“Nobody puts Baby in a corner” placing attractiveness in dancing coupled with alternative masculinities and affective-sexual relationships in Dirty Dancing film

ABSTRACT

The success and popularity of the film Dirty Dancing (1987) placed it at the center of research interest. Many articles have been published about it, including supposedly critical analyses interpreting it as classist and sexist (Giroux, 1989). However, none of these analyses present evidence about femininity and masculinity models and affective-sexual relationships developed in the film. In this paper, the main protagonist, Johnny, and his antagonist, Robbie, are analysed in the scenes in which they interact with the protagonist, Baby, and the secondary characters, Penny and Lisa. The results show that Robbie’s character corresponds mainly to a toxic model of masculinity while the protagonist Johnny’s character corresponds mainly to an alternative model of masculinity. The affective-sexual relationships they establish are also reported. In her relationship with Robbie, Penny has an unwanted pregnancy and is depicted by him. Conversely, Johnny introduces Baby in dancing, they start a relationship, and she evolves in the film in improving security and self-esteem. Dancing as an attractive key issue in the film is placed in this last relationship. Finally, the article discusses the possible role of the film in promoting the attractiveness of dance coupled with more egalitarian relationships and alternative models of masculinity.

KEYWORDS:

• Attractiveness dancing
• alternative masculinities
• affective-sexual relationships
• gender

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Olga Serradell

Olga Serradell is Associate Professor of Sociology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where she has been Dean of the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology (2021-24). She implemented a pioneering Gender Violence Training Plan based on scientific evidence of social impact for the prevention of sexual harassment at the university. In the EHESS (2006-08, Paris), she has researched and published on social inequalities and successful actions to overcome them, incorporating the gender pespective. Her scientific contributions include those related to the dialogic model of conflict prevention and resolution, and the contributions of women from ethnic minorities to improving coexistence.

Elena Duque

Elena Duque is Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Barcelona. She has developed research framed in overcoming social inequalities through education and socialization. Her research is mainly focused in the field of gender violence prevention in schools environments and in nightlife. She has participated in more than 15 European projects as the H2020 ALL-INTERACT (2020-2023) focused on the engamente of citizens in scientific evidence in gender and education; and more than 20 national and regional projects. She has directed national and regional research on gender violence prevention and scientific-based teachers training. She has published in scientific journals as Qualitive Inquiry, Violence against women, Plos One and Evidence & Policy, among others.

Regina Gairal-Casadó

Regina Gairal-Casadó is a lecturer at the department of Pedagogy at Rovira i Virgili University. Her line of research has an impact on education, academic inclusion, social cohesion, and the personal well-being of vulnerable groups, focusing on children and adolescents in are, migrant and Roma people. Along these lines, she has directed two projects funded by the Spanish Foundatin for Science and Technology and has participated in six projects funded by the European Commission, two projects funded by the Research and Development National Plan and seven Projects form other competitive calls. The results of the research carried out have been published in journals indexed in the Journal Citation Report.

Laura Natividad-Sancho

Laura Natividad-Sancho is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Pedagogy and researcher at the Social Impact and Education-IMSE a the Rovira i Virgili University. Her research activity focuses on the analysis of dialogic learning environments for social transformation, with a special interest in oercoming violnce and social inequality in vulnerable groups. Her research has been published in journals indexed in the Journal Citation Reports.