The recent debate of whether or not Shakira and Jennifer Lopez were self-objectifying in their titillating dance performances during the 2020 Super Bowl reminded me of a scholastic paper I wrote a few years back delving into a similar theme:
Is bellydance an outdated fantasy of Orientalism or is it an accessible tool for modern women to experience empowerment and healing through the embodiment and expression of the sacred feminine?
According to the Orientalist point-of-view, women are perceived as objects of lust that are designed for pleasing male fantasies. The theory of the male-oriented gaze supports the Orientalist argument that sensuality-based activities such as bellydancing are fundamentally constructed around fulfilling masculine desires.
The feminist movements of the West, however, have appropriated bellydancing as a vehicle for women to celebrate their bodies and express their empowerment. Through this outer display of sensuality, the provocative characteristics of bellydance provide women a pathway to self love and the internal embodiment of feminine wisdom.
Three years ago, as I was deeply pondering the duality of these two frameworks while questioning my own motivations in bellydancing as an American woman, I decided to dig deeper and look at the research. My goal was to separate bellydance from its stigmatized roots and showcase how it is a highly beneficial dance form for all feminine beings to guiltlessly enjoy.
In doing so, I found overwhelming evidence that in addition to being a worthwhile form of exercise, there is a distinct new movement of sacred feminism emerging and being experienced through the art of bellydance as the gaze of Orientalism fades and female empowerment continues to gain momentum.
This blog post is a reader-friendly version of my findings. You can also read my original, fully cited paper here.
Background of the Problem
The dance genre known as bellydance is a melting pot of eclectic and expressive dance styles originating from around the Middle East. In “Unveiling the Gaze: Belly Dance as a Site of Refuge, Re-envisioning and Resistance,” the social context of bellydance is explained as a popular recreational activity that was originated by women to be danced among other women. Its uncodified and easily personalized movements are commonly used in celebrations, ceremonies, and in the everyday lives of many Middle Easterners today as well as practitioners from around the globe.
Bellydance is thought to be civilization’s oldest dance form, and it may have played a role in early goddess worship and birthing rituals, among other celebrations.
Unfortunately, bellydance is sometimes viewed as inappropriate eroticism rather then an indigenous form of feminine expression. Historical images often depict bellydancers as wanton objects of men’s desire within the harems and slave markets of the Ottoman Empire. Many women were sold as domestic servants or sex slaves, and those who actually danced by trade were legally and socially ostracized for doing so.
Additionally, as highlighted in “Beyond the Belly: An appraisal of Middle Eastern Dance (aka Belly Dance) as Leisure,” this stigma continued into America in the late 1800s with the introduction of the “hootchy kootchy” and the historically inaccurate “dance of the seven veils” which became wildly popular on vaudeville stages by the early 1900s.
These negative portrayals of bellydancers as tricksters, villains, and prostitutes continued to be a popular theme in the hundreds of Western-financed films that were shot on location in Egypt in the mid-1900s. Because of this exploitation of women in the name of trade, colonialism, and tourism, both the Middle East and bellydancing have suffered.
Despite being a stigmatized genre of dance with a confusing history, bellydancing has become a modern phenomenon in many countries outside of the Middle East.
It provides community and social support to both amateur and professional dancers while encouraging personal growth, physical fitness, and spiritual connection. Bellydancing has also been found to build confidence, positive body image, and self-esteem while reducing stress. And bellydancing helps define the boundary between empowered and objectified sexuality, an unsettled debate in the ongoing discourse of feminism.
Exposing Orientalism
The drag of bellydance’s history.
Bellydancing enacts a longing for the experience of an uncomplicated femininity by staging a stylized, mythical sensuality to nullify these enduring legacies of imperialism, materialism, and feminism, even as it literally “drags” these histories along.
In “Fantasies of Exposure: Belly Dancing, the Veil, and the Drag of History,” the dichotomy between exploited and empowered women is explored through bellydancing using the metaphoric veil that has come to represent a boundary between binaries such as exposure/concealment, timelessness/backwardness, truth/secret, and freedom/oppression.
