Female professional dancers' feelings of self-consciousness and 'being exposed'

What is it about?

The article engages with the idea that women (girls) are typically made to feel inhibited about engaging in physical activity in a way that men (boys) are not. For female professional dancers there is no inhibition about the physical dimensions of what they do, yet there remains some sense of uncomfortableness about 'exposing themselves' through movement when they're expressing something very personal in their dance. The article explores the difference between men and women's experience in relation to 'feeling exposed' or vulnerable in this context.

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Why is it important?

We live in a world where women's bodies are regularly objectified in the media, meaning that women's bodies are primarily understood as a-thing-to-be-looked-at rather than a means of achieving a goal. This complicates many women's relationships with sport (because they feel self-conscious about their bodies rather than simply going ahead and getting on with using the body). What this article shows is that physical activity can make women feel self-conscious and vulnerable even when they are professional dancers - not in the sense that their movements are inhibited or that they fear engaging in difficult movements, but in the sense that they 'feel exposed' to other people judging them with regard to the personal aspects that they express when they dance. Most importantly of all, perhaps, the article shows that this isn't necessarily considered a bad thing by female dancers, rather it's an important part of their artistic journey and an ultimately enriching experience.