Dancing: a gender issue?

I want to start this article with a question that will surely make you reflect: Do women dance according to how they look themselves or how they were taught to see themselves through the man’s gaze?

I constantly think about how stereotypes given to men and women have marked specific roles in our society, their relationships, and arts and dance. Then I started to wonder: why is the man who takes the woman out to dance? Why have we been taught to follow him while we dance? All these thoughts came alive when I was thinking about the way I dance. It has always been difficult for me to let myself be carried away by some else, and it was the perfect opportunity to dive into this.

When we are born, we already have a granted biological sex, which brings an accepted way of acting and a specific role in society, but this stereotype is not universal. Quite the opposite, it is adapted under the time and culture in which you become part.

And when it comes to dancing, we instinctively think about women. It is considered a female activity. Therefore, it is not uncommon to think of the stigma of homosexuality/femininity given to dancers (men) in classical dance or ballet. That characterization is not only a consequence of the majority number of women over men, evident in the world of dance, but also brings cultural and social roots that make us stigmatize classical dancers in that way, and that ends in the existence of more women than men dedicated to dance.

But then, why does this happen? First, because dancers do not exercise a “normal” role between what is accepted and established by masculinity in general, stereotypes are already created. Baz talks about other aspects for which we have reached these conclusions; he speaks of three tenses within the dance:

1. Look
2. Look at yourself
3. To be looked at

What does this mean? Everything is focused under the gaze, and everything you look at carries a certain degree of desire. Any dancers’ goal is to be looked at, but what do we look at? Some dances have turned the woman’s body into a focus of men’s eyes and desire. This simple fact has sexualized women. So, if dancing is an expression of our bodies and the body has been sexualized by men, dancing has become a sexual female activity of its own under the man’s gaze.

The dance translates into the fact that the man is the one who wears and the woman who lets herself go. In this sense Jesús Álvarez, a salsa dancer, recognizes that there’s “a good sexism” and a “bad sexism”, highlighting that the first one is necessary because there must always be someone who leads the dance.

When he talks of “good sexism,” he refers to the dancer who does not hesitate to lead the woman; and in addition, who does not try to be the center of attention because he knows that if the woman shines, he will too.

“One of the partners must lead. He is usually the man, but not necessarily! The posture the couple embraces to dance is studied so that one leads and the other receives instructions. If a woman wants to lead, she can do it.”

I will leave you this StepFlix tango class, a rhythm from which you can learn beyond steps when it comes to the man-woman relationship.

Try these exercises by yourself, then join your partner and see how the magic happens! By the way, remember to leave stereotypes out.

Also read: Recipe to be a 5-star Tango couple