I Get Paid To Play Pretend

One’s a burlesque dancer, another’s a stand-in bridesmaid, and the third, a queue-sitter. For these women, secret side-gigs bring in more than just a little extra cash. It’s a way for them to expand their social circles, smash stereotypes and make other people happy.

- Hoe I Yune

SHE MAKES PEOPLE SEE THAT BEAUTY ISN'T JUST ONE BODY TYPE

By day, 28-year-old Toralina* works in the creative industry and as a freelance artist. Her usual attire consists of maxi dresses, buttondown shirts and jeans, but a couple of times a month, she strips down to her lingerie in front of a group of 50 to 70 strangers. They don’t get to see what she looks like, because Toralina wears a mask in the shape of a fish head, so her conservative family won’t find out that on the side, she’s a burlesque dancer.

In 2016, Toralina (it’s her stage name) came across a Facebook post by drag queen Becca D’Bus, who was looking to form a troupe of burlesque performers with different body types to perform at the annual M1 Fringe Festival. Toralina, who is 1.7m tall and wears a size 20, felt drawn towards the cause. For her, it’s personal. Growing up, she always felt like a fish out of water. “People think Asian girls are cutesy and petite. I’m the complete opposite of that,” she says. But things changed after a four-year stint studying for a degree in the US. There, she noticed that women – regardless of their size – seemed comfortable in their skin and wore whatever they liked. Leggings, cropped tops, loud prints – nothing was off limits. Toralina resolved to be more like them. “Now, I’m like ‘this is me, you take it or leave it’,” she says.