From a young age all S ever wanted to do was dance. At age two she would twirl and ask me, “Mommy am I a beautiful ballerina?” To this I would reply, “of course you are baby.” Even being only two years old her world was surrounded with images that were supposed to teach her what it meant to be beautiful. Barbie ballerinas were always her favorite. She would re-enact scenes from her favorite movies Barbie and the Nutcracker, Barbie of Swan Lake, and Barbie and the Twelve Dancing Princesses. Today S surrounds herself with what she loves. What she loves is to dance. She loves to be on stage and perform for others. The images of what beauty should be surround her on a daily basis. S plasters pictures of Prima Ballerinas and other dancers around her room and bathroom. Every day she makes sure that her make up is perfect, flawless, and makes her stand out. S stands with perfect posture because as she would say, “a dancer must never look sloppy. A dancer must always carry herself with perfect form.” Makeup scatters her bathroom sink so she can look flawless when she goes to school and her dance classes. When asked, “why did you pick red?” She always replies, “mom its because red stands out the best.” She wants to be the best and stand out. Dance should be about the art of the dance. Not the art of the beauty behind it. Does beauty truly make her happy? Every day she strives for perfection in an imperfect world. These worries and cares should not be painted on the face of an eleven-year-old child.
3 comments:
In today's society the pressure young girls have to fulfill men's expectations of what a women should look like is overwhelming and unrealistic. The photo on the young girls mirror is a perfect example of the obstacles young teenage girls face daily. Many of the pictures you see of dancers, they are thin and covered with make-up. Beauty isn’t defined by your looks or figure, and I think too many teenagers feel the pressure to fulfill the “norms” they see in the media. In the background of this photo you can also see make-up, hairspray, brushes, and many other things women use during their daily routines to make themselves “look better”. Most dancers who dance for a team are required to wear a lot of make-up regardless of their age, some dancers as young as 2 are even covered in make-up as well. Which in turn puts these young girls in the mindset that they need make-up to be beautiful and that is not something that young girls should have to worry about.
In this photo, with the messages on the wall and the urging to be beautiful, along with the more prestigious schools of ballet, indicate to me just what is needed to achieve "Grace". That is, in order to excel in this particular field, one must objectify themselves to strive for a loftier ambition than is reasonable. In the end, the application of makeup, the trimming of the figure down to the barest of self, seems to indicate that even in interpretive or ballet, we must also go for a doll like appearance. In this, we only consider the short term gains while ignoring the long term hardship this may cause to a person. In the NYC ballet image for example, you do not find someone who is older. Instead they are young people. Indicating that no matter what, you will only be able to do something for a short time if you follow this ambition. Even then, you will still end up objectified by others especially if they lack the crucial insight that is needed to understand the ins and outs of the ballet field.
When I look at this picture, THAT is what I inevitably see.
The beauty standard in the dance industry comes from a lot of places including professional performers, other dancers at competitions, but especially from dance catalogs and magazines. The pictures on both the poster and mirror symbolize the pressure from these magazines to me. In these pictures, not only are the dancers in professional hair and makeup, but they’re also airbrushed. Young dancers are exposed to these images and believe that that is what they’re supposed to look like not only when they are dancing, but at all times. This causes many young dancers to become perfectionists about their looks. All of the dancers in the pictures are also extremely thin and toned. It is very common for dancers at competitions, performances, and for pictures to draw on muscles with their makeup. When a young dancer looks at these pictures or other older dancers and sees very thin, very toned dancers they feel pressured to diet and exercise constantly in order to become the body type that they see throughout the dance world.
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