Keep ABS a Part of Pep Rally

As usual, the annual E/A pep rally took place on the Friday before E/A weekend. Various dance groups on campus, such as Poms and Imani, performed. However, one dance group was noticeably absent from the lineup–Abs, Exeter’s belly dancing group. Members of Exeter’s administration had privately told members of Abs that they would not be allowed to perform at the pep rally, instead relegating them to the annual dance assembly. Members of the administration allegedly thought that members of the Exeter community would view the Abs dance as hyper-sexualized, and they thought that it wouldn’t fit well with the pep rally’s theme of “American culture.”

This was significant for a few reasons: For one, Abs has always performed at the E/A pep rally. Their performance was something that I personally looked forward to, as I knew that members of Abs had worked extremely hard to prepare for the rally and had wanted the rest of the school to witness the fruits of their labor. Abs has always performed at pep rally, and for it only to be a significant problem now simply doesn’t make sense.

I appreciate Abs’ effort to educate the Exeter community about belly dancing, as well as the culture behind it. Belly dancing originated in Egypt, and it is performed as a “social dance” or as performance art in various countries in the Middle East. The style of dancing can vary in countries such as Turkey and Lebanon, and it is usually performed as a form of joyous celebration. If Abs had been given the chance to convey the true meaning that belly dancing embodied (which they would have been willing to do), people would’ve viewed the performance through a much more thoughtful and culturally sensitive perspective. Exposure to other cultures can never be a bad thing, and I’m sure while the pep rally is supposed to be “American,” inclusion of other cultures and the beauty of them certainly doesn’t bring anything away from the event.

My main problem lies with the idea that because people will view the Abs performance as hyper-sexualized, we should take their platform away from them. I understand that the Abs dancers’ stomachs are exposed during the dance, but this is considered normal in the practice of the dance itself.

If members of the administration really do believe that, shouldn’t the answer to the problem be to change the perspective of the viewers, of people who are sexualizing an event that isn’t inherently sexual and is an art form, instead of penalizing the people who have worked hard to produce something that they are passionate about?  The administration’s response is not dissimilar from the nationwide debate around dress code, where in a lot of schools around the country, girls are told to “cover themselves up.” They are forbidden and punished for showing parts of their bodies in an effort to shelter others (usually boys) from what the school believes is inappropriate behavior. That is the wrong response to a problem that actually stems from the attitude that we view each other with. Why are we not working instead to change the attitude of boys, and girls in a lot of cases, who wrongly sexualize a dance meant to celebrate the school and prepare it for E/A?

The Exeter administration’s intentions may have been good enough, but the message they are sending out through their actions is wrong. As long as it continues to punish and silence girls for the thoughts of other people, their actions will continue to be extremely problematic.