“Ye Mr Karti Hain Prostitutes”
(It’s a dance done only by prostitutes)
I was shocked one morning when my boss made that scathing statement as we discussed how we spend our weekends pursuing our passions. Also, he shared some unsolicited advice on how I should “Do it alone in front of my husband or boyfriend.”
I was furious at this ridiculous crudeness of the integrity of the art I love and my soul was stirred. I would have made a sarcastic comment about his caveman mentality if, in that instant, the demure child in me hadn’t been forced to reconsider the choice she made a year ago.
I remembered. With great enthusiasm, I had consciously chosen to learn belly dancing as a way to explore and express my femininity. Initially, I was skeptical about participating in an experience that is supposed to be sexually exploitative, but I was immediately struck by the contradiction. For the first time I appreciated my body for what it could achieve physically and aesthetically.
It felt so good. The doubt transcended. She was transfigured in a drive to spread awareness about the art form and address the stigma attached to it.
‘Belly Dance’ is a popular improvised version of Raqs Sharqi, a dance form originating in the Middle East that involves undulating, snaking movements of the torso. Highly recognized for the image of a voluptuous woman in a sequined dress with a bare midriff performing such moves.
It originated as an art form passed from mother to daughter to prepare the womb for childbirth and was often performed at social gatherings.
So how is it that along the way an art with such sacred origins came to be known as disreputable, something that no proper woman would indulge in and that was embarrassing for men to see too?
Patriarchy.
“Belly dancing exists at a point of conflict between women’s expressions of fundamental truths, and patriarchal interpretations of this expression. It is not an easy place to be”, Andrea Deagon expresses it well. It is these points of conflict from which we can alter realities.
While for women dance was a way to express emotions and a creative outlet to reconnect with their sensual self, which is an intrinsic aspect of the human state.
The patriarchal era saw women as a potentially disruptive force and their sexuality considered dangerous, due to the assumption that men cannot resist their powerful allure.
Cruel patriarchal norms thus gave rise to a stereotype of belly dancers as exotic, sexually available, morally questionable, unveiled dancers, an antithesis of restricted Muslim femininity.
Also, when the West began to colonize the Middle East, it attached the exotic element to it. Not understanding the vocabulary of the movement, they mistakenly perceived it as sensual and irrational. It was soon avoided as a dance that arouses carnal desires in men.
Because men cannot control themselves against the allure of women, they put the responsibility on women instead. Are there other reasons why it would be so inherently wrong for women to express their sexiness in public?
I would say that belly dancing is transgressive because it destabilizes social assumptions that women should not (publicly) shake or draw attention to their breasts, hips, abdomens, and especially their pelvises.
Today, women all over the world are embracing it and you ask them why.
Go beyond what is comfortable towards what stretches, challenges and revitalizes the mind. It helps them tap into their physicality, reconcile with their body, feel liberated, and foster a spirit of brotherhood.
It is sad that such an expressive dance form remains so misunderstood by most of society and because of my unabashed love for it, I can only hope that the world will soon come to embrace it.
