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I will be discussing how the factors like body image, stereotype, social media and equality can affect a male dancer’s mental health. Even more, I will be talking both positives and negatives of these factors impact a male dancer’s mental health. My aims are to explore in much detail the factors that affect a male dancer’s mental health mentally and how it impacts them and makes them feel. Also, to gain insight on other people's perspective and to raise awareness that it not just female dancers suffering. My Objectives is to inform the reader how tough it is for male dancers to survive in the dance industry. The points that I will be talking about is:

Body image

Stereotyping

Other challenges that affect men's mental health

Equality & Gender

The impact and outcomes these factors lead to

How comparing is a positive and negative factor

Other people’s perspectives

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Works Cited

Agrifolio, Victoria. “Boys Dance Too: Breaking the Stigma around Male Dancers | Dance Articles.” DancePlug, 15 Nov. 2021, www.danceplug.com/article/boys-dance-too-breaking-the-stigma-around-male-dancers. Accessed 20 Nov. 2022.

BBC Sport. “Man Up: Part 3 - How Do Men Battle with Body Image? | BBC Sport.” YouTube, 17 May 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN7F_374dNM. Accessed 26 Nov. 2022.

Clarke-Smith, Mollie. “Different Gender Stereotypes in Dance.” Voice Magazine, Voice Magazine, 2014, www.voicemag.uk/blog/2514/different-gender-stereotypes-in-dance. Accessed 15 Dec. 2022.

“DANSEUR Movie | the Story of How Men in Ballet Overcome the Struggles of Social Bias.” Danseurmovie.com, danseurmovie.com/. Accessed 13 Nov. 2022.

Fine, Rachel. “Can Dancers Improve Their Body Image?” Dancenutrition.com, 6 Apr. 2022, dancenutrition.com/body-image/. Accessed 18 Nov. 2022.

Fisher, Jennifer, and Anthony Shay. When Men Dance:Choreographing Masculinities across Borders. Oxford University Press, 7 Sept. 2009.

Lamkin, Luke. “The Mental Health of a Young Male Dancer.” Voice Magazine, 8 Nov. 2018, www.voicemag.uk/blog/4776/the-mental-health-of-a-young-male-dancer. Accessed 11 Nov. 2022.

Marlow, Christopher. “We Don’t Need “Macho” Stereotypes to Entice Boys onto the Dance Floor.” The Conversation, 19 Sept. 2018, theconversation.com/we-dont-need-macho-stereotypes-to-entice-boys-onto-the-dance-floor-80571. Accessed 6 Dec. 2022.

O’Neil, Luke. “The Body Shaming That Haunts Young Boys.” Elemental, 18 Jan. 2019, medium.com/s/story/the-body-shaming-that-haunts-young-boys-f17ebf6e5aba. Accessed 21 Nov. 2022.

Publow, Paige. “A New Era of Dance.” GBC College English — Lemonade, 17 Dec. 2021, medium.com/gbc-college-english-lemonade/a-new-era-of-dance-8ca3b2f0c3d#:~:text=It%20has%20long%20been%20common. Accessed 3 Dec. 2022.

Risner, Doug, et al. “Men in Dance: Bridging the Gap Symposium.” Dance Education in Practice, vol. 4, no. 1, 2 Jan. 2018, pp. 25–31, 10.1080/23734833.2018.1417212. Accessed 4 Dec. 2022.

Warcholik, Ted. “Male Body Image.” GBC College English — Lemonade, 12 Apr. 2019, medium.com/gbc-college-english-lemonade/male-body-image-c07a171c44e2. Accessed 26 Nov. 2022.

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Works Cited

Agrifolio, Victoria. “Boys Dance Too: Breaking the Stigma around Male Dancers | Dance Articles.” DancePlug, 15 Nov. 2021, www.danceplug.com/article/boys-dance-too-breaking-the-stigma-around-male-dancers. Accessed 20 Nov. 2022.

BBC Sport. “Man Up: Part 3 - How Do Men Battle with Body Image? | BBC Sport.” YouTube, 17 May 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN7F_374dNM. Accessed 26 Nov. 2022.

