Originally Posted by runtofly
It is not only pop culture. Many of our very ideals are written into gender programing when we are toddlers. What does every little girl want to be when she grows up? A pretty ballerina (ethereal, otherworldly, lighter than air beauty) in a tutu. (a costume that only looks dashing on the smallest and leanest of bodies, and if your backside is too big it will tilt up in the back, down in the front- you can't hide anything in a tutu- or should I say "22")
Growing up in the severely trained world of professional dance, I can attest to the image problems that plague the highest ideal of artistic representation personified by young girls- that then seeps into fashion (Audry Hepburn and Penelope Cruz were both classically trained dancers, just to name a few) and other pop culture influences.
The training style of dancers is amazingly disciplined- to the point of bloody body parts, broken bones, severe injuries and self mutilation that travel into the psychological realms. It aligns beauty with pain, (I still feel that the most beautiful yet painful feeling I have ever had is dancing on pointe and doing very risky partnering work) and the "master and slave" mentality. One point we female dancers often bemoan is the lack of female leadership in an art form full of women- we are straight up told to marry wealthy because we cannot do anything other than dance. Mary well, have a family, and then you are worthless to the art form- used up and shipped out.
Some of the best advice I received in my training was, "You are not a dancer. You a person who happens to dance." (This was also the women who brought a shaman into the dance department to experiment with other forms of movement and spiritual patterns, but was a pinnacle moment in my professional development) This art form that is meant to release the soul became so trapped of emotional and psychological stress for me and my fellow classmates that this teacher stopped the class of 10 girls (very small advanced level in my school) and almost blurted out this in pain.
I was a teenager in the '90's, and I can't speak for any other generation but the point of my teenage angst. However, I really do see a ramping up of this "self identification in pop culture" to be a specific item, and if you don't fit- you are worthless. It starts with my niece who is 3 yrs old singing Hanna Montana, and just continues on from there. But, when the ideal comes from entertainment (Britney Spears, HM, the Bratz) opposed to a so-called high art (dance, and dare I say couture fashion?? I tend to think it is a joke these days) this leads to strangely base, lower shakra ideals. However, any ideal seams to be a trapping to me these days- even being pinned down to personal association within an art form....
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