Body Hair Rant (tangential)

Yesterday, Ona was waxing my legs while we discussed if putting makeup on my ass-zits was necessary for the upcoming performance. We decided against the makeup as we painfully ripped hot wax and hair off of my skin. Clearly makeup would be too much.

Can I just say, WTF? Why do contemporary dancers have such old school contructs such as:

1. hair between a woman's legs: doesn't exist.
2. neither does hair on her legs.
3. she is also hairless under her arms.
4. if hair in these areas of a female-sexed body is exposed during a performance, it is distracting from the dance and deemed inappropriate.
5. women preferably have small perky breasts. If they are bigger, make sure that they are well covered and also not distracting.
6. if a man and a woman compete in an audition, the man will probably get the part, because he is male-bodied and possibly more athletic, able, and interesting on stage than a woman, regardless of what the audition actually shows. If a woman wears a softie, will she have more chances? Maybe she could start taking T.
7. it is better if a female dancer's head hair is long (think pina bausch)-- this is more beautiful.
8. tomboy, sort-hair female-bodied dancers are cool, but they still shave their legs, pussy, and armpits.
9. dancers of any gender or sex, don't have zits on their ass.
10. in a time of crisis, when none of us have any money or grants or auditions, we should still compete heavily with each other: dance is inherently competitive.
11. ballet and modern win. linear hegemonic narrative wins.
12. auditions are still functional.
13. dancers are inherently poor, overworked, underpaid.
14. "this person can dance. This other person cannot dance." and finally, "when you are old, you cannot dance."
15. the word "emerging" means "young"
16. dancers must be 150% all the time, no matter what.
17. it is o.k. if a dancer does not get paid.-- even the dancer accepts this fact.
18. if you, as a dancer, do not agree with #'s 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, then you do not have what it takes to be a dancer. (it's fine, you can become a dance critic!)


my response to these absurdities: suck my dildo!