Clarke-Smith, Mollie. “Different Gender Stereotypes in Dance.” Voice Magazine, Voice Magazine, 2014, www.voicemag.uk/blog/2514/different-gender-stereotypes-in-dance. Accessed 15 Dec. 2022.

Fine, Rachel. “Can Dancers Improve Their Body Image?” Dancenutrition.com, 6 Apr. 2022, dancenutrition.com/body-image/. Accessed 18 Nov. 2022.

Fisher, Jennifer, and Anthony Shay. When Men Dance:Choreographing Masculinities across Borders. Oxford University Press, 7 Sept. 2009.

Lamkin, Luke. “The Mental Health of a Young Male Dancer.” Voice Magazine, 8 Nov. 2018, www.voicemag.uk/blog/4776/the-mental-health-of-a-young-male-dancer. Accessed 11 Nov. 2022.

O’Neil, Luke. “The Body Shaming That Haunts Young Boys.” Elemental, 18 Jan. 2019, medium.com/s/story/the-body-shaming-that-haunts-young-boys-f17ebf6e5aba. Accessed 21 Nov. 2022.

Publow, Paige. “A New Era of Dance.” GBC College English — Lemonade, 17 Dec. 2021, medium.com/gbc-college-english-lemonade/a-new-era-of-dance-8ca3b2f0c3d#:~:text=It%20has%20long%20been%20common. Accessed 3 Dec. 2022.

Risner, Doug, et al. “Men in Dance: Bridging the Gap Symposium.” Dance Education in Practice, vol. 4, no. 1, 2 Jan. 2018, pp. 25–31, 10.1080/23734833.2018.1417212. Accessed 4 Dec. 2022.

Warcholik, Ted. “Male Body Image.” GBC College English — Lemonade, 12 Apr. 2019, medium.com/gbc-college-english-lemonade/male-body-image-c07a171c44e2. Accessed 26 Nov. 2022.

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The film ‘Macho’ choreographed and directed by Michael Heatly and Hit the Ground Running Dance Theatre Company is about mental health especially men’s and it discovers the mental health stigma. The message about the film is also toxic masculinity and to fight bad mental health and they used dancing, using male dancers dancing to reflect this. This relates to the literature review by as previously discussed about the stereotypes where males are stereotyped especially in dance like people are confused in, they see males dance or men should dance only masculine which shouldn’t be the case. This link to the film ‘Macho’ because the film is aiming the male stereotype of being thinking men have to be strong and brave and shouldn’t be weak and were trying to break away from that. This also links to another part of my literature review where I talk about the challenge men face and that being the stigma of men shouldn’t dance or they should dance masculine because their a man. This film is trying also break away from the men and boys of thinking that stigma and being themselves and totally human.

A New Era of Dance

The article ‘A New Era of Dance’ written by Paige Publow is about gender identity, their image and influences some choreographers had. ‘Males would be the dominant figure in performances while displaying strong and ‘masculine’ movements, whereas females were given lighter, gentler movements that exhibit poise and grace’ (Publow P,2021) and this is hinting the lack of gender equality back in the earlier time. However, as time passes things improve but this still slightly exists in today’s society. This source links with the literature review because where it was mentioned about gender and equality issues regarding males who dance, and because men are seemed to be the dominator one's people have issues with doing that requires to be both masculine and feminine. Linking back the source as the source is stating men would be dominant figures and female should feminine and light but it shouldn’t be like that and this how it links back to my literature review. This is also suggesting that gender issues can impact the reason behind people choregraphing things and affect people’s mental health.

Man Up – How do men deal with body image?

In the video ‘Man Up, How do men deal with body image’ it discusses about men’s mental health and it shows people’s experiences and the emotions they feel because of of males thinking of the male stigma. Also, the video is about a group of men in a room discussing about men's mental health and how they and act like one person says that “they have to be the protector and the provider”. This is hinting that many males think like this and can't show vulnerability and they feel like they have be the dominant one. This links to my literature review because in the part where I discuss about the challenges and mental health and male stigma and how they think they should be a certain because they are male and this is similar with the video as they how to think and do something because their they are dominant male.

