I totally wholeheartedly disagree with the statement that belly dance is a "feminine essenced dance" (made by A'isha Azar in separate threads). This may be:
- The opinion of perhaps a majority in the Middle East.
- A personal opinion of A'isha Azar.
Neither of these make it true.
re. 1: There are many opinions in the Middle East that I do not want to subject myself to. This is just one more. I think women especially should be careful to glorify ME culture, seeing what treatment women get there.
re. 2:
- When I dance, I feel totally in touch with myself and aware of myself, and thus, being a male, very masculine. I am sure female dancers will feel very feminine. That does not make either feeling true for the other gender or for the dance in general. The opinion of the audience (their impression of gender) is as much shaped by their expectations (most BD'ers are women) as by the dance itself.
- No male dancer on this forum has supported this view yet. This is of course a very touchy-feely subject, so hard evidence is impossible to get. But if there were any truth in it, surely some males should feel the same way?
- Now suppose it were true that (outside of reproduction) there are activities that are essentially male or female. We would then be free to name them and promote this division, of course, but that would open up quite a Pandora's box, wouldn't it? Some people already say that "leading groups of people" is a masculine essenced activity, and they would be totally justified in that. So "glass ceilings" in corporations and lower average wages for women are a natural phenomenon, and we should not fight the natural order of things, right?
No, I think we should just enjoy the dance whenever possible, in whatever way works for us, and entertain our audiences. That's all there's to it!