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"Ballet is like porn"


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I came across this thread from 2013 and then read the “Time Out” interview where the quote came from.  When asked “What would you like to change about the perception of ballet?” Tamara Rojo replied, “That it’s a girl’s thing, a fluffy thing, a child’s thing.  It isn’t.  I just hate infantilization of women.  In everything,  In fashion, in ballet, in politics.  Ballet can be many things and I don’t think we have yet managed to spread that information.”

It was only near the end of the interview that any mention of porn was made.  Her reply to “Does it matter that there are fewer female choreographers?” her answer was “Yes, because female sensitivity is different.  And there are issues that I want to see on stage approached by women.  Very often we see relationships approached from a male perspective.  Like in porn, it shapes the way you look at things.”

So, the mention of porn was only near the end of the interview and it was made only to explain a previous idea.  She was not saying that ballet was pornagraphic, only that the creation of ballet and porn is dominated by men.  Whenever I read the idea that “female sensitivity is different” I think of “Nature versus Nurture.”  Are women’s sensitivity different due to nature or due to how women are brought up and how gender norms differ.

In regard to this women clearly commit many, many fewer homicides than men do.  Could it be if women were more involved in stories, ballet stories included, would there be less violence and in particular fewer innocent women dying.  In any case as KFW commented earlier in this thread “Men have dominated many fields and catered to their own gender in so doing. . .”  This has been the case in Films, Songs, Literature etc. with the result that most of the stories we see, read or hear about are about men or boys.

Tom,

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Those are all good points, Tom. Things are changing, but slowly. Thank you for reviving this thread.

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the stories we see, read or hear about are about men or boys.

One heartening thing is that animated movies aimed at children now feature girls as the protagonist more frequently and not just as princesses to be rescued, not that I'm knocking "The Sleeping Beauty." :)

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9 hours ago, Tom47 said:

Whenever I read the idea that “female sensitivity is different” I think of “Nature versus Nurture.”  Are women’s sensitivity different due to nature or due to how women are brought up and how gender norms differ.

These things are never really an either/or situation - both the physical body and the surrounding environment (and human society) constantly interact, and influence an individual's thoughts and the creation of beliefs, values, etc.
Humans seek easy answers because being alive is such an overwhelming and complex thing.  😉

“Men have dominated many fields and catered to their own gender in so doing. . .” This situation is clearly an issue if one doesn't happen to identify with the male gender. Would a more 'matriarchal' society provide adequate expression for both sexes? Or would the society simply reverse its orientation to concentrate on values supposedly associated with the female gender? And further - do the values of a society actually change how a human feels physically/internally? Pretty much every impulse of the human body is driven by hormones - we don't sleep, eat, have sex (or try to, hee hee) without hormones to initiate and control these functions. Without hormones, we would have little ambition to do anything. It's not about coming up with a concept or having enough willpower. Humans don't go to sleep simply because we are all fond of the idea of going to sleep. If that's all it was, we would all stay awake indefinitely! How much can a society's values and obsessions actually control human biological and chemical makeup and development? Which is a fancy (or obscure) way of asking, can humans dramatically change their own behavior and 'feelings' if Nature hasn't initiated this change?

We know there are cultures that appear generally less destructive, less violent, for example. Some of us would like to think that this society and its environment have somehow physically morphed those people into a somewhat different, 'safer' human. But on the ground, the individuals of that society are not really so different from any other human. Violent impulses and acts might appear latent in those societies. But they are still there.

Edited by pherank
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Dirac, thank you for your positive comment.  I agree that ‘Things are changing, but slowly."  The stories of the last three best picture winners had female protagonists although “Everything, Everywhere, all at Once” was directed and written by men.  “CODA” was directed by a woman and two of its three writers were women.  ”Noradland” was directed by a woman and written by two women.  Women are even more involved in directing porn.  Erica Lust is a female producer of porn, although she does not call it that.  I saw a youtube, non-porn video of her directing and I was struck that almost all of the people involved were women.  The two actors were women.  What would have been better for me would have been if the actors were two men.

Pherank, I agree that things are generally not “either/or.”  While some behavior is largely due to human nature I believe that values of a particular society could change how a member of that society behaves and I feel that behavior is an indicator of how a human feels physically/internally. 

Tom,

Edited by Tom47
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