On either side of the veil, women’s bodies are used as cultural and temporal drag to either imaginatively resolve (through bellydancing) or reinforce (in covering with the veil) the political, religious, and sexual differences between the Middle East and the West.
Combatting the male gaze in bellydance.
This juxtaposition of Orientalism and feminism through the polarized images of Western and Muslim femininities sets the stage for exploring the power of “the gaze” or the realization of being watched and judged by others and then altering one’s conduct in response. According to “Unveiling the Gaze,” this becomes the feminist concept of the “male gaze” when applied to women specifically—as they often feel more assessed on their physical appearance than men.
Bellydancing is utilized as a means to combat the gaze in three distinct ways: as a refuge from it while within woman-dominated dance events, as a means of re-envisioning it by influencing what the audience sees, and resisting it by actively challenging the stereotypes.
Bellydancing as a Means for Female Emancipation
Liberating the desires of the feminine.
Feminist movements have shaped this duality between the objectifying practice of Orientalism and the feministic appropriation of bellydancing for women’s empowerment by framing bellydance as a liberating practice. In the thesis, “Releasing the She Wolf: A Discourse Analysis on Shakira’s Positioning of Dance Within the Discourses on Belly Dancing, Orientalism and Feminism,” it is revealed that the secret of letting go of the oppressive male gaze is to truly own and be confident in the sexiness of being a woman.
Through a qualitative data analysis of various interviews with Shakira—who was chosen because of her popularity and worldwide influence on bellydance— a conclusion was drawn that Shakira’s stance of the importance of satisfying your own desires through the freedom of expression available through bellydance shows that Orientalism is indeed outdated.
The other is really the self.
In bellydance, the Western women’s projections of powerful sexuality onto Middle Eastern women is, interestingly, a reflection of what they see as a denial of the female body in their own culture. The “otherness” of bellydance has become an embodiment tool for understanding the emergent meanings of bellydance for women as individuals.
In “Exotic Identities: Dance, Difference, and Self-Fashioning,” embodied practices are explored as distinct from representational practices of exotic othering through two independent ethnographic studies of bellydancers and salsa dancers in America. The dancers interviewed seek to embody rather than just represent the Other, even while performing, and it is discovered that participants in both dance scenes engage in self-fashioning through bodily movements.
Reconnecting to sensuality and sexuality.
True empowerment involves women connecting to their bodies regardless of, and often in direct contrast to, society’s expectations.
According to “Beyond the Belly,” bellydance creates a safe outlet for women to reconnect to their inherent sensual and sexual selves and the freedom to do so on their own terms. And because bellydance can still be judged as inappropriately erotic, it may actually be relevant to women for the same reason.
Seen in this context, bellydancing can be utilized as a feminist form of leisure for counterbalancing gender-role stereotypes through the omnipotent empowerment it offers those who dance it.
Bellydance as an Embodying Activity
Positive body image.
Bellydance confronts narrow body image norms and promotes healthier body image among participants. In a qualitative survey of bellydancers conducted in “Body Image in Belly Dance: Integrating Alternative Norms into Collective Identity,” it was indicated that bellydance exerts a positive influence on women because the bellydancers reported experiencing high body satisfaction even when they perceive some discrepancy between their own body type and social ideals.
Not only does this positively influence how dancers feel about their bodies individually, but it has the potential to positively contribute to communities in the world at large.
The embodiment model of positive body image.
Building on the idea that freeing one’s inner desires is the key to empowerment and that bellydance promotes a healthier body image among participants, embodiment activities also help prevent self-objectification in practitioners.
In “Belly Dance as an Embodying Activity?: A Test of the Embodiment Model of Positive Body Image,” it was concluded that bellydance is indeed an embodying activity because it increases self-esteem while reducing self-objectification despite being viewed as an erotic and sexually alluring activity.
This is an important study because it separates bellydance from exotic dance (which scores lower on body image) by highlighting that this dance form is less about dancing for the approving gaze of others while establishing that the experience of self enjoyment through bellydance has tangible physical benefits that makes one feel good and sexy from within.
Bellydance as a Spiritual Medium
The spiritual framework of leisure.
