading our message. I wanted to showcase different types of beauty and help my friends share their thoughts and talents with the world — that’s never changed!
Technology has of course allowed SuicideGirls to reach a wider audience, but it’s also allowed us to do a lot of really awesome things within the website. Posting a video to the website from your cell phone was pretty much unfathomable back then!
SuicideGirls has grown so far beyond the website, too. We’ve been able to bring our message around the globe via the “Blackheart Burlesque” tour; our movies, books, and magazines; and through not only the company’s social media presence but each of the girls’ involvement in social networks.
TT: SuicideGirls is an attempt to prove that every woman is beautiful. However, in media, there have been frequent allegations that a majority of the models are skinny and overwhelmingly white. Would you have a comment on that?
MS: That sounds so strange to me — many of our most popular models are women of color or women with more voluptuous body types! We have models located on every continent, including Antarctica, with really large followings in Europe, many Spanish-speaking countries and South Africa. I’m not sure if someone would complain that an Argentinian model is too “white,” for example, but we don’t ever discriminate based on any physical characteristics or genetic make-up.
TT: You have combined seemingly unacceptable ideas about women in society — confidence through sexuality. However, SuicideGirls has often been viewed as “porn” by many critics. Do you feel like you have to be careful about presenting these ideas because of the sensitivity surrounding topics like sexuality and young women?
MS: We consider SuicideGirls to be pin-up modeling rather than porn, but it’s upsetting that confidence and being a young woman are so frequently mutually exclusive!
Sexuality is such a taboo in society, and in some parts of the world, it’s even something young women are raised to be ashamed of. It’s terrible to me that a woman could grow up not understanding and loving every aspect of her body.
We aim to challenge the idea that you have to look a certain way to be considered “sexy” or “beautiful,” and we encourage women to embrace their own brand of sexuality, whatever that means to them personally.
TT: Have you dealt with a lot of criticism because of the risque territory that SuicideGirls explores? Or has the response been overwhelmingly positive?
MS: It seems everyone has a different opinion about each aspect of the company, from our name to the content on our website. Generally, people find it much easier to be critical from behind a computer screen. When you’re face to face with someone who is passionate about what they do, it’s not so easy to be disrespectful!
TT: What are some new things that the girls are bringing with their “Blackheart Burlesque” show?
MS: We have some fantastic new dancers on the tour, and a lot of really great new numbers!
The “Slave Leia” dance is especially awesome, and the “Orange is the New Black” number has been going over really well so far, just to name a couple. We’ve also brought back some of the old favorites from previous tours, so there’s a lot happening at each show!
TT: Where do you see this project in another decade? What do you seek to accomplish from it?
MS: If someone sat me down 10 years ago and explained what the company is today, I don’t think I could have wrapped my head around that! I can only hope that we continue embracing different forms of technology and social media and coming up with fun new projects to continue redefining beauty!
And I’m hoping in another 10 years we will have criss-crossed the globe many times over with the “SuicideGirls: Blackheart Burlesque,” of course!