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The prejudice surrounding men who dance originated in western culture and has been affecting the entertainment industry ever since. Popular culture today is still developing and becoming more accepting of all people regardless of gender, race, class, etc. There are a lot of varying opinions on the subject of gender differences but one thing we can all see is that complete equality still does not exist.
There is still more to be done in adult dance and fitness classes to increase male involvement and acceptance but after consulting my research you can see that there are additional issues affecting participation. Women have said that adult dance classes are a great way to keep fit and socialise whilst ultimately having a good time, finding that the classes create a strong atmospheric feeling of community and acceptance. There is absolutely no reason why men can not be a part of this and the result would ultimately strengthen a community further, making our world a stronger more unified place.

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Pilates aims to strengthen the body in an even way, with particular emphasis on core strength to improve general fitness and well being. Pilates was developed by German-born Joseph Pilates, who believed mental and physical health were closely connected. It is a very popular activity especially among women as it has something to offer people of all ages and levels of ability and fitness, with benefits for beginners to elite athletes.

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Tap originated in the United States through the fusion of several ethnic percussive dances, primarily African tribal dances and Scottish, Irish, and English clog dances, hornpipes, and jigs. Tap dance popularity has had continuous ups and downs in its lifetime with key moments for both rhythm tap and musical theatre tap dance.

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Adult dance classes have become more popular, as the dance world has gained an excess following due to television programmes such as talent based shows including the likes of 'Britain's Got Talent'. Aerobics style classes have developed into many other forms of dance based classes with more and more people attending for many different reasons. I will be exploring the factors affecting people taking part with a particular focus on male participation.

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In order to gather information on statistics and opinions from others on what they think affects the participation of people in adult dance classes, I created a questionnaire online and asked friends from all different walks of life to fill it out, in addition to the people who attend the class that I reviewed.
I had a total of 71 responses made up of men and women ranging from age 18 to 75+.
- 25% currently partake in weekly classes
- 47% used to
- 20% said they don't but would like to
- 8% said they were not interested in participating.

When asked 'what would be your reason for participation?' The results show as follows:

73% then agreed that there are issues affecting the participation of adult dance classes and this chart shows the results of asking 'do you think any of those issues include the following?'

The results that I have gathered are incredibly interesting and really give a key insight into the external factors contributing to the fitness world of today's society.

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Participation in Adult Dance Classes Survey

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Please take the survey titled "Participation in Adult Dance Classes". Your feedback is important!

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Looking at statistics you can see the amount of men that attend adult dance classes are dramatically less than the amount of women. Gender stereotyping is a key factor in reasoning's behind this.
Gender stereotypes are defined as 'simplistic generalisations about the gender attributes, differences, and roles of individuals and/or groups' (Cliffs Notes, Online).
The male stereotypical role is to be the financial provider. He is to be assertive, competitive, independent, courageous, and career‐focused, holding his emotions in check.
After speaking to men about their reasons why they do not attending classes, these are key reoccurring points:

~ I feel like I should be at the gym or doing more masculine physical activity and exercise, like football.

~ I feel too self conscious to go to a class that has no other men there.

~ It is something for women not men.

Not only is this affecting adults, it is additionally strengthening the stereotype and changing the types of activity that children take part in. Scientific evidence demonstrates that children learn gender stereotypes from adults, which can also explain why there are more girls partaking as children and society is making boys see it is something they aren't "supposed to do".

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Ballet, like all dance forms, is an art form expressing emotion through movement of the human body. There are many different types of ballet including story, classical, neo-classical, plot-less and contemporary ballets.  It has been widely regarded through centuries as a popular entertainment activity for audiences and has become more accepting to a wider range of participants with the likes of even rugby players training in ballet.

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Bassetti, C. (2013) Recherches Sociologiques Et Anthropologiques. [Internet] Available from: https://rsa.revues.org/1048 [Accessed on 12th March 2017]
Carter, A and O'Shea, J. (2010) The Routledge Dance Studies Reader. Second Edition. Oxon: Routledge.
Frank, R. (2009) Britannica Encyclopedia. [Internet] Available from: https://www.britannica.com/art/tap-dance. [Accessed on 9th March 2017]
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. (2016) Cliffs Notes. [Interent] Available form: https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/sociology/sex-and-gender/gender-stereotypes [Accessed on 9th March 2017]

Lloyd, N. (2008) Lloydian Aspects. [Internet] Available from: http://www.lloydianaspects.co.uk/evolve/menwont.html [Accessed on 2nd March 2017]
Schwaiger, E. (2012) Ageing, Gender, Embodiment and Dance. Great Britain: Palgrave Macmillan
University Of Oregon (2015) Gender Roles in the Art of Dance. [Internet] Available from: http://blogs.uoregon.edu/taramaerckleinaad/ [Accessed on 2nd March 2017]
Vogel, D. L, Wester, S. R, Heesacker, M and Madon, S. (2003) Confirming Gender Stereotypes: A Social Role Perspective. [Internet] Available from: http://public.psych.iastate.edu/madon/confirmingsexstereotypes.pdf [Accessed on 9th 12th March 2017]

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I was able to attend a session of three classes at my old dance school, Glendale Theatre Arts, back home in Worthing, West Sussex on Tuesday 14th February 2017. These were Adult Dance Classes made up of Ballet, Tap and Pilates. The attendees consisted of mostly 30 to 50 year old woman with the addition of only one male and this got me to thinking... why is the men to women ratio so drastic?
What are the effects of things like stereotyping, gender role representation, sexism and age having? I have decided to take a closer look into why this may be.