Throughout the years males being interested in dance has become more common. When males first became interested in the art of dance, those who were not part of the dance community did not quit understand it and some quickly labeled male dancers as “gay” or “feminine”. Some males were offended and still are offended to this day by the stereotypes. These stereotypes started because males are not usually known to be dancers or ballerinas. Seeing a male dancing in tights and a leotard automatically steers people into thinking they are feminine or gay because it is not common. Male dancers should be treated equally just as any other dancer because they should not be discriminated for following their dreams. Most male dancers will become discouraged …show more content…
due to harsh criticism and will delay their dreams. Fighting for equality in the dance community will improve the dance population because more male dancers will start to feel more accepted. The issue of males in the dance community sparks controversy resulting in multiple perspectives. One perspective is two college masters students, Trenton Haltom and Meredith Worthen share their perspectives in Male Ballet Dancers and Their Performances of Hetereomasculinity. The writers pull their issue towards a specific genre of dance, ballet, rather than just dance as a whole. Ballet is a passionate and more feminized sport. The writers chose to share their perspectives over male ballet dancers because this particular genre of dance is the most targeted for stereotypes. Due to the stereotypes, “male dancers must negotiate their identities as men while performing a dance form that is highly stigmatized as effeminate” (Haltom and Worthen 757). It is harder for men to be masculine in such a profound genre of dance such as ballet because it is seen to be more affectionate. Male ballet dancers distance themselves to avoid the stereotype of being called gay or feminine. Another perspective is from a post made by David King on A Ballet Education: 5 misconceptions about male ballet dancers. King’s opinions are specific to targeted males in the dance community because he comes up with different reasons on why male ballet dancers receive the most misconceptions. He then backs up his evidence by providing facts. King states that all male ballet dancers are not gay because most male ballerinas date or even marry female ballerinas; with this statement, he provides names to back up his evidence. Another statement he makes is that boys in ballet just want to be girls. In reality, male dancers never aspire to be females nor do they encounter female roles. They are more likely to be appraised for “prince-like” rolls. Lastly, another statement he makes is that men in ballet are not athletic. He then proceeds to compare those in more masculine sports to those who are dancers. King believes that male dancers work just as hard as any baseball, basketball, football, or soccer player. Furthermore, another perspective is from a peer reviewed journal from two college students, Katherine Polasek and Roper Emily. These two conducted research of people’s different perspectives on male dancers. They discussed the assumptions of male dancers with others and quickly came to the conclusion that “all participants made immediate reference to the ‘gay stereotype’, the assumption that all male dancers are gay” (Polasek and Roper 181). Most of the participants stated that they had a problem with wearing tights and it made them uncomfortable. This particular perspective was helpful because the two conducted an actual experiment with both heterosexual and gay males. The experiment consisted of simply seeing who was comfortable and uncomfortable with male dancers and what their opinions were. Although, “despite the increased ‘acceptance’ of gay males, several of the participants (both heterosexual and gay) made homonegative remarks by contrasting masculinity and homosexuality” (Polasek and Roper 183). Most of the participants disliked the more flamboyant male dancers but, after the experiment most of the participants overcame their homophobia of male dancers. The last perspective was from an online post on balletinthecity by Jacquelyn Bernard. Berand shares how men are treated and portrayed in the dance community. Bernard states that “harassment runs deep in the dance world.” Bernard believes that “society and culture are not seeing past the tights or the make-up, rather they see it as a way to scrutinize the male dancer, to belittle him.” This post is helpful because Bernard believes “the dominant misconceptions regarding males are ultimately pulling the industry apart and causing many men to be afraid of what dance really is.” In this post, Bernard proposes that together both male and female dancers come together to break the stereotypes towards male dancers. Reasoning behind this argument is to prove that males in the dance community should not receive such harsh ridicule and that they should be treated just as equally as any other dancer.
