Bellydancing...

[MadrasT]

Is it sexist or is it a beautiful empowering celebration of divine femininity?

(I just had a disagreement about this and I am curious what other folks think.)

[Kookaburra]

1. Sexist? Depends on why you're doing it.

We have a belly dancing fitness class at the local community center 2 nights a week, and I've kept a flat tummy and 27 in waist by belly dancing. Plus it's loads of fun. There are no guys in the class -- not because they're not allowed, but I'm guessing they're not interested -- so it's all women dancing and having fun.

So I guess in my own experience, it would be a celebration of divine femininity.

[Mojorabbit]

6. I drum for belly dancers

and used to do it myself. It is a celebration of the divine body and of movement to me. We have a few male dancers and everyone does it for the joy of it. I never thought of it as sexist.

[enlightenment]

2. Not sure - but I sure enjoyed doing it when I was younger.

I never felt like an 'object', although my teacher did push the idea that we should 'think about sex' while we were dancing because it brought an extra . . . um . . . oomph to the moves.

For the most part it was all women - the teacher, the students, etc. I only performed as part of a troupe and we all concentrated on each other and our dance. It wasn't something I did for empowerment; I liked the way it felt to move that way; I liked the costumes and bangles; I LOVED the fact that my body looked fantastic because of the exercise.

[seabeyond]

3. i dont know much about it. i always saw it as a specialized dancing. i guess it would depend

what it was all about. but for the most part, i see it a specialized dance that takes work.

[justiceischeap]

4. I don't understand where the argument that it could be sexist comes from

Is it because mostly women do it? There's no saying that men can't. Personally, I find bellydancing a wee bit silly but I'm Scottish, and I like step dancing, so there's no accounting for taste. Anyway, I think you (used in the general) could say anything is sexist but that doesn't make it necessarily so.

[Remember Me]

8. I just have to ask

Are you male or female?

[justiceischeap]

9. Site search is your friend. nt

[Remember Me]

10. I didn't have to bother with that,

But thank you anyway. I ended up running across a post of yours that made me think you're a woman.

Why did the question annoy you so much you refused to answer straightforwardly?

The reason I asked it in the first place, was that I was having a little trouble understanding how it is that anyone could not see how bellydancing could be considered -- rightly or wrongly -- as sexist. I mean, it strikes me as unusual for feminists not to consider scantily clothed women gyrating in sexually provocative ways as at least potentially sexist. Unless, of course, we're talking about women who call themselves sex-positive feminists who might consider it "empowering." So I was just trying to dip into and explore some of that "how you see yourself, how you see society, and how you can find common ground with others" stuff.

I'm of several minds on the subject myself, and would like to explore the cultural context much more before making up my mind one way or the other. That said, I love it personally and even took lessons once upon a long time ago. There's a movie soundtrack from the movie Caravans that I absolutely loved but I COULD NOT SIT STILL when we played it. I ought to try to find it again because I loved that music so much.

Ah, here's one cut, but the overture I think, and not the best:

[justiceischeap]

11. My gender shouldn't be relevant

Last edited Sun Feb 12, 2012, 12:52 PM - Edit history (1)

isn't the kinda the whole point of feminism? To be judged on merit, not gender?

If I considered belly dancing sexist based on your definition, then I'd have to consider all dancing sexist. Then we'd have to get into a discussion about what is okay for women to wear and what isn't. That's not a discussion I have any desire to have, because I hear it too often when rape or sexual assault is talked about.

It's none of my business, nor is it my place, to tell or judge a woman on what she does with her body. IMO, to do so, is sexist.

[MarianJack]

5. My wife's best friend is a bellydancer

We've gone to see the troupe she performs with many times.

I consider it to be empowering to the women who do it. That's an impression I get from watching the women in the troupe, who range in age from their late teens to some ladies who look to be in their 60s.

While I believe that the women in the troupe are very lovely, I personally don't see anything sexual or erotic about it. When I was single and much younger than now, I went to a go-go bar or 2. I find the experiences to be very different. Of course, I didn't have a wife or son with me then, but I don't think I'd feel any differently if I'd seen the bellydancers by myself.

An interesting thing is that my wife's friend told us once that the original reason for bellydancing was to entertain the WIVES while the men held their counsels. Maybe true, maybe not, but Very interesting.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents, and maybe overpriced at that!

PEACE!

[redqueen]

12. The claim that it was used among women for themselves...

I'm not sure it's been discredited per se, but it's not a very old idea. Conversely ancient history gives lots of portrayals of it as entertainment for men, almost exclusively (or even exclusively), if I'm not mistaken.

[MarianJack]

13. It may not be true,...

...it's what our friend said.

Although it may be untrue because I don't have an easy time imagining women wanting half naked women to dance for their entertainment.

PEACE!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

7. much less than i find ballet sexist