To begin with, thank you, Andrea Van Dinther, for your latest column, “A mother’s take on burlesque, friendship,” in which you offer your personal moral dilemma about burlesque in Homer. I would especially like to thank you for acknowledging that your column was a personal investigation of what makes you uncomfortable. I do that, too. It’s something we should all do, routinely. Thank you for being so brave to voice it.

I’m not interested in pleading a case for freedom of expression or for feminism, heck I’m not even interested in pleading a case for art in my response. (Besides, incidentally charming you with my own rosy testament to performing may secretly inspire even the most unlikely readers.)

What I am most interested in is the diversity that makes up our little community. I am interested in thriving within that nest of diversity while challenging what it is that makes us uncomfortable, especially in our far removed haven of Homer. We are out to inspire positive body image, Do-It-Yourself initiatives and to playfully celebrate human creativity and self-expression. But, even that response is too narrow for my liking. Instead, I prefer to talk about something quite larger.

What I prefer to do instead is to make room in this paper for a big “high-five” that reaches even beyond our adored audience. I want to give kudos to Andrea, and to every one of us, who investigate what it is that makes us uncomfortable, both within ourselves and within the sociological context of our community. And finally, I want to salute those who may not agree with why we choose to do what we do, but who still practice that self-investigation and value, nee, celebrate the diversity that is all around them. Woot! Woot!

Thank you, Homer.

In gratitude,

Brianna Allen