Seeing the Belly Dance as a Feminist Possibility: Gaze, Gender and Public Space in İstanbul
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33831/jws.v18i2.253Keywords:
women, public space, art, belly dance, muted group, gender, body, feminismAbstract
This paper discusses the ancient form of belly dance as an example to speak more in depth about the public spaces of Istanbul, where the female body is constantly under surveillance by the male gaze. Over thousands of years, the ancient dance form of belly dance has been transformed from a collective women’s ritual to a form of entertainment that serves the male gaze. This paper looks for the possibilities tore-define belly dance as a feminist counter strategy to revive its essence. Framed by the Muted Group Theory, this paper also exemplifies various artworks and strategies produced by female artists and analyze them in the light of this theory. It also searches for redefining the belly dance as part of a feminist identity and asks whether these artistic strategies could be pathways in re-defining belly dance as a feminist practice.
References
Ackerly Brooke A. (2000). Political Theory and Feminist Social Criticism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ardener S. (2005). Muted Group Theory Excerpts. Women and Language, 22: na.
Buonaventura W. (1998). Serpent of the Nile: Women and Dance in the Arab World. New York: Interlink.
Crouch M. (2009). Sexual Harassment in Public Places. Social Philosophy Today, 25: 137-48.
Gardner C.B. (1995). Passing By: Gender and Public Harassment. Berkeley: U of California.
Goffman E. (1963). Behavior in Public Places. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Habermas J. (1989). The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. Cambridge, MA: MIT.
Keft-Kennedy V. (2005). Representing the Belly-dancing Body: Feminism, Orientalism, and the Grotesque. Wollongong: University of Wollongong.
Kramarae C. (1999). A Revolutionary View of Communication; Cheris Kramarae's Theory of Muted Groups. Women and Language, 22:na.
Lefebvre H.; Brenner N. & Elden S. (2009). State, Space, World: Selected Essays. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota.
Lofland Lyn H. (1973). A World of Strangers; Order and Action in Urban Public Space. New York: Basic.
Nieuwkerk K.V. (1995). A Trade like Any Other: Female Singers and Dancers in Egypt. Austin: University of Texas.
Said E.W. (1979). Orientalism. New York: Vintage. Sellers-Young B. (1992). Raks El Sharki: Transculturation of a Folk Form. The Journal of Popular Culture, 26(2): 141-52.
References for Visuals
Figure 1: In Mourning and in Rage. Retrieved from https://www.cla.purdue.edu/waaw/Cohn/Artists/fig34.html. 23 May 2017.
Figure 2: Action Pants: Genital Panic in Public Space. Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/95068242104427951. 23 May 2017.
Figure 3: Guerrilla Girls, Do Women Have to Be Naked to Get into the Met. Museum? Retrieved from https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/150.2014.24/. 23 May 2017
Figure 4: Le Grande Odalisque. Retrieved from https://www.icanvas.com/canvas-print/grande-odalisque-1903#1PC3-40x26. 23 May 2017.
Figure 5: Canan, Finally You Are in Me. Retrieved from http://www.siyahbant.org/bu-sanat-yapiti-cevreye-zararli. 23 May 2017.
Figure 6: Havva. Retrieved from http://hyperallergic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016 /05/yama2.jpg. 23 May 2017.
Figure 7: Tara Lee Belly Dancer. Retrieved from http://www.bellydancerlondon.com/img/tara-oakley-1.png. 23 May 2017.
Ardener S. (2005). Muted Group Theory Excerpts. Women and Language, 22: na.
Buonaventura W. (1998). Serpent of the Nile: Women and Dance in the Arab World. New York: Interlink.
Crouch M. (2009). Sexual Harassment in Public Places. Social Philosophy Today, 25: 137-48.
Gardner C.B. (1995). Passing By: Gender and Public Harassment. Berkeley: U of California.
Goffman E. (1963). Behavior in Public Places. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Habermas J. (1989). The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. Cambridge, MA: MIT.
Keft-Kennedy V. (2005). Representing the Belly-dancing Body: Feminism, Orientalism, and the Grotesque. Wollongong: University of Wollongong.
Kramarae C. (1999). A Revolutionary View of Communication; Cheris Kramarae's Theory of Muted Groups. Women and Language, 22:na.
Lefebvre H.; Brenner N. & Elden S. (2009). State, Space, World: Selected Essays. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota.
Lofland Lyn H. (1973). A World of Strangers; Order and Action in Urban Public Space. New York: Basic.
Nieuwkerk K.V. (1995). A Trade like Any Other: Female Singers and Dancers in Egypt. Austin: University of Texas.
Said E.W. (1979). Orientalism. New York: Vintage. Sellers-Young B. (1992). Raks El Sharki: Transculturation of a Folk Form. The Journal of Popular Culture, 26(2): 141-52.
References for Visuals
Figure 1: In Mourning and in Rage. Retrieved from https://www.cla.purdue.edu/waaw/Cohn/Artists/fig34.html. 23 May 2017.
Figure 2: Action Pants: Genital Panic in Public Space. Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/95068242104427951. 23 May 2017.
Figure 3: Guerrilla Girls, Do Women Have to Be Naked to Get into the Met. Museum? Retrieved from https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/150.2014.24/. 23 May 2017
Figure 4: Le Grande Odalisque. Retrieved from https://www.icanvas.com/canvas-print/grande-odalisque-1903#1PC3-40x26. 23 May 2017.
Figure 5: Canan, Finally You Are in Me. Retrieved from http://www.siyahbant.org/bu-sanat-yapiti-cevreye-zararli. 23 May 2017.
Figure 6: Havva. Retrieved from http://hyperallergic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016 /05/yama2.jpg. 23 May 2017.
Figure 7: Tara Lee Belly Dancer. Retrieved from http://www.bellydancerlondon.com/img/tara-oakley-1.png. 23 May 2017.
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Published
2017-10-10
How to Cite
Eğrikavuk, I. (2017). Seeing the Belly Dance as a Feminist Possibility: Gaze, Gender and Public Space in İstanbul. Kadın/Woman 2000, Journal for Women’s Studies, 18(2), 69–84. https://doi.org/10.33831/jws.v18i2.253
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