HOPE

Thoughts..

I've heard  a lot about how the Belly dancers who "dress/behave like prostitutes damage our image as Belly Dancers" from Japanese, Western, and ME dancers.
And according to them, those "irresponsible dancers" caused situations that serious dancers have to face the sexual harassment/abuse.

Here is my question. Is it okay to harass/abuse/bully women if they're sex workers or "look like sex workers"(if  that even makes sense)?

Absolutely NO.

Sex workers agreed to provide certain kinds of  services under certain circumstances. That does NOT mean that they gave up on the ownership of their own bodies. And there are women who are forced to get involved in that industry while there are also sex  workers who actually chose their job. And  none of them deserves to be called their names especially by strangers.

 

Photographed by Mr.エリックペルティエ

 I'm oppose to stigmatizing other women who are already marginalized in the society.  Harassers harass because they objectify  victims, not because they see some skin.  I get where the backlash is coming from considering everything that performers had to go through under the bad reputation of "Belly Dance". However, we  need to remember Who judge women, claim the ownership of women's bodies, and created the "bad reputation" of women.

In the society where  women keep being objectified and slut-shamed, none of us is safe. Performing is definitely not safe no matter how "classy" we dress. 

Photographed by Mr.Hori

I'm not saying that I'm unaware of the importance of being sensitive to the context and how to present myself in this dance form, especially as a foreign dancer. Oriental Dance, or even ME women have  been sexualized in the west over centuries and that  has a lot to do with colonialism.  In my view,  people in eastern Asia including Japan are also not completely free from the westernized view towards ME. 

I try to be true to who I really am when performing, not just following the stereotypes. I want to embrace this dance and the music as a whole. That requires me to be genuine and transparent. My goal  is to interpret the music and my soul, not to show off my body.

 I'm still new in this life long journey but I've  made mistakes and will make mistakes. I will just never stop learning because it's a huge privilege that I'm ABLE to study and enjoy the dance as an art form.

I hope to show my love and respect as an artist by my effort and my creativity, not by stigmatizing other women.

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