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Full-Text Articles in Social Work
Healing Through Movement: The Benefits Of Belly Dance For Gendered Victimization, Angela Moe
Healing Through Movement: The Benefits Of Belly Dance For Gendered Victimization, Angela Moe
Angela M. Moe
Perceptions of “belly dance” are that it is degrading, exploitive, and incongruous to feminism. Curiously, however, the dance is incredibly popular in various parts of the world, including the United States, as a form of recreation and creative expression. This paper examines the apparent disconnect between public perception and practitioner standpoint. Findings indicate a strong holistic healing component, particularly in terms of gendered interpersonal victimization, where belly dance seems to hold potential for self-exploration and discovery. Grounded historically, culturally and empirically, these findings are discussed in terms of their application to social work practice as it relates to alternative therapies.
Sequins, Sass And Sisterhood: An Exploration Of Older Women's Belly Dancing, Angela M. Moe
Sequins, Sass And Sisterhood: An Exploration Of Older Women's Belly Dancing, Angela M. Moe
Angela M. Moe
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 paper 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.