What Lies Beneath?

First part of a 2-part sequential piece.

What do you assume, or what do you expect, lies beneath? I ask the question because it is one that many people feel inclined to ask. Over to you!

Did you assume or guess correctly? Part 2 follows:

Here I look at 'tease' as a general concept, but also specifically in the context of striptease performance, is following a 'ritual' (cf. Barthes), a sequence or narrative, a story which is often told and whose ending is telegraphed from the outset. It's a narration written with the body but also with the mind and emotions of the viewer. The viewer must play their part in driving on the 'story', even if it is only a cheer of appreciation as another part of the unfolding sequence of expectation is revealed. It is a strictly sequential, one-way narrative - with a start point and an end point, however far down the line the end point goes. It may stop short of where the viewer would prefer it to go, or it may exceed expectation (or tolerance) by going further than expected (or desired), but there are no flashbacks, no major digressions, or unexpected leaps out of context.

'What lies beneath?' is a question followed by a statement, because this question seemingly is what bothers a large number of people (irrespective of any other aspect of the person under discussion - their looks, personality, dress, sex appeal, etc.) - I have been asked to my face, in public, what kind of genitalia I have, as if that was a deal-breaker in having a conversation with me (or not), or the hope of anything else following such an interaction.

The question places an assumption in the mind of the viewer, as a result of following familiar tropes - whether those used in adult entertainment, advertising, comix or other media in which expectation is set, played with, and then met (or denied). In this case, the expectation is set, played with, and then revealed as that probably least likely to have been uppermost in the mind of most general viewers. The flat, black negation of the breast area nullifies that as a zone of visual reference, into which details may be projected or imagined according to the viewer's own expectation or preference.