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Articles by Lily Burana
The Sex-Workplace Novel Has Arrived Original
Twenty years ago, a reader looking for taboo sex in print had to slink to the back of the bookstore and make whispered inquiries. Today, kinky books make up an established genre, one that shares front-table space with other major releases and possesses its own classics and conventions. This robust menagerie encompasses pulpy household names, including E. L. James’s Fifty Shades of Grey, which in 2011 vaulted BDSM onto the New York Times fiction best-seller list.
Mourning Dorothy Allison, a Guide to Queer Survival
The first thing you need to know about the writer Dorothy Allison, who died last week at 75, is that she could flirt you into a stupor. As a scrawny, know-it-all stripper girl in 1990s San Francisco, I was in a position to know this. I’d often see her at leather-dyke gatherings, and we had a hugging acquaintance, so I was happy to spot her at a party at a mutual friend’s house.
Does 'Anora' Get the World of Sex Work Right? One Stripper's Analysis Original
November 4, 2024 NEON As someone who has worked as an exotic dancer, I’m a tough critic when it comes to cinematic stripper fare, with my own particular set of credibility metrics. Magic Mike trying to fund a business with rubber-banded stacks of cash? Check. “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails in a pivotal dance scene in the Magic Mike XXL sequel? Check. Baroque manicures in Zola? [Checks nails.] Check. Nomi Malone licking the stripper pole in Showgirls? Two acrylic-tipped thumbs way down. Yikes.
Elegy in Times Square
Before Disney sprinkled corporate fairy dust over Times Square and turned it family-friendly, Josef and I worked there. Not together, but at the same time. Not underage, but barely legal. He was a go-go boy at the Gaiety on 46th Street. I was a peep show girl at Peepland on 42nd. Those were dangerous days. Between crack, AIDS, heroin, and that old stand-by, booze, if you weren’t leveled, you were blessed, watched over by some dark angel. We believed we were among the lucky ones.
An Encounter With Shaun Cassidy, My First Crush Original
I was approaching the George Washington Bridge when my friend Lynn fired a text into the Shaun Squad group chat: “GET READY, PARTY PEOPLE!” My heart sank as the message piped through the car speakers in a robotic female voice. I dictated back: “OMG, Lynn, you better not be about to text something that’s going make me regret that I didn’t get my brows waxed for tonight.” “I am,” she replied. A flood of adrenaline sent my pulse racing.
Cammie Toloui's "5 Dollars For 3 Minutes" is a Peep Show in Reverse
Search form Search BooksCulturesex workphotographyphotojournalism by Lily Burana | Photographs by Cammie Toloui Published on February 10, 2022 at 1:14pm (Photographs by Cammie Toloui) To work at The Lusty Lady peep show in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood was to slip down a rabbit hole into an exhibitionist dystopia, and photographer (and former Lusty) Cammie Toloui’s recently published book 5 Dollars for 3 Minutes [Void], which is already in its second printing, perfectly captures...
I Am Here to Remember the Forgotten
These past two years have felt like loss upon loss upon loss. While the numbing collective grief over the almost 800,000 Americans taken by the pandemic has blunted some of the personal devastation, the August death of Los Angeles–based artist Diviana Ingravallo still hits me with the severity of a gut punch.
'RENEGADES: Born in the USA' by Barack Obama & Bruce Springsteen
RENEGADES: Born in the USA By Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen 303 pp. Crown Books. $50 Allow me, as a veteran's wife, to launch my review of RENEGADES: Born in the USA with what is known in the armed forces as the BLUF. BLUF is the acronym for Bottom Line Up Front, a method of streamlined communication using speed and clarity when writing or speaking — sort of a militarized TL;DR. Here's the BLUF on RENEGADES: Yes, you want this book.
My Mental Health Issues Have a Name: Bruce (Published 2021)
Mind|My Mental Health Issues Have a Name: Bruce https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/14/well/mind/mental-health-bruce-springsteen.html And like Mr. Springsteen, I have resolved to release the shame. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share. Credit...Illustration by Mike McQuade; Photographs by Getty Images Oct.
