Gender in Belly Dance Masculine and Feminine in a Cultural Context

Primary Sources Primary Source: Material from the culture; or material from the historical period under consideration. Examples: descriptions of dance from the Arab world or from a historical period; Visual images of dance from the place or period under discussion Videos of dance from the place or period Primary sources still require interpretation: they can speak directly only of their own time, place and cultural perspective. Primary sources can be misleading because Their source has misleading information or ideas They have other purposes than conveying information Even though they may describe another period, they can speak only about their own.

Secondary Sources Secondary Sources: Sources which speak of or reconstruct the dance of other times and places; often with an interpretive framework. Examples: Modern descriptions of ancient belly dance Western interpretations of Eastern dance practices Scholarly interpretations or descriptions of dance from early sources Secondary sources can provide valuable perspective because they can draw on expertise that goes beyond what a primary source document shows They inevitably reproduce modern modes of thought and analysis (ex.: The Goddess, booking agents, attention to structural categories) Internet Sources: May be primary or secondary; the Internet can convey both types of information.

The Gender of Dance In the modern West, dance is almost always “gendered” as feminine.

The Gender of Dance ? What are some of the aspects of dance we classify as “feminine”? ? What definitions of femininity and masculinity does our idea of dance as “feminine” express? (List some; be ready to discuss them.) ? What are some of the aspects of belly dance in particular that strike our culture as feminine?

Male dancer, Fiji, early 20 th century (non-professional) Male dancers  In traditional cultures, dance often relates to metaphysics (or “religion”). Since both male and female have metaphysical importance, both male and female dance  Dances tend to be segregated  Different characteristic movements, or qualities of movement, express cultural ideas of gender (but watch for biased descriptions)

Male dancer from New Guinea (A national folkloric troupe) Male Dancers Professional folkloric troupes may reflect “politically correct” (for their culture) encodings of gender more than real folkloric dance (ex.: Reda Troupe)

Male Dancers Professional “dervish” dancer, Egypt Dancers often reflect ideas of inappropriate gender behavior (females = public life; men = undignified behavior or receptive sexuality)

Sexuality and Culture Sexuality and sexual preference are largely cultural constructs. Constructs can vary between cultures and within cultures. Some central ideas: Women’s sexuality relative to men’s Homosexual identity vs. homosexual acts Ain’t I a woman? That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman? Sojourner Truth, 1851

Male dancers Turkish Kocek The kocek danced in troupes and as soloists They were considered very desirable and also disruptive to ordinary morality Costumed, but in a masculine way (what are some indications?)

Kocek, early 20 th century

Bert Balladine, 1960’s and ’70’s

Ibrahim Farrah, 1970’s

Amir Thaleb of Argentina

Horacio and Beata Cifuentes, Germany

Jim Boz, San Diego

Female Dancers Female dancers’ traditional roles have often been interpreted in the West as “erotic display.” Hawaiian hula, originally a highly structured court dance, was received this way in the West: the “naughty hula.” Two hula images from circa 1910:

Erotic Display Dance in the 19 th century West was seen as erotic display as well as art: Dancers were described in sensual terms, and patrons were expected to appreciate their beauty and their allure. Dance was seen as the vehicle for this allure, rather than the statement of an active artist. Dolores has a plump bosom, rounded arms, slender legs, and tiny feet, and, in addition to being a very good dancer, is very pretty…. If any woman is required to be beautiful, it must surely be a dancer….Dance is a wholly sensual and material art that appeals neither to the intelligence nor to the heart, but is directed only to the eyes…. (Theophile Gautier)

Erotic Display ? Belly dance has a role as a folk dance performed by men and women. Yet for many reasons, its performance seen as erotic display in the West. What are some elements of this dynamic? Ozel Turkbas

Erotic Display ? Is belly dance (and all dance) inevitably tainted by patriarchal dynamics? “The reason belly dance is performed mostly by women is that most of the people in power are heterosexual men, and they want to watch women dancing. If women held the power, belly dancing would be mostly performed by men.” (Tarik Sultan, personal communication, paraphrased.) Prinses Banu