Our own bodies, our own selves

Suicide Girls changed what we wear, what we see in the mirror, who we are

In the wake of their 63-city Blackheart Burlesque Tour. We had the opportunity to chat with Selena Mooney aka Missy Suicide, founder of the alternative modeling site Suicide Girls established in 2001. We had a chance to chat about the tour, body mod culture, feminism and the power of cosplay.

HPR: Yeah, I was excited to hear you guys are coming through. I followed the Suicide Girls when I was in high school and college; Suicide Girls and burlesque seem like they should go hand in hand.

MS: In the website, we updated the classic snaps and started to show girls with tattoos, different from what was usually presented as beautiful. We wanted to create a sexy spirit, which is the classic burlesque experience, but more punk rock, freeform. We did that from 2002 to 2007. The girls toured Australia and hit Reading & Leeds Festivals in England, and opened for Guns N’ Roses and Courtney Love. It was a really fun time touring the world, Australia and the UK, a lot of fun but a lot of work, so we decided to take a little break and we went to work on a book.

And it was like are you going to tour, do you want to make a movie [SuicideGirls: UK Holiday, https://vimeo.com/53915874], do you want to make a comic book [Suicide Girls #1, http://www.idwpublishing.com/product/suicide-girls-1/] and the book kept getting put back, and in 2012, we finally came out with Hard Girls, Soft Light.

In 2012 we sent two girls up the West Coast to do a Book Signing Tour and by the time they got to Santa Cruz, there were 750 people outside the comic book shop waiting to get autographs from just two girls.

And we were like clearly people want the live experience. And we knew we could do better than signing books.

We decided to put the tour back out on the road. In the years we took time off, the Burlesque world had really upped its game with the Star Wars burlesque girls and even large-scale spectacle performances like Lady Gaga.

We were punk rock, free-form, chocolate-box burlesque, and it wasn’t going to cut it anymore.

We merged the girls’ interest in cosplay and Comic-Con and pop culture with the sexy classic spirit of burlesque.

All of the numbers are pop-culture themed; and our marriage of pop-culture and sexy burlesque all came together and created the mixed-up marriage that is the Blackheart Burlesque.

We decided to do cosplay and combine it with classic burlesque and put it to an updated, modern sound track. We’ve been touring with it since 2014...2013, maybe?

And it’s been an amazingly fun experience.

HPR: I can only imagine. Cosplay is really popular these days. What do you think the initial appeal of cosplay is?

MS: The opportunity to identify with characters you admire, and it’s been going on 15 or 16 years, getting bigger every year. When I was growing up, people identified with genres of music. Cosplay and cosbooks are the cultural touchstones now.

HPR: Interesting. How do you think Suicide Girls’ culture has evolved since the beginning in 2001? My co-worker and I were just talking about the huge influence you guys have had. It changed the modeling industry. Did you think it was going to come this far?

MS: It was a leap of faith project. I created it because I wanted to be able to use it. I wanted to believe that the girls that I knew were the most beautiful girls in the world and that other people would appreciate them if I put them out there.

And that girls that look like me and my friends would be more beautiful and we could be stronger together.

It was entirely for me at first. I thought it would be popular in Portland, maybe Seattle. People agreed that girls with piercings and tattoos have unique outlooks on life and don’t want to “fit in”; and girls that are uniquely beautiful are appreciated and there is an audience for them.

People really connected with our community. They needed a place where they could be appreciated for themselves. People from all over the world had a common experience.

When we started, my biggest challenge was convincing people that they could share their thoughts and feelings online. There was no social network. The world has evolved.

Most of the girls had to go to the library to update their blogs, or to check their email, like once in a blue moon sort of thing. Now we have the internet in our pocket. The world’s knowledge is a button push away. Maybe every generation feels this, but I think we’ve had quite an accelerated march of events in the last 15 years.

HPR: About your show. I see that Manwe Sauls-Addison is your choreographer.

MS: He choreographed the first three tours. We just love him and we’re so proud of him. Now he’s working in a new review in Vegas. And we’re so thankful for him. But this tour is actually choreographed by Lyric, one of the ten girls going on the tour.

HPR: Oh, that’s so cool. Does she choreograph the group numbers, and the rest of the girls are left to choreograph their individual routines?

MS: It varies. She has input into the solos. There are some solos that are more choreographed than others...she does the majority of the numbers.

HPR: I noticed that instead of pasties, you guys use electrical tape. Is that an homage to the early days of the Suicide Girls?

MS: Yes, the girls like it better, and it’s an homage to the punk rock.

HPR: How do you think tattoo and body mod culture has changed since the early 2000s?

MS: At first it was like, Oh, you’re ruining your body. Now tattoo culture is much more accepted. Tattoos are a rite of passage. You mark on the outside what you feel on the inside. Now it’s the norm, not the fringe.

HPR: Do you think feminism has changed since the Suicide Girls inception?

MS: In the beginning, I was like who is telling me what I can do with my body?

Our message has changed, we’re not as buttoned up. Now people are more understanding, they see it’s positive, what we’re trying to do. Now women can declare what they want and what their space is, rather than trying to fit into any old look.

I have women from around the world that have emailed me and said they never felt beautiful until they saw a girl that looked similar to them on suicidegirls.com. They thought if she could be appreciated for being herself that maybe they’re pretty too. It helps build up their confidence. It’s so humbling to receive those emails and messages and realize that it means so much to people.

HPR: Do you think women are starting to come together more in response to the current administration? Events like the Women’s March?

MS: That was welcome. It’s good to know you’re not alone and you have all that backup, that somebody has your back when the administration tries things that are too too crazy. Yeah, the sense of community is so much stronger now. Everybody is leaning on each other so much more, everybody is having this moment where they need one another to feel safe.

HPR: One last question. What’s your favorite act of the ten, and which one has got the best reaction so far?

MS: Sailor Moon...the last one’s number because it’s funny...the Westworld one.

HPR: I saw clips of the Westworld act and it looks pretty awesome. I’m excited about your show.

MS: The girls feed off the energy of the audience, the audience feeds off the energy of the girls. Euphoria: energy, excitement, love and acceptance. It’s a beautiful thing. You have to go through it to know.

HPR: Anything you’d like to add? Where do you think it’s all going?

MS: One thing I’ve learned is that I can’t predict. Anything can happen.

IF YOU GO

Suicide Girls: Blackheart Burlesque

Friday, June 9; VIP doors, 6pm; doors, 7pm; show, 8pm

Sanctuary Events Center, 670 4th Ave N, Fargo

21+, $25, Reserved seat, $50; VIP $85 or $110

Tickets: 866-300-8300