A Veteran's Wife on 'Springsteen on Broadway' and the Artistry of Dissent
Staind frontman-turned-country singer Aaron Lewis calls out Bruce Springsteen in a chart-busting right-wing anthem. Lily Burana, a military wife, says, "Not so fast." Does Mary's dress sway, or does it wave? Last week, the long-running debate over the correct opening lyrics to Bruce Springsteen's classic "Thunder Road" appeared to be settled at last.
Women are tired of explaining to men like Andrew Cuomo why sexual harassment is wrong
© Provided by NBC News Like every woman in the United States at this moment — this month, this year — I’m exhausted.
I was a Jersey girl who hated Springsteen. Don’t worry, the Boss finally showed me the way.
There are boys. There are men. And then there’s Bruce. Bruce Springsteen, who turns 71 this week, is Jersey godhead. An actual living legend. He may be The Boss to his legions of fans, but for years, his music was the bane of my existence. When I moved to New Jersey in the 80s at age 12, Bruce Springsteen was the unofficial soundtrack of summer. I hated those sweaty adolescent months, the cicadas screaming outside the window of my un-air conditioned bedroom.
Table of Contents
FEATURES Single in the City '99 What's Love Got to Do With It? BY LILY BURANA Dating up, dating down, dating for dollars or real estate or sex: Hooking up has never been more complicated in a city where size (as in assets) often matters more than sighs. Where To Find It Dating up, dating down, dating for dollars or real estate or sex: Hooking up has never been more complicated in a city where size (as in assets) often matters more than sighs.
Ban Confederate flags and rename military bases. It's basic respect for our Black troops.
Did you know that the percentage of Black Americans serving in the military is greater than their percentage of the overall U.S. population? In 2016, Black people made up 12.6 percent of the U.S. population, but 21 percent of the Army, 10.3 percent of the Marine Corps, 17 percent of the Navy and 13.5 percent of the Air Force on active duty were all Black. And Black soldiers have fought in every major conflict in United States history.
Closing The Stud in San Francisco means losing a queer community space, not just a gay bar
I don’t mean to sound like a dyspeptic nostalgia queen who believes that all the good times exist only in the rear view: "Whew, back in the day, child, we had fun. Sorry you missed it!" I know that every generation gets its hot spots. But for many successive generations of San Francisco queers, The Stud was it. And now, it isn't.
A Mother’s Day scream into the void
Skylark ( Gerhard Hofmann/EyeEm/ Getty Images) Our days drag. I'm angry all the time. And I hardly recognize myself in the domestic scenes I've embraced Lily Burana May 9, 2020 11:30PM (UTC) "I can't breathe." This was the third time my soldier-sturdy husband had gasped, looking like a fish at the end of a line, fighting for air. He had been sick for over a week — listless, coughing, at times, completely out of breath, and all the while fixated: It might be the coronavirus. Do you think I have it?
The Reality of Being a Parent With a Controversial Past
As parents, we’ll do anything to protect our children from humiliation or embarrassment. But what if the embarrassment is you? April 18, 2020, 6:24 p.m. ET This story was originally published on May 23, 2019 in NYT Parenting. “Mommy, look! A big bird cage! I want to go play in it!” I had known the moment of reckoning would come, but I hadn’t expected its foreshadowing quite so soon.
The Struggle of Weight Loss Is Real. Companionship Helps.
Nonfiction Before founding Weight Watchers, Jean Nidetch used to hide in the family bathroom, eating Mallomars. April 14, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ET THIS IS BIG How the Founder of Weight Watchers Changed the World — and Me By Marisa Meltzer This is the story of a kinship between two women who have never met. This is a before-and-after tale that loops around, only to begin again and again. This is a triumphant chronicle in which no cinematic “grand finale” victory is claimed.
Grace for Amateurs
Publisher Description I had tried everything: therapy, medication, meditation. Everything except God. Lily Burana was in crisis. Desperate for rescue from her depression and anxiety, the punk-rock-girl-turned-writer feared she would die. She was down to her remedy of last resort: faith. A lapsed believer who had drifted away from the church and into a life on the margins during her young adult years, Lily had long believed that Christianity had nothing to offer her.