Those who are not a part of the dance community are the ones that are most likely against male dancers. It is understandable to know that those outside of the dance community may not understand or may have certain beliefs that males should not partake in such a feminized hobby/sport but, it is more believable to understand that anyone should be able to pursue their dreams and talent and that stereotypes should not matter. As our generation grows, the more accepting and opening we should be towards gender equality in sports such as dancing. A peer reviewed journal by Jenifer Fisher discusses how she believes the people in the dance community and outside of the community try to make male dancers seem “macho”. She states this strategy is, “that ballet is a tough as football, a “real” man’s game,” (Fisher46). This statement goes to show that male dancers partake in tough circumstances just as a football player, or any other masculine sport. Therefore, male dancers should be seen as equal individuals compared to those in the more masculine sports scenery. Also, in another brief article by Richard Schneider, he states that “many male dancers and choreographers of the 20th century took pains to show that dance was just as masculine as, say, baseball or fencing” (Schneider).This statement is saying that male dancer encountered painful endurances to be accepted as masculine. In Negotiating the gay male stereotype in ballet and modern dance, Katherine Polasek and Emily Roper addressed the peer pressure amongst male dancers and what they experienced. A participant and also male dancer named Jonah explained: “I actually got beat up a couple times.” Also, in an article on balletinthecity they talk about different stories in which male dancers receive harshness and how they overcome and battle
the stereotypes and how they strive harder. A group of male dancers from Mobile, Alabama have their own television show entitled: “The Prancing Elites Project”. Although all of the current members are gay, they are still a dance team that is accepting and open to anyone who has a passion for dance just like them. In an article on Vulture, The Elites discuss the discrimination they receive not only for being black gay male dancers, but for being male dancers in general. The members of The Prancing Elites remind aspiring male dancers to “just do you, it can be radical-even dangerous- proposition to do just that.” Wherever The Elites travel to they receive controversy but through it all, this just makes them stronger as a team and individuals. They know that they have supporters who actually support what they do. This just goes to show the harshness male ballet dancers encounter. Male dancers go through a lot of harassment just to be considered normal and equal. Through it all they can only stay strong and try to make a difference in the dance community. Most dancers in the dance community are very accepting of male dancers. Men are not treated any different than the female dancers. With the teamwork of both male and female dancers, male dancers grow more accepting of themselves. The encouragement keeps the male dancers from thinking twice about disengaging. The audience and those outside of the dance community are the biggest critics. Getting past all the criticism and the struggles that a male dancers encounters makes them stronger. It would help if those outside of the dance community could come to an understanding as to why males partake in the art of dance. Most do not care to listen or acknowledge male dancers and believe males should stick to more masculine hobbies. As male dancers become more normal to the public eye, controversy will always spark. With support and encouragement male dancers will continue to usher the way for those who are too afraid to follow their dreams due to stereotypes. It starts with the dancers first. Dancers should come together to stop stereotypes. With both female and male dancers working together, it builds a bigger support system and encouragement. It is a joint team effort to come to a solution. If some see others making the effort to accept males in the dance community it will be a bandwagon effect, in which then they will see that it is not as harsh and bad as stereotypes portray it to be. Men are less accepted in the dance community by people outside of the dance community. Those who are not involved in dancing or never have been are the ones that are often quick to judge male dancers. Being a male dancer, they not only face external conflicts with those outside of the dance community, but they also face internal conflicts within themselves. Being a male dancer is always an internal challenge; it test your patience, dreams, character, and strength. Although male dancers face challenges within themselves, courage is the key. Courage is the key for a male dancer in this harsh generation because with courage, it gives them motivation and determination to push pass all the negativity they encounter and just follow their dreams to make a difference. It takes getting to know the dancer outside of the leotard and the tights. As long as dancers in the dance community work together, more male dancer’s stories can be heard and create a voice for all male dancers facing harshness around the world. The dance community will continue to prosper and be courageous as the stereotypes and discrimination decreases for male dancers to be considered as one.
Strictly Ballroom, with a ballroom and romance plot is more difficult to project the male stereotype. However even in this difficulty area, it manages to still capture the following masculine traits – mateship, trivialised larrikinism, physical apperarance, durnkenness, determination to win the ballroom dancing championship using new steps –the macho Spanish pasodoble.
http://www.dancemagazine.com/. Jensen, Jill. A. & Nunes, Jill. " Transcending Gender in Ballet’s Lines. " When Men Dance: Choreographing Masculinities Across Borders (2009): 118. Keen, Laurel. E-mail Interview.
“The Dancer’s gift” is a love story between a young man and woman, Marcel and Samantha. But this novel was written not only to call feelings about love and passion; the main goal was to introduce students to sociological concepts. Overall, the book includes more than 180 sociological terms that flow with the story and closely connected to happening events. Marcel, a black man, arrives from Martinique (an island in the Caribbean Sea), and Samantha, a rich American girl, meet each other in college and fall in love. Both of them face obstacles in their lives: Marcel was grown up in a poor extended but a friendly family, while Samantha was a daughter of rich but divorced parents. Marcel comes to the U.S. to become a professional dancer, while Sam decided to become an attorney at law just like her father. Being lovers they decide to spend their Christmas holidays together and go to New York. Next holidays they go to Marcel’s homeland, Martinique, where they realize that there lives a woman who is pregnant by him. At that time all dreams of Sam just collapse due to this bitter disappointment, which becomes one of the reasons why they break up. Throughout the story, they both meet with numerous social issues such as education, marriage, gender issue, racism, deviance, divorce, religion, race and ethnicity. In this essay, the three main reasons why this novel is an effective tool for learning sociological concepts will be discussed.
Gender dictates various components of American life: political quarrels, typical company employee hierarchies, social norms, the list continues. This year’s presidential election proves this statement to be true; as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump bump heads against notions of foreign policy and tax reform, American voters have divided themselves into a category of either for or against women’s equality. Trump’s recent rape allegations has portrayed him as sexist, allowing Clinton to make arguments against him and advocate for women’s rights. Besides politics, gender guides child development, teaching children what “roles” both men and women must play in order to be deemed acceptable. This is why the term “CEO”
By universal definition, "sport" is listed as "an activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively." Football, basketball, baseball, soccer and other primary activities have always been concretely defined as sports in society. However, one of the most physically demanding activities is constantly forgotten when it comes to the realm of sports- dance. Dance requires a tremendous amount of training and creates an aura of competition in which people compete to be the best, win, and take home the trophy- just like in traditionally accepted sports. These sports, however, do not possess an element of psychological health threats that some competitive dancers unfortunately must account for due to the emphasis placed on physical appearance.