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My opinion

My honest opinion as a fellow male dancer I would have to agree that life as male dancer is physically and mentally tough and from experience a male dancer’s mental health isn't talked about enough. Also, the factors do come in play and do affect my mental health like body image, stereotypes, equality, gender and the other challenges & struggles and I would have to agree with the sources that I've used in my literature review because the factors that I mention do heavily impact a male dancer’s mental health. Also, another reason I have a strong opinion on this topic is because of how much of male dance community and population this affects and outcomes it leads is very shocking and daunting.

How does it affect me?

The topic affects as a I mentioned previously that I am male dancer myself and factors like body image, stereotypes, gender, equality and the other challenge have affected my mental health. An experience that I dealt with earlier last year is that where a fellow male teacher said not in his exact words but I look like I need to eat certain food hinting that I looked to skinny and needed to put on weight. This led to me to me being upset and also being more insecure of my body even though now it doesn’t affect me but as that comment is never forgotten. So that’s how I can relate to the body image factor, another experience I've had that affected my mental health is in high school, where if I told a teacher or a classmate, I do dance they would react assuming I'm not supposed to dance as its for girls. This made feel disheartened and made me question if I should still progress in dance and I’m glad I didn’t stop as look where I am now.

How it inspired me?

Two ways it inspired me and the first way I was inspired to choose this topic is because of how much I can relate to it, how it's not talked about enough and I felt strongly I that I wanted to talk about this to help the male dancers that coming in the industry that its hard and affects people’s mental health.

In addition, another way it inspired me to select this topic is because as I was doing my research, I came across this quote “You then have to go out into that world and fight for what you want and earn your place. Whether you are male or female, you have a right to earn your place in what it is that you want and you go out and get that!” (Clarke-Smith M, 2017). This quote made feel motivated and more determined and I should let the factors like body image, stereotypes, gender, equality and the other issues affect me as we are all human trying to achieve something and if you want it regardless of gender, I have to work hard for it.

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See HE5 Form

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In the article ‘The Mental Health of a Young Male Dancer’ (2018) by written by Luke Lamkin which he analyses that life as young male dancer face many struggles and issues and ‘the way it can affect people can be fatal’. The article focuses on the main aspects like Stereotypes, Body image, Gender & other factors that affect a male dancers mental health. The sources shows that the stereotypical behaviour ‘is the leading factor to the damage of their mental health. Countless time I hear derogatory comments such as “faggot” or “bender” ‘(Lamkin,2018). Lamkin strongly argues that the stereotyping that men and boys receive do impact them negatively and a majority of male population who dance are affected by stereotyping. As the source states they found an article written by ‘Roger Lee’ which he was a fellow male dancer and gives insight on his experience as a male dancer dealing with stereotypes issues such as a bunch of female ballet dancers question him and his lack of training, this led to him question his masculinity, making him lose hope of him achieving his dreams and making him nearly quit dance. Lamkin concludes that stereotyping can affect male dancers and their lives. Also, on how much stereotyping affects the majority of male dancers in the dance world, their mental health and the impacts that stereotyping causes which this is very disheartening.

Moreover, ‘Boys Dance Too: Breaking the Stigma Around Male Dancers’ is a blog article written by Victoria Agrifolio which she discusses how male dancers are criticized, humiliated, bullied because of their gender and ‘many people still find it hard to believe that boys dance too’. The writer uses male dancers’ personal experience ‘Chad Vaught’ and specifically said this ‘“I mostly experienced bullying in the dance community when I was younger. The girls would gang up and poke fun at me. Once, a grown woman laughed in my face when I told her I was a dancer” ‘(Agrifolio,2021). The writer purposely included Chad Vaught’s own experience and his own exact words to put the reader in his shoes and you know exactly how he felt and how much it damaged his mental health because of gender issues around dance. Also, this is implying that there is a lack of equality for men when it comes to dancing because if there are several stories that male dancers are being treated differently because they are male gender then the problem needs to be resolved. As the gender issue and equality issue has improved over the years but it still stands out in today’s society and they still need to raise awareness for this issue Even more, one reason some females treat men who dance different is because they are probably threatened by their abilities meaning they compare themselves which they shouldn't. To conclude, Agrifolio wanted the reader to realise how the challenges that male dancers face and to raise awareness of how much male dancers are affected by gender and equality issues and how it impacts their mental health.

