Not-So-Comic Stories About Dancers

So I've been writing elsewhere about the kick-started fight about the depiction of women in comic books. And in a couple of those writings, I've commented on how, for me, there are obvious parallels to how female dancers are seen and dealt with, both internally and in the mainstream. Very obvious parallels, as raqs sharqi artists aren't "really" people to many, well, people, all too often reduced to glittering objects of art, gliding across a stage.

So tackling that issue, in all it's complexity, is something that preys on my mind. I fear that untangling the beauty of dance, and dancers, from the rampant sexism of modern society, and the embedded sexism that drives some aspects of the "belly dance" world, is nearly impossible.

But then, I read something like the below, from Pretty, Fizzy Paradise, and kalinara's post gives me...well, perhaps not "hope", but maybe a thought as to how to frame the debate. How to raise the issue. I mean, I look at the page of comic she links to, a page that is all about how demeaning the act of simply putting on makeup can be, and I'm reminded of too many days spent hanging out with dancers, waiting. Makeup can be empowering, yet it can also, and easily, be a way to marginalize yourself as a person.
I'm just a guy, looking from the outside in, in some ways. So it's hard to suss out how to speak on it, but this -- this is a start:

We get angry when a wonderful, complex character like Power Girl's worth is reduced to her breasts.

We get angry when female characters of equivalent experiences are written as making rookie mistakes to make the men look better.

We get angry when rape and violence against women are sensationalized to the point of being the lead draw for the fucking story.

We get angry when we see strong women reduced to mere T&A, presenting every orifice to the (straight male) audience's eye.

We get angry when female characters are belittled and disrespected and treated as disposable.

We get angry at costumes that cross the line from cheesy and fun to outright ridiculous obstacles to crime-fighting.

We get angry.

And sometimes it's justified. Sometimes we may be overreacting. But you know what?

It's worth it.

It is FUCKING worth it. Because we may not be able to do a whole lot about the belittling and the objectification, that ever-present possibility of violence that we see every day in our lives. But this?

This is fixable. This is something that we can fight. Women in television, books, movies, music, video games, comics...every little triumph we make here goes a little way toward fixing the bigger picture.

[...]This is society. This is something built by generations of traditions and ideas that are indoctrinated into us from birth and passed down to our children. It's something that we're all a part of, even when we don't realize it. This is something that we do to ourselves as much as each other.

But I'm an optimist. I believe with all my heart and soul that this can change.

Does that resonate with you?