I was an accidental Playboy pinup
By Lily Burana The New York Times | Mar 28, 2020 | 2:10 PM (Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Playboy) The makeup artist spends two hours perfecting your makeup — MAC’s Blankety and Faux lipstick over Spice lip liner, the 1990s nude-lip bombshell trifecta, then tops it all with shimmering crystal gloss.
I was an accidental Playboy pinup
By Lily Burana The New York Times | Mar 28, 2020 | 2:10 PM (Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Playboy) The makeup artist spends two hours perfecting your makeup — MAC’s Blankety and Faux lipstick over Spice lip liner, the 1990s nude-lip bombshell trifecta, then tops it all with shimmering crystal gloss.
I was an accidental Playboy pinup
By Lily Burana The New York Times | Mar 28, 2020 | 2:10 PM (Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Playboy) The makeup artist spends two hours perfecting your makeup — MAC’s Blankety and Faux lipstick over Spice lip liner, the 1990s nude-lip bombshell trifecta, then tops it all with shimmering crystal gloss.
I was an accidental Playboy pinup
By Lily Burana The New York Times | Mar 28, 2020 | 2:10 PM (Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Playboy) The makeup artist spends two hours perfecting your makeup — MAC’s Blankety and Faux lipstick over Spice lip liner, the 1990s nude-lip bombshell trifecta, then tops it all with shimmering crystal gloss.
I Never Planned on Being a Playboy Pinup
First person In 1995 I modeled as part of a feature on “Women of the Internet.” As the magazine ceases print publication, I’m feeling weirdly nostalgic. Lily Burana in 2002, in photo from her personal portfolio.
I quit my depression medication. But I got back on it because I have a chronic disease.
I went off of my depression medication recently. It was a disaster. (Spoiler alert: This story has a happy ending.) The reason I did so is that, like many — if not most — people with a mental health condition, I have, at times, bridled at my diagnosis.
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman's impeachment testimony made me proud to be a military spouse
As a military spouse — and it's much the same for military parents — you learn, somehow, to get used to the idea that the person you love more than anything will be placed, voluntarily, in harm's way somewhere far from home. But, as Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman alluded to in his testimony before the congressional impeachment hearings yesterday, it is possible that they might be in danger from the government and the people they put their lives on the line to serve. How does one get used to that?
Opinion | A Stripper’s Favorite Client
It wasn’t love. But it wasn’t just business either. By Lily Burana Ms. Burana is a journalist and a former stripper. Nov. 9, 2019, 3:44 p.m. ET The return address on the letter was from a Connecticut prison. Typed neatly over the address wasn’t a sender’s name, but rather, an inmate ID — a hashtag and a string of numerals. I tore open the envelope. The letter was from M., my old strip club regular. Within the taxonomy of strip club customers, M.
Dennis Quaid's engagement is so cliché, it's the plot of 'The Parent Trap' - just harder to watch
Actor Dennis Quaid — who, however you remember him from his 1980s movie heyday, is now a rugged, ruddy-cheeked 65-year-old Esurance pitchman — recently announced his engagement to Laura Savoie, a comely PhD student from the University of Texas who is all of 26. They have been dating since June. The announcement of any kind of relationship between a wealthy, powerful man and a much younger, beautiful woman is both surprising and yet, at the same time, the oldest news of all.
Forever 21's bankruptcy isn't the end of fast fashion. But it is the end of a cheap, sparkly era.
A blush pink "fur" jacket with hood and deep pockets. Soft chenille sweaters, in rose and in chocolate. The leopard print trench coat that made my heart sing. These are a few of my favorite things... from the struggling fast fashion brand, Forever 21.
Life After the Hustle: A Former Stripper’s Thoughts on Hustlers
The author, in a photo from 1995. Photo: Courtesy of Lily Burana Somewhere along the way, I couldn’t tell you exactly when, my dancer friends and I started praying to Stripper Jesus.
