Sequins, Sass, and Sisterhood: An Exploration of Older Women's Belly Dancing

Abstract

Disempowering stereotypes plague public perceptions of older women's bodies, particularly within Western contemporary societies. Consequently, as women age, their bodies often become sources of shame, discomfort, and ridicule. Belly dance, as a form of recreative leisure, provides a unique and somewhat unexpected space for women to subvert such perceptions. Based on qualitative interviews with older American women who belly dance, this article examines the ways in which this form of recreation provides participants a means of (re)gaining mobility, (re)claiming social space, (re)building social support, and (re)defining what it means to be sensual later in life.

Keywords:

• belly dance
• menopause
• recreation
• mobility
• empowerment
• peer support
• sensuality

Notes

1. Terminology for this dance is problematic, as several labels exist. Middle Eastern, Arabic, and Oriental dance are common because they may be fairly universally applied to the region of the world from which the dance originates. Other names connote cultural, language, and regional differences (e.g., Turkish Orientale, Andalusian [Moorish], Egyptian Arabic references to beledi [“dance of the country or common people”] and raqs sharqi [“dance of the East”]; Osweiler, 2006a, 2006, 2006c; Shay & Sellers-Young, 2005). With the rising popularity of this dance, additional names have developed (i.e., belly dance, cabaret, American Tribal Style; Osweiler, 2006a, 2006b, 2006c). Despite etymological debate about naming a dance after a specific body part that likely contributes toward its stereotyping, belly dance (sometimes stated as one word: bellydance) is the most common term in the U.S. There seems to be a conscious use of the term today, perhaps as a means of reclaiming that which has been historically misinterpreted and subjugated. It is for these reasons, and out of respect of the epistemological philosophy guiding this research, that I predominantly rely upon belly dance here (opting for two words out of grammatical preference).