Emily
MikeThis is feminism???? The London Evening Standard has an article about a play that shortly will open in London. It says that “[w]omen are being invited to get on stage and dance naked in front of hundreds of people – to strike a blow for modern feminism.” Each performance uses 30 naked volunteer dancers for a 10-minute segment that has “the aim of showing the ‘difference and diversity’ of the female body.” (The rest of the show uses a cast of five (apparently) professional female actors.) And, then, at the end of the show, “audience members are invited to get naked and join the cast on stage.” So far, about 90 women have volunteered to take part in the naked “frolic.”
Photo from the play when it was performed in Edinburgh last year
The director of the show is a male “performance artist” who says that: “The performance and process is about women coming together, empowered in their own skins, to celebrate the very nature of who they are and all their differences. In the past it has been exhilarating and the process has been a truly empowering experience.”
Does this seem to you like something that will “strike a blow for modern feminism”?
Filed under: Pop Culture
I’m going to have to go with not feminist, because the performance is supposed to help women to “celebrate the very nature of who they are.”
Last I checked, my “very nature” had little to do with my body or its nudity.
I’m going to have to go with “not feminist” because the show is supposed to help women to
The fact that the director is male makes me suspicious, but I can’t judge without seeing how the show is done.
Just the idea alone that women are naked on stage doesn’t tell me whether it is a feminist show or no. It really depends on the dynamic and the way it’s presented. Are women pressured to go up on stage, or are they really volunteers? In what way do they present their naked bodies on stage? Who else is in the audience? Is it an all-female audience or at least a predominantly female audience? Are there hoots and hollers?
I agree with this take…I guess I’d have to know more, but I could get behind this. It doesn’t seem like they’re using models or women who represent some unattainable beauty standard, nor does it seem to be done for the male gaze. If there’s a wide range of body sizes, and women of color, maybe it’s alright.
Nope, not feminist. Not surprising, either, that a man thought this up.
Good to see you all checked your facts, the director and performer Nic Green is 100% female. I am pleased you all jump to the conclusion that only a male could come up with this show!