In Italy, among the literary A-list, I find my own siren song
The weather this evening in Positano is 54 degrees and partly cloudy, with 100% chance of Elizabeth Gilbert in your lap. I am enjoying this weather — the early spring temperature and the affectionate social climate — instead of having a bender or a breakdown. Being an uneducated working writer means that I always write with a gun at my back. In the MFA or NYC? debate, I chose FTW.
As a mom, I always let my daughter choose any outfit she wants. It's harder, but so vital, for boys too.
The frustration that some parents feel around gendered children’s clothing is not news; many a parent of girls has lamented the flounce vs. function divide in kid’s clothing departments, the pastel vs. primary colors stratification, and the utterly nonsensical differences in cut, sizing and functionality.
I'm A Veteran's Wife. Here's Why I Protested Mike Pence At The West Point Graduation.
(Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images) As a veteran’s wife who has been part of the West Point Military Academy community since 2002, I know that government and military brass rotate between service academies as commencement speakers each year. So when I did a mental calculation of that rotation and realized that Vice President Mike Pence was up this year, I had ― shall we say ― feelings.
The Reality of Being a Parent With a Lurid Past
Life as a Parent As parents, we’ll do anything to protect our children from humiliation or embarrassment. But what if the embarrassment is you? Image This is the first piece in our new series “The Hardest Part,” where we share essay by parents about their unexpected challenges and how they got through them. “Mommy, look! A big bird cage! I want to go play in it!” I had known the moment of reckoning would come, but I hadn’t expected its foreshadowing quite so soon.
Even the Faith Giants Didn’t Always Get it Right: Q&A With Frank Viola
Even the Faith Giants Didn’t Always Get it Right: Q&A With Frank Viola February 26, 2019 Lesli White In November 2014, bestselling author Frank Viola was given a special task by Rick Warren. He asked him to write a series of articles called “Shocking Beliefs of [the Great Theologians]” on his blog. The one objective? To call for grace, civility and tolerance among Christians when they disagree with one another over doctrinal issues.
Elegy in Times Square
Michael Schmelling / AP Lily Burana | Longreads | January 2019 | 8 minutes (1,880 words) Before Disney sprinkled corporate fairy dust over Times Square and turned it family-friendly, Josef and I worked there. Not together, but at the same time. Not underage, but barely legal. He was a go-go boy at the Gaiety on 46th Street. I was a peep show girl at Peepland on 42nd. Those were dangerous days.
'The Sopranos' and Its View of Strippers, 20 Years Later
As the HBO show hits its 20th anniversary, a former sex worker explains why she stopped watching Written by Lily Burana Published on January 11, 2019 Courtesy: HBO Written by Lily Burana Published on January 11, 2019 I loved The Sopranos until I hated it. Having spent my early teenage years in North Jersey, the setting, the fashion, the characters’ accents and turns of phrase, even their aspirations, were familiar to me.
Kyrsten Sinema's Swearing-In Look Was A Bold Queer Statement
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) holds a law book as she is sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 3 during the swearing-in re-enactments for recently elected senators in the Old Senate Chamber in Washington. (ALEX EDELMAN via Getty Images) Sugar and spice and everything nice: That’s what femmes are made of. Femmes, that is to say feminine-of-center LGBTQ folks, are also made of power, determination and now, with the swearing-in of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), senatorial gravitas.
2018 Was The Year American Women Embraced Their Inner Witch
Double, double toil and trouble ― watch the rise of witchery bubble. Those interested in religion and spirituality have noticed that 2018 was a landmark year for the visibility of ancient natural religions, and those who are drawn to their principles and practices. Call it the Season of the Witch.
20 years ago, Matthew Shepard was murdered: A letter from Laramie, 1998
This is a tough time to be a Wyoman. The robbery and fatal beating of 21-year-old Matthew Shepard, an openly gay University of Wyoming student, has yanked Wyoming -- the ninth largest, yet least populated state in the United States -- from its peaceful blind spot in the nation's consciousness and repositioned it as the Home State of Hate.
When Does Our Cultural Fascination with Teenage Girls Cross the Line?
