Quote:
Originally Posted by Aniseteph
This is what I wanted to say and you've done it much better! 
I really can see why some people have concerns about male only shows. With the pandering to men from a predominantly female audience ( ooh, it's a man, he must know what he's talking about and even if he doesn't hats off for having a go and PS simper simper giggle blush) it could be a recipe for promotion of less than great dancing. Which of course already goes on by the shedload on various grounds - publicity, guru-worship, the divine right to commit ill-advised horrors in the name of creative self-expression...
Uncritical Man-worship is just another pitfall to add to the list, and IMO it is a big one because of the predominantly female crowd. We are much more likely to be critical of our fellow females, we are famous for it. 
 I don't do sisterhoody bonding much either. And I probably test high for introvertedyness. Introverted bellydancers, who'd have thought it...  |
Yeah, but we already have this going on with people accepting all kinds of junk from a guy just because he happens to be of Middle Eastern descent. It even happens with women from the region as well. For some reason though, people don't see this as a problem and make all types of excuses to accommodate it. We've got people claiming to teach authentic folk dances when they wouldn't know the real thing if they sat in it, are not particularly talented and have no other claim to fame than they were born somewhere east of the Prime Meridian or had a parent or grandparent who was. So yes I can understand this fear and have been extremely vocal about it in the past and continue to be so.
I understand how annoying, disappointing it is to see women give away their power in the ways you describe, but all male shows will not make this any worse. It really is a neutral situation. Whether guys are all together in one place or separate in teaching at their own workshops, your going to have women make fools out of themselves because they need healing on some level. The only way we would not have thins in our community is if we didn't allow men to be dancers, teachers etc and that is not an option. Discussing this situation in the open and hopefully allowing women to examine their behavior and choices is the only way to change it. Saying all male shows contribute to the problem is a bit like men saying women have to veil because men find them seductive and can't control themselves.