Public Perceptions: A Double Standard - Page 3

Up Close And Personal

The "theatrical" dance forms such as ballet, tap, and Broadway musicals are often performed on a stage that is somewhat remote from the audience. There is no up-close-and-personal interaction between the audience and the performers.

In contrast, belly dancers often perform in restaurants, people's living rooms, and other settings where the audience can see them up close. It's one thing to view a skimpy costume and sensuous body movement from the balcony when it is presented within a "show" because there's a certain remoteness involved. It's much more threatening when an Oriental dance artist or stripper approaches close enough to be touched.

Collecting Tips

People often tuck tips into belly dancers' costumes, and many dancers encourage that. People also tuck tips into strippers' costumes. When was the last time you saw a ballet dancer with money sticking out of her bodice?

Amateurish Productions

Even amateur performances of ballet and Broadway musicals are typically performed in a theatrical setting with some attempt at professional spotlights and sound systems. In contrast, most public experience with Oriental dance falls in low-budget settings without the trappings of a professional production--often the same sort of environment in which strippers work.

Which Means...

I think we dancers ourselves are part of the problem with public perception of our dance. As long as we present the dance primarily in nightclubs, with non-professional quality of lighting, and as long as we wander close enough to the tables for patrons to tuck money into our costumes, we'll continue the association in people's minds with the other dance form that has similar properties. We need to give careful thought to how we present the dance and what impact that presentation will have on how people respond to it.

But it's not entirely our own fault, either. Public opinion is very slow to change, and people who have never, ever seen it performed think they know what it is. Some of these people are too narrow-minded to open themselves up to seeing an actual show and learning a little about it.

It still annoys me that there's a double standard that says it's okay to see a woman's underpants on cheerleaders, ice skaters, ballet dancers, ballroom dancers, and even vintage 1940's Hollywood movies and Lawrence Welk reruns, but it's not okay to see a flash of bare leg on a belly dancer. It annoys me that lingerie commercials on network television can show women modeling bras, but belly dancers who spend hundreds of dollars for modestly-cut bras encrusted with beads and sequins are sometimes viewed as unsavory.