Connecting with something bigger than one’s self is the experience and goal of many bellydancers. In the article, “Transforming Spirituality in Artistic Leisure: How the Spiritual Meaning of Belly Dance Changes Over Time,” a study was conducted using qualitative interviews to measure specifically how spirituality experienced through bellydance either remains stable for participants or transforms over time.
It found that more exposure within a leisure pursuit does not necessarily enhance the experience of spirituality of that activity. Rather, the dancers who already define spirituality from extra-theistic frameworks (which gives spiritual meaning to experiences outside of formal religious experiences) are the ones who experience spirituality within bellydance and other artistic leisure pursuits.
The transformative power of numinous dancing.
With or without a spiritual framework, bellydance is an expression of power. It gives dancers the ability to manipulate energy, to create compelling performances that touch or move people, and to challenge mind, body and gender dualisms while subverting patriarchal norms.
In “Dancing the Numinous: Sacred and Spiritual Techniques of Contemporary American Belly Dancers,” a conclusion was drawn from numerous interviews with bellydancers that intertwining the soul and body enables bellydancers to feel a sense of freedom, satisfaction, and interconnection that is otherwise difficult to find and pursue.
Through the ritualization of performances, bellydancers also dissolve the imaginary boundaries between the sacred and the secular as they transform their dreams into reality. Many dancers believe that their experiences of numinous dancing are positive, desirable, and something to be integrated into their lives as much as possible.
Bellydance as a Healing Modality
An exploration of older women’s bellydancing.
Bellydancing provides empowering spaces for women to transcend negative stereotypes about being older. Aging women can utilize the gifts of bellydance to regain mobility, reclaim social space, rebuild community support, and redefine sensuality later in life.
In “Sequins, Sass, and Sisterhood: An Exploration of Older Women’s Belly Dancing,” older women reported feeling good about their dancing because the positive feelings came from within themselves despite the stigma that is attached to bellydance.
This reinforces the concept of bellydance as a modern embodiment tool and supports how it is an accessible modality for holistic healing at all ages.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Orientalist viewpoint of bellydancing stereotypes Middle Eastern women (and those who emulate them) as woefully alluring and sensual creatures who are feeding the fantasies of the male-oriented gaze, and thus, their own objectification. On the other hand, the Western feminist movement promotes bellydancing as a practice of female empowerment; through the act of embodying the “exotic other” as an alternate expression of the self, one is able to counter-balance the unequal distribution of power between the masculine and feminine that continues in many, if not all, parts of the world today.
It is my hope that this information helps:What was discovered in my findings is that the gaze is fading and a new wave of feminism—a sacred and sensual femininity— is accessible to all women who choose to explore it through bellydance.
- to reconcile the disparity between bellydancers and their audiences globally,
- to promote the use of the bellydance for physical connection and deep healing among feminine beings,
- to bridge the worlds between cultures, genders, and dance genres through movement,
- to create more adoration and respect for the expression of the sacred feminine, and
- to empower women to deeply love and become their most powerful selves.
Disclosure
I write from the perspective of being a cisgender, female, American bellydancer trained in Egyptian raqs sharqi as well as other styles of bellydance spanning the last 20 years. I have intentionally focused on bellydance as an embodiment activity for women (or those identifying as women) in exploring their femininity.
It is plausible that not all female bellydancers feel feminine in their dancing, and further research still needs to be conducted to evaluate the gamut of feminine and masculine energies experienced within bellydance by women.
Also, there are men and trans men who bellydance, too! How they fit into the modern bellydance scene was not evaluated in this research for they are still a minority within this rather gender-segregated free space mostly enjoyed by women.
This is not meant to exclude men or suggest that they don’t offer valuable contributions to the art…some of my all-time favorite bellydancers are men! What these men seek in the context of bellydance is still in need of its own research, though, since most of them dance effeminately (though not all of them)!
And one last thing…though it is more common to see “bellydance” written as two words of late (and you will notice that I used the words separately in my original paper), I have recently started using the words “belly” and “dance” together as the compound noun “bellydance” to describe this dance form. Both are technically correct; this is just my personal preference lately.