http://bellydancing.tribe.net/thread/668ce29d-2a4d-4c3e-be30-924b7eb562ae?format=rss Tribe.net. Local Connections http://bellydancing.tribe.net/thread/668ce29d-2a4d-4c3e-be30-924b7eb562ae#3955c365-c234-458e-be29-b75e4f560a15 I agree with Inky. It's wonderful that the belly dance community has such a healthy attitude towards body image. I find most concern falls with people who are outside the community. I've heard "I'd love to try belly dance but no one would want to see that!" so many times. I've also heard people say belly dancers should not be flat chested, short haired, glasses wearing, tattooed, plus size, short etc. It's mostly from people whose exposure to the dance is limited to holleywood movies. Dancers should not fit into a particular body image. We are not afterall trying for spots in playboy or maxim. Instead we should be focusing on behavior and character on and off stage. For myself I was chunkier in my early twenties. Now I'm in my thirties and am lighter than I've been probably since I was a kid. I still have a nice big belly it is part of my family genes:) In the past 10 years I've had a few lifestyle changes that I'll use as reasoning why I'm smaller now...I quit smoking, quit the desk job for an active one and educated myself on nutrition and ditched the sugar. I can't attribute it all to dance but I do think it played a part in quitting smoking and eating healthier. I just felt it was too ridiculous to dance for a few hours and then go have a smoke and eat fast food. Tue, 09 Oct 2007 15:53:57 GMT http://bellydancing.tribe.net/thread/668ce29d-2a4d-4c3e-be30-924b7eb562ae#3955c365-c234-458e-be29-b75e4f560a15 Amy 2007-10-09T15:53:57Z http://bellydancing.tribe.net/thread/668ce29d-2a4d-4c3e-be30-924b7eb562ae#d7fe39ed-02ff-439b-a5e2-0b2f7d4dc5ec If anything... belly dance has made me more comfortable with myself as I am - love handles, stretch marks and all! I notice this a lot with other dancers I have encountered... the larger ones, whilst aiming to get healthier, aren't ashamed of their bodies... and the smaller ones are a lot more tolerant and less prejudiced when it comes to larger sized women. Wed, 21 Feb 2007 02:19:47 GMT http://bellydancing.tribe.net/thread/668ce29d-2a4d-4c3e-be30-924b7eb562ae#d7fe39ed-02ff-439b-a5e2-0b2f7d4dc5ec Inky 2007-02-21T02:19:47Z http://bellydancing.tribe.net/thread/668ce29d-2a4d-4c3e-be30-924b7eb562ae#c5f1b8e9-a022-43eb-aeae-5967dfdbb176 I can totally understand the "You don't have a belly!" thing. I can't remember at this point how many people told me that when I first started dancing. At first, it was kind of amusing. And after a while, I got tired of hearing it. I really don't understand why someone's size should restrict them from doing something, most of all bellydance. That's one of the things that attracted me most to this style - you can be anything and any size you darn well please. And that goes for the larger-proportioned women as well. I mean, crap, it's not like we're polevaulting or something. I love the fact that this dance relies on muscle, not body mass. Our community is so open and welcoming that we applaud three-year olds and eighty-nine year olds. I love it. Moving on, bellydance hasn't really changed my behavior. I don't exercise more, I don't eat differently, I don't really do anything that I didn't do eight years ago. As for other people's comments and ideas, they really don't effect me too much. You think that bellydancers should be grossly overweight? That's your own damn problem, not mine. I'm still going to dance, and do it as well as I can. I think that if anything, the community itself has changed the way I look at people - not dancers, but people. I have since learned to accept more things and more ideas for what they are. And I have learned that whatever weird idea someone comes up with for a number, it can be pulled off and look damn good, depending on how you execute it. Just like with anything else, if you carry yourself well, no one cares what you look like. Mon, 08 Jan 2007 18:23:27 GMT http://bellydancing.tribe.net/thread/668ce29d-2a4d-4c3e-be30-924b7eb562ae#c5f1b8e9-a022-43eb-aeae-5967dfdbb176 $item.owner.firstName 2007-01-08T18:23:27Z http://bellydancing.tribe.net/thread/668ce29d-2a4d-4c3e-be30-924b7eb562ae#83d10a59-3b2d-4baa-a0a0-59b2339c534b I deal with a lot of people and I hear a lot of these same two comments: 1. "I want to learn to bellydance but I need to lose weight first" 2. "I don't have the belly to be a bellydancer" I know it is a paradox! Perceptions so opposite to each other. Now, in the bellydance community, we well know that this dance is open to ALL, and that includes body types. One of the great things is the diversity with a common passion. One of the things that I love about this dance is that it embraces everyone. Occasionally I have been told from people who had just found out that I bellydance. 1. You are a bellydancer!? but you don't have a belly!!!! 2. You are too skinny to be a bellydancer. These comments make me laugh and I brush them off. However, for sometime now, I have been wondering how bellydance has changed the way others look at their body? or , has it? Since having taken up this dance, do you eat differently? do you exercise more (beside the regular dance classes?) Have you been told you cannot or should not be a bellydancer because you don't fit the "bellydancer" body stereotype? Do other people's comments and their concept of what they think a bellydancer should look like effect you physically and/or emotionally? Thu, 21 Dec 2006 07:16:06 GMT http://bellydancing.tribe.net/thread/668ce29d-2a4d-4c3e-be30-924b7eb562ae#83d10a59-3b2d-4baa-a0a0-59b2339c534b Sabeya 2006-12-21T07:16:06Z