Myth #783--Belly Dancing's purpose is for women to dance FOR men--

The other day I was sitting at the dinner table in the Foreign Language Housing.  As required of those living in the FLSR, the rest of the Chinese house (both the girl's house and the guy's house) were sitting at the same table eating dinner.  I made some comment about how I had eaten too much and that this was problematic since I was leaving for my dance class shortly after dinner.  One of the guys asked what type of dance I was taking.  Without any hesitation, I responded in Chinese "肚皮舞" aka "Belly Dancing".  My response brought the typical reaction, one in which I am becoming quite accustom to.  His eyebrows rose, with surprise mainly, but also with fascination and curiosity.  After dinner he proceeded to tell me about how belly dancing was a sexy dance that the skinny girls participated in...saying that the girls dance for the guys in a similar manner as pole dancers in clubs do for money.  I informed him that the dance is NOT intended for the purpose of sexually entertaining or arousing men.  I told him how there are women of all different sizes that do this type of dance.  His response took me a little off guard.  There was a sort of disgusted look on his face as he said, "That's gross; I don't want to see fat people moving all that fat around".  By this point in the conversations I was frustrated and gave up my attempt to convince him that belly dancing is not what he thinks it is.

With my head slightly lowered, spirit saddened, I slowly walked out the door and made my way to my dance class.  Only a few minutes into class my spirit was lifted once more and a huge smile came across my face.  I decided that people didn't have to understand or approve of my belly dancing.  It makes me happy, and that's good enough for me!  After dance I spoke with a few women from my class, mentioning the frustrating conversation that had taken place between me and that guy shortly before I had come to class.  Their responses brought comfort to my discouraged heart and a smile to my face once again.  Both of them were disgusted with what that guys had said.  "Boys, uhg, boys need to get over themselves.  Not everything we do is for them.  They think we put on make-up for them, and now they think we dance for them...ha".  How can you not smile upon hearing such a response???

Something that I find ironic is that some of the Middle Eastern dances were actually originally performed by males, and even now there are still male belly dancers.

There are many different theories about the original purposes of belly dancing.  One theory is that the dance was originally danced by women for women.  Another theory is that Arab women were the first people to perform this type of dance as a part of religious rites to Hubal, the moon god.  A third theory is that belly dance was always danced as entertainment.  The big question is:  what is the purpose for belly dancing now?

From my various dance instructors and exposure to un-corrupted belly dance, I have come to form my own opinion about what some of the purposes of belly dancing are.  Belly dancing is meant to bring women together as a sisterhood to celebrate femininity together.  The dance is not designed to flaunt the woman's body, but rather to help the individual dancing become comfortable and confident in the body she is blessed with.  So, in essence, belly dancing is meant to benefit the individual, celebrate femininity, and help create bonds between fellow women dancers.