Furthermore, in the source ‘Male Body image’ written by Ted Warcholik is acknowledging that there is a issues regarding men’s body image, men’s body shaming and it is a ‘problem that is barely mentioned because some people do not think it’s significant issue that need to talk about’ (Warcholik,2019). As Warcholik further comments on men’s body shaming and body image topic. Also, he states that especially young males are affected by this and as he mentions other people's experiences, how they were impacted and he used another source ‘The body shaming that haunts young boys’ written by Luke O’Neil and he indicates the effects of body image, body shaming. Warcholik suggests that ‘O’Neil is more convincing because successfully explains the impact of body shaming through pathos’. This is implying that he is using people’s stories and he even used his own personal experience to raise awareness and how much it is impacting men’s mental health. As both sources refer to young men meaning this also referring to male dancers and considering to dance you use the whole body to dance and male dancers are the most critical over their body. The impact that body image and body shaming has caused. ‘Body image strongly affects the minds, men’s mental health’ (Warcholik, 2019) and many more issues explained in these sources. To conclude, Warcholik wanted to provide much information and many people’s perspective to raise awareness of body image and body shaming happens to men affect their mental health too and we should be mindful when talking and discussing about a male appearance as it could lead to many effects.

In the book ‘When Men Dance: Choreographing Masculinities Across Borders’ written by Jennifer Fisher and Anthony Shay it discusses the history of male’s dancing and they write about everything about when males dance, the struggles and challenges they dealt with throughout time. One of the challenges that male dancers face is stigma that exists which is boys and men thinking ‘a male dancer is a sissy, no matter the genre’ (Fisher J & Shay A, 2009). This stigma affects male and boys to consider to dance and it impacts male dancers mental health. Additionally, the main reason why this stigma is around is due to back to ‘historically dancing men have been celebrated as warriors or courtiers, but in some eras they also been ridiculed, branded as prostitutes and banned from the stage in a astonishing number of places around the world ‘(Fisher J & Shay A, 2009). This is conveying that dance was not seen as male sport and was just for females especially back in the earlier time and they were treated differently if men danced. The authors decide to include this because they were to raise awareness for men who dance that they shouldn’t be treated different. To conclude, both of the authors wrote this not only to raise awareness but also show the challenges men face and things that impact their mental health.

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Survey Questions

What is your age? - 16 and Under, 17-19, 20-22, 23-25, 26 and Above.

What is your Gender? - Female, Male, Non-Binary, Transgender, Prefer not to say.

Do you think dance has a positive or negative affect on mental health? -

Do you think Body image has a big impact on men's mental health?

Do you compare yourself with people who are the same gender as you and if so, why?

Does comparing affect your mental health and how?

Aimed for males, have you ever had an experience where you were treated badly because you don’t look or dance like the stereotypical male dancer?

If yes please briefly explain and how this made you feel?

Aimed for males, have you been ever told that you need to be physically stronger and if yes how did this make you feel?

Do you think being compared to another dancer/person is a positive or negative or Both and why do you think this?

In a dance class, have you compared yourself with another dancer and then proceeded to make changes on yourself because of this?

Do you think equality is used fairly in the dance industry and why do you think this?

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I will be conducting a survey about mental health for a life as a male dancer and the factors like stereotype, body image, equality and social media that impact their mental health. I will be asking Shockout dancers aged between 16 and anyone that’s above 26 years of age. This survey is relevant to my topic as it will further prove the issues and struggles male dancers face. The reason, I asked these of people because firstly they are all dancers and all dancers can relate to problems like body image, comparison, equality and treated differently because you don’t look or dance like you're supposed to. Also, I've asked both male and female as well because I need to get different viewpoints from both genders and to see similar and different points they make. Another reason why I need this information is because is to help me find out questions that will be further answered in this assignment and some are is do women in the dance industry also notice the issues that impact men in the dance industry, how bad these factors can affect a male dancer and some experiences that have happened to male dancers to further support the whole portfolio.

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Secondary Research

https://medium.com/gbc-college-english-lemonade/masculinity-and-dance-a837d507c2c

https://www.voicemag.uk/blog/4776/the-mental-health-of-a-young-male-dancer

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-48395311.amp

https://www.voicemag.uk/blog/2514/different-gender-stereotypes-in-dance