Snort!"I was really mad at you when you came on because I thought you were the stagehand and that you were ruining the 2 lovely dancers routine"
She went on to say that it was O.K. once she realized I was part of the show.
I thought it was very funny but goes to show that men do get a different reaction at times
This all underlines what Tarik says about male dancers: We have to prove ourselves EACH and EVERY time we set foot on stage!
Oh, its definitely there - but as my "home troupe" figured out, They can be, and ARE, all about "female empowerment" and my presence changes nothing at all. Granted, the troupe director told me that its highly unlikely that there'll ever be a second male as I'm weird and fit in in a way most guys couldn't - but whatever! I guess it just didn't work for this particular Tribal group.Zorba, when I first got on the Internet eight years ago and began reading about BD I detected a strong "female empowerment" with Tribal. It made me wonder if I was some kind of Peeping Tom even to look at them. This attitude seems to have relaxed in recent years, but evidently there are some holdouts.
Sorry for your reverse, and I can understand why it has you down, but I know that you're not the kind to let it overcome you.
5. They are acknowledging how difficult it can be to step beyond stereotypes
I'd go with number five as for many people bellydance is feminine and sadly for many men aren't supposed to show an interest in feminine things.
If I could back up the clock twenty years I might be learning how to dance. If I could back up the clock thirty years I think I definitely would, and not just for fun. To Erikosaurus, the fun is in the achievement.
For a woman who succeeds in a male-dominated field I should think the chance to prove herself again and again would also be an honor, but this is from the perspective of an outsider looking in. After proving oneself for the 4,985th time it might indeed become tiresome.
I'd go with number five as for many people bellydance is feminine and sadly for many men aren't supposed to show an interest in feminine things. Therefore men and bellydance don't mix naturally in many people's minds. Many years ago when I attended belly dance classes regularly there was one guy, and at first i was surprised by it. Thinking how could a man shimmy his hips or chest? What about chest lifts, there's nothing to lift? Silly thoughts, really. But as the class continued I realised that he was no different from the rest of us. We were all pretty much beginners and most of us weren't anywere near to shimmying anything since we were so stiff.
Hmm. Another thought. Saying your brave for belly dancing might also mean that you are brave to challenge the gender stereotypes AND face the repeated reactions of people telling you how brave you are
Edit. Wanted to add, that the first phrase is me trying to imagine what people in genearl might think instead of saying what I think. I love it when people step over the gender boundaries, and I wish men would have more chances to show their interst in anything that is considered feminine and that women would have a chance to show interest for things considered masculine (and I think women have more freedom in this than men, at least in Finland still).
Oh PLEASE! I'm not brave, I just don't shive a git......except Zorba of course, but he is braver than many.
Well, in other news I was just shown the door in my Tribal class. I'll give the teacher this: she tried. Unfortunately, the she inherited the class from a long-time "women only" instructor, and the class wanted to go back to that.
there are a many a teacher who will take on a male wannabee, because it is in this day and age politically correct to do so and ; '' hey look at me, am going against the grain, maybe I'm the one', another Morocco'',
only to find later when things go wrong one must have listened closer to what the past taught.
For I have found another way discrimination can work undetected and that is welcome all on websites, but on approach be
told only one gender classes are currently being run.