![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
random tummy thoughts...
Mar. 4th, 2005 10:06 amSomething I don't really get: the bodystocking. [If you don't already know, a body stocking is like a mesh bodysuit that lots of dancers use to cover their tummies; it's also a bit like a girdle.]
I mean, I get it a little if it's, say, a fishnet contraption - then it's kinda you can see me but I'm covered up, how sexy is that? (where by sexy I mean the way line weight is sexy, as in striking/intriguing). But I don't get it as a way to hide one's tummy in a costume. Cause they look kinda weird, they don't really suit midriff-baring costumes, and so it just seems much easier to just not wear midriff-baring tops in the first place (there are many non-midriff-baring costume options). I can totally understand not wanting to bear one's stomach - it's like wearing a bikini; we're not supposed to do it without first meeting some ephemeral idea of "perfect".
There's a weirdness to it, too - the bodystocking thing has a bit of this element of borrowing Islamic prohibitions, because there have been (and I think continue to be) countries in the Middle East where the bare midriff is/was prohibited. Covering the midriff because you think it's unattractive seems kind of like wearing the hijab to hide your 'bad' complexion, or to play at sexiness. Doing either in a deliberate and performative way while dancing for the right audience could be provocative/idea-generating/disturbing with regards to the female body (obviously, there are some issues with the bare stomach - which actually apply to men's bodies, too), but I don't think midriff covers have quite the same recognition for audiences as the hijab or burka.
I'm curious where the whole bodystocking thing came from for belly dance - whether it was in fact a mid east import or is actually borrowed from modern dance in some way. Anyone know?
I mean, I get it a little if it's, say, a fishnet contraption - then it's kinda you can see me but I'm covered up, how sexy is that? (where by sexy I mean the way line weight is sexy, as in striking/intriguing). But I don't get it as a way to hide one's tummy in a costume. Cause they look kinda weird, they don't really suit midriff-baring costumes, and so it just seems much easier to just not wear midriff-baring tops in the first place (there are many non-midriff-baring costume options). I can totally understand not wanting to bear one's stomach - it's like wearing a bikini; we're not supposed to do it without first meeting some ephemeral idea of "perfect".
There's a weirdness to it, too - the bodystocking thing has a bit of this element of borrowing Islamic prohibitions, because there have been (and I think continue to be) countries in the Middle East where the bare midriff is/was prohibited. Covering the midriff because you think it's unattractive seems kind of like wearing the hijab to hide your 'bad' complexion, or to play at sexiness. Doing either in a deliberate and performative way while dancing for the right audience could be provocative/idea-generating/disturbing with regards to the female body (obviously, there are some issues with the bare stomach - which actually apply to men's bodies, too), but I don't think midriff covers have quite the same recognition for audiences as the hijab or burka.
I'm curious where the whole bodystocking thing came from for belly dance - whether it was in fact a mid east import or is actually borrowed from modern dance in some way. Anyone know?