Girls are told to stay indoors and play with their dolls or bake, while boys are encouraged to go outdoors, get dirty, and be adventurous. Wade and Ferree also state “sports are squarely on the masculine side of the gender binary” (Wade and Ferree, 174). Hence, we are brought up with the understanding that playing and talking about sports is a boy’s thing, which further promotes the notion that sports are a very masculine thing. Furthermore, as playing sports is competitive and is a way to show excellence, young boys are considered as “real boys” and “real men” later on. However, when boys do not talk about or play sports, they are considered feminine or “not real men.” The same rule applies for young girls. If young girls are too into sports, they are considered to be “too masculine.” This is true for me too. When I was younger, I was told to not play too much outdoors and to behave “like a girl.” The stigma that only boys should be allowed to play sports and it is not a feminine thing needs to be erased for us to welcome a more gender-equal
Young girls and women symbolize femininity with being a ballerina. Kelso comments that in the shadows of the spotlight lurks an abusive world of eating disorders, verbal harassment, fierce competition, injuries, fatigued, and malnourished dancers (Kelso, 2003). In today’s world of ballet, dancers suffer from always being in pain, worrying their body image is not the right look they need to have to get lead roles resulting in the development of eating disorders, and male ballet dancers are stereotyped as being homosexual when most of the male dancers are in fact heterosexual.
Gender discrimination is prominent in every industry, but it is as though the sport industry is one of the worst. Women in the work force currently receive only 80 cents to every man’s dollar (Holmes, 2016). However, female athletes both in America and internationally receive a far lesser compensation for their attributes. The only difference of the sports being played is who plays them. There should be no reason why a male athlete receives better pay simply because he had a 50% chance of being born a man. At birth, no one controls the gender, but as they grow and mature, they control their personality and development. Payment should be on personal skills and not gender. As a female STHM student focusing on sport management and a former athlete,
Society often labels an activity a sport if it is rugged, requires endurance, strength, and masculine qualities. Because cheerleading is a predominantly women sport and is characterized by attractive uniforms and cheers, society often shuns the idea of men participating in this activity. Often times the activity is not considered a sport and the males and females are not considered athletes. Both males and females have to fight to encourage others to perceive them as athletes. In 1997, only one all female division participated in the NCAA all-collegiate cheer and dance team national championships. This proves the point that despite the social and cultural costs involved, males are still eager to participate in the sport that they originally founded and feel many more benefits as well.
Dancers often times have many pressures put on them, which can lead to physical and emotional damage. These damages occur through the pressures from the media, parents, teammates, and the stereotype that society has placed on dancers. One of the hardest pressures that dancers have to overcome is the pressure from the media. The media places harsh, rigid, and false ideas of dancers on to the mass public. Constantly bombarded by commercials, magazine ads, posters, etc., the idea of being thin and beautiful is what the society thinks of as the “norm”.
Price, Brena and Pettijohn, Terry. “The Effect of Ballet Dance Attire on Body and Self-Perceptions of
Ballet has been an art form since the late fifteenth century, but society did not truly see the impact of ballet until the nineteenth century. Modern day thinkers possess the idea that ballet began with tutus and pointe shoes, but it wasn’t until the nineteenth century that this opinion was observed. Ballet has come a long way. It has survived the turmoil of many wars and has changed itself by accepting new ideas and impressing the audience with its unique stylistic views.
does our society fail to respect dance as a sport? Dancing as a career requires an incredible
Sex is one of the most central themes in society today, with generally everybody in the world, adults and children, either seeing it in the mass media or taking part in it, whether it be for their career, for reproductive reasons, or for pleasure. Because of its predominance, sexuality plays an important, if not the most important, role in social inequality, causing double standards, violence and internal self-worth issues for minorities. Factors such as pornography, prostitution, and the way people view homosexuality and intersexuality as repugnant all influence the prejudice ways in which society views and treats women, homosexuals, and intersexuals.
Further to gender, Rayanna has a difficult time convincing Bishop and his crew to let her in due to the fact that she is a female. Gender inequalities within the films dancing are expressed through characters’ dialogues on two accounts . Firstly, a male in Bishop’s dance crew says “They’ll never give top dollar to a girls crew” (Rashid, 2008). This quote supports the common stereotype that women are unable to win or succeed without men and therefore need them in order to accomplish something. In this case it would be Rayanna having to join a male dance team as a female one would not be successful. Secondly, Bishop’s dance crew also mentions when attempting to reject Rayanna from the team, that mixed gender teams are seen as a joke, which do not win (Rashid, 2008), reinforcing gender segregation, defined by the separation of sexes enforced through rules and/or laws (Blackburn, 2002).