A striptease for returning vets

A  sad New York Times article about Army wives learning the art of striptease so they can perform a bit of slink when their husbands return home from the war.

It’s sad because these women know that they are going to have to reestablish intimacy with men who may be very different than when they left. After the initial carnal rush – which probably doesn’t need a striptease as a catalyst anyway  – these wives may be dealing with PTSD, domestic abuse, alcoholism, and mental and physical wounds.

Perhaps I’m just being the anti-romantic. Maybe it’s just my imagination, but there seems to be a little touch of the desperate in this passage from the article:

The women’s favorite move came on the line, “I can show you a good time,” when Ms. Burana spread her legs and then snapped them shut.

I’m not kidding anyone. If I came back home from a year in Afghanistan, I’d have a few things on my mind, and a cold shower wouldn’t be at the top of the list. But I wonder if this burlesque is passion denied or just a wife’s fervent hope that things can go back to the way they were.