“Thank heaven for little girls,” sang Maurice Chevalier. It sounds like a total pedophile anthem, but when you listen to the whole song, you realize that after the quick wink to the appeal of innocence, helplessness, and sugar-and-spice-and-everything-nice, it’s really an elegy to the sensual charms of grown women. That’s sort of charming, but also a bit disturbing, and perhaps that tension is why the song became a standard.
I’m No Lady, I’m a Femme
When I was a kid, I thought “Killer Queen” was the coolest song ever. The heroine, brought to life in the lyrics sung by Queen’s inimitable Freddie Mercury, sounded like the ultimate lady badass: Part assassin, part ambassadress, this Killer Queen struck me as utterly glamorous, fierce, independent—and feminine. I imagined she could call up any pleasure or endeavor she wanted with a snap of her perfectly manicured fingers. And nobody was going to cross that bitch, either.
Could Bill Cosby Be a Good Husband?
When a wife stands by a man accused of sexual misconduct, be it adultery on one end of the continuum or rape on the extreme other, the public response is usually laced with a whole lot of “How could she?” I can tell you how. When I was college age, I was part of a ragtag group of artists—illustrators, musicians, dancers, writers, the whole megillah.
Cómo hablar con racistas, empezando con uno mismo
A este respecto, recomiendo el podcast de Luvvie Ajayi, About the Weary Weaponizing of White Women Tears ( Sobre el cansado uso de las lágrimas de las mujeres blancas como armas ). El podcast que hace con Glennon Doyle también es muy bueno. Sin embargo, aprender sobre el racismo no es tan duro como vivir con ello a diario, de modo que es fundamental tener humildad. Y entonces me di cuenta.
Don’t Speak for My Military Family: A Veteran’s wife on Colin Kaepernick and the Nike Boycott
Don’t Speak for My Military Family: A Veteran’s wife on Colin Kaepernick and the Nike Boycott Within minutes of Nike announcing Colin Kaepernick as the model for the 30th anniversary of the athletic wear company’s “Just Do It” ad campaign, the photos began popping up on social media of incensed consumers showing Nike shorts and socks with the company’s trademark swooshes cut out, soon followed by people setting their Nike sneakers ablaze.
Don’t speak for my military family: A veteran’s wife on Colin Kaepernick and the Nike boycott
Within minutes of Nike announcing Colin Kaepernick as the model for the 30th anniversary of the athletic wear company’s “Just Do It” ad campaign, the photos began popping up on social media of incensed consumers showing Nike shorts and socks with the company’s trademark swooshes cut out, soon followed by people setting their Nike sneakers ablaze.
Cómo hablar con racistas, empezando con uno mismo
Y entonces me di cuenta. Probablemente estaba enfadada conmigo porque pensaba que no la había visto y que no había respetado su turno en la fila. (¿Muy simbólico, no? Dios...). El pasado 30 de julio se publicó en la sección de opinión de The New York Times un artículo de Margaret Renk titulado How to Talk to a Racist (Cómo hablar con un racista) que logró hacerse viral.
The Stormy Daniels (And Melania Too) Effect
When it comes to how we joke about women like Stormy Daniels who’ve worked in adult entertainment, times are changing. Tucker Carlson (he who has crafted a lasting brand from bowtied White Male Grievance) was fuming on air the other night, Now that Stormy Daniels is part of the resistance, porn is noble! Or something like that. I didn’t hear the exact words because I was too busy cackling smugly.
How To Actually Talk To Racists, Starting With The One In The Mirror
If you were on the internet this past week, there’s a good chance you saw, or at least saw reference to, the most recent head-scratcher in The New York Times’ op-ed section, Margaret Renkl’s “How to Talk to a Racist,” which achieved viral status on what largely appears to be the WTF factor.
Stormy Daniels' Arrest Is Just A Taste Of All The Absurd Laws Strippers Deal With
The recent arrest of Stormy Daniels during a performance at the Sirens gentlemen’s club in Columbus, Ohio, started with a dropped bikini top and ended with dropped charges. Undercover city detectives — some female — took it upon themselves to come to the club where Daniels was performing, tip her and a few other dancers, then arrest the women for violating local statutes that forbid contact between strip club dancers and patrons.
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