Ballet classes

It's like saying nobody should ever join a kids' fell running club in case they decide a decade later to become an olympic athlete and then damage a tendon due to all the training

Do only female ballet dancers run the risk of physical injury? You would think so from some of the posts on here.

But it's a thread in the Feminism section, so points about stereotypes are valid here.

Nobody is asking you to love an art form.

It's a thread about children's classes.

It's like saying nobody should ever join a kids' fell running club in case they decide a decade later to become an olympic athlete and then damage a tendon due to all the training.

Most kids will never be allowed to lift anyone, be up on pointe etc, because they don't have the physique to do so.

Training for rugby.......

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD86NEdBa6g

Ds is 2 next month and will be joining his sister's ballet class

I'm not missing your point Lass, I'm just making a different one. The answers from other posters aren't persuading me to love an art form in which people are injured by wearing impractical footwear and following sex stereotypes (or roles according to their physique which almost always translates into male = strong and leaping, female = light and floating)

urgh...ballet... the cause of my awful bunions! I wouldn't have taken my son based on that alone, even if boys don't stand on their toes... My son is only 2 but get's alot out of playing rugby/football and he's learning basketball now too. The shoes ballet dancers have to wear are completely impractical. I would encourage gymnastics though, that is a fantastic sport to get into.

The vast majority of kids doing ballet are not going to be suitable to dance on pointe or lift anyone anyway, so it is unlikely to be an issue.

Ever watched the Trocs? And there are now a few more male pointe roles such as a Midsummer Nights Dream & Beatrix Potter.

The health risks for men and women are different in ballet. Men are at risk of back injury due to the lifting.

Is the argument here that we should abolish all physical activity where people of different physiques take on different roles?

You know what, I don't care. And that test is ridiculous in the context of ballet. Men and women are not exactly the same.

You are also missing the point. I was objecting to the "boys do ballet" as a validation. As if anything which girls do is inferior unless boys do it.

But it's not the same activity. Men don't stand on pointe and do permanent damage to their feet. One of the classic MN tests for 'is it sexist?' Is 'are men expected to do the same?' And ballet fails this.

Quite lass

Lots of males do ballet!

Yes but why does an activity have to be validated as being worthwhile because boys do it too?

My DD does 8 dance classes a week, one is ballet. She has two boys in her class.

My friends 9 year old son has just auditioned for the Royal Ballet.

Lots of males do ballet!

No, that was the OP.

Thanks Lass . I didn't make the comment about ballet being "for girls" though, that was someone else. My point is that there are reductive physical expectations ballet has for women which are not there for men.

Sorry meant to say "yes, you do"

I'm probably going to sound like quite a loon

I have a problem with comments like would start to ingrain in her that ballet is for girls. Aside from not being correct- so what if it were? Does an activity automatically become bad if more girls choose it?

I'm probably going to sound like quite a loon but I have always had a feminist problem with ballet. The fact that women do the pointe standing on toes thing that is really bad for feet and men don't, the drifty floaty style for women and leaping lifting stuff for men. The association with eating disorders. My DDs do swimming, athletics and karate.

My son goes to ballet and he wears the boys uniform of white leotard and shorts. Actually you have to be a bit more dedicated as a boy dancers mum, (my girls also dance): the uniform is harder to obtain and more expensive, the comments (oh the comments), the child himself although he loves it does occasionally need a pep talk because its hard to cope with peer pressure. These things put people off.
That said, his karate teacher is very happy with him as he has superior balance, control and listening skills for his age, which (he remarked) he must have developed from his dancing.
Ballet is graceful anyhow but the control, balance and discipline of it feed very well into all sorts of other sports later and your daughter will find that best dancers are not the most girly delicate ones but the ones with resilience, strength and drive.

We were told that they lose marks for presentation if you can see their underwear - therefore, for the younger girls, my DD's teacher suggested it was just easier for them to go knickerless. She said the older girls get high cut nude knickers which can't be seen under the leotard and tights

I know. But they are examining their dancing. Not their knicker wearing.

when dd did "good toes naughty toes" for the first time it was like being transported back in time 30 years for me!

I think childhood should be about balance, and encouraging their interests while also keeping children open to all the other options out there.
Dd (3.5) showed an interest in dance almost before she could walk. Her nursery do a lot of dance (with all the boys and girls) and spotted very data how she "transformed" when she danced.
Outside of dance she is a rather wild and feral child, who loves swinging from the climbing frame, scooting down ramps at the skate park, and squabbling. But I guess if you saw her just for the 30 mins a week she does ballet in a pink leotard you might (wrongly) make all kinds of judgements about the way I am bringing her up. She lives to dance. First time she took a ballet class she came running out saying "mummy I NEED to do this!". She does musical theatre too now, and is looking longingly at the tap classes . We go to science museums, skate parks, sports matches, swimming, gymnastics etc but she basically sees these as ways to pass the time until her next dance class.
So yes, you might judge me because she dances and her brother doesn't. But he had the same initial exposure (dance at nursery), I have always offered him chances of dance lessons and shown videos of male ballet dances, but he would (to paraphrase) prefer to eat a bowl of sprouts than attend a dance class.

Had it been the other way round, I would happily ferry him to dance lessons.

Sorry, am rambling and tired, but I think we don't need to panic about girls doing ballet if that is what they want to do. feminism (to me) is about choice, as long as girls have choices and opportunities to try different interests then we are raising them fine

Oo, good toes/naughty toes is a throwback that I can still do. Fab!

She's 2 and its already annoying the fuck out of you. Maybe it's time to try a different activity. If you can't engage with the fact that ballet requires 'pointy toes' then it's clearly not the activity for you your daughter.