In 2019, the #BoysDanceToo movement reacted in anger to controversial, misogynistic remarks made on the television program, Good Morning America. These reactions highlighted the challenges faced by men and boys in dance. Yet, previous studies have documented significant advantages for men in dance. In an analysis of the discourse used in online posts related to the #BoysDanceToo movement, I find that these broader structural gender inequalities are generally not examined. Responses also do not interrogate the antifemininity that fuels the stigma against boys and men who dance. Analysis suggests that this is due to an overreliance on the language of sex roles—which can mask the oppression of women (as a group) by men (as a group)—and the neglect of a relational understanding of gender. As a result, women are largely erased from a conversation about gender oppression.
AdlerPatricia A.KlessSteven J.AdlerPeter. 1992. “Socialization to Gender Roles.” Sociology of Education65, no. 3: 169–87.
2.
AlleyThomas R.HicksCatherine M.2005. “Peer Attitudes Towards Adolescent Participants in Male- and Female-Oriented Sports.” Adolescence San Diego40, no. 158: 273.
3.
AosvedAllison C.LongPatricia J.2006. “Co-occurrence of Rape Myth Acceptance, Sexism, Racism, Homophobia, Ageism, Classism, and Religious Intolerance.” Sex Roles55, no. 7: 481–92.
4.
BellJoyce M.HartmannDouglas. 2007. “Diversity in Everyday Discourse: The Cultural Ambiguities and Consequences of ‘Happy Talk’.” American Sociological Review72, no. 6: 895–914.
BurtRamsay. 1995. The Male Dancer: Bodies, Spectacle, Sexualities. New York: Routledge.
10.
CahillSpencer E.1989. “Fashioning Males and Females: Appearance Management and the Social Reproduction of Gender.” Symbolic Interaction12, no. 2: 281–98.
ChenAnthony S.1999. “Lives at the Center of the Periphery, Lives at the Periphery of the Center: Chinese American Masculinities and Bargaining with Hegemony.” Gender & Society13, no. 5: 584–607.
13.
ChinBradford. 2021. “#GirlsDanceToo: Contextualizing #BoysDanceToo with the Glass Escalator in Ballet.” Unpublished manuscript.
14.
CollinsPatricia HillBilgeSirma. 2016. Intersectionality. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
15.
ConnellRaewyn. 1987. Gender and Power: Society, the Person and Sexual Politics. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
CraigMaxine Leeds. 2013. Sorry I Don’t Dance: Why Men Refuse to Move. New York: Oxford University Press.
18.
CrenshawKimberlé. 1989. “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics.” University of Chicago Legal Forum1989, no. 1: 139–67.
19.
DalyAnn. 1987. “Classical Ballet: A Discourse of Difference.” Women & Performance3, no. 2: 57–66.
20.
Dance Data Project. 2019. “2018–2019 Season Overview: July 2019.”
21.
DaviesMichelle. 2004. “Correlates of Negative Attitudes Toward Gay Men.” The Journal of Sex Research41, no. 3: 259–66.
22.
DietzTracy L.1998. “An Examination of Violence and Gender Role Portrayals in Video Games.” Sex Roles38, no. 5: 425–42.
23.
DillKaren E.ThillKathryn P.2007. “Video Game Characters and the Socialization of Gender Roles.” Sex Roles57, no. 11: 851–64.
24.
EnglandPaula. 1992. Comparable Worth: Theories and Evidence. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
25.
———. 2010. “The Gender Revolution: Uneven and Stalled.” Gender & Society24, no. 2: 149–66.
FicarrottoThomas J.1990. “Racism, Sexism, and Erotophobia: Attitudes of Heterosexuals Toward Homosexuals.” Journal of Homosexuality19, no. 1: 111–16.
28.
FisherJennifer. 2007. “Make It Maverick: Rethinking the ‘Make It Macho’ Strategy for Men in Ballet.” Dance Chronicle30, no. 1: 45–66.
29.
FisherJenniferShayAnthony. 2009. When Men Dance. New York: Oxford University Press.
30.
FosterSusan. 2004. Corporealities: Dancing Knowledge, Culture and Power. New York: Routledge.
31.
GlaserBarney G.StraussAnselm L.2017. Discovery of Grounded Theory. New York: Routledge.
32.
Good Morning America. 2019. “Prince George’s Curriculum Looks More Like a College Program.” https://youtu.be/e27c3JmlbNM.
33.
HackerHelen Mayer. 1957. “The New Burdens of Masculinity.” Marriage and Family Living19, no. 3: 227–33.
34.
HartleyRuth E.1959. “Sex-Role Pressures and the Socialization of the Male Child.” Psychological Reports5, no. 2: 457–68.
35.
HarrisAndrea. 2012. “Gendered Discourses in American Ballet at Mid-Century: Ruth Page on the Periphery.” Dance Chronicle35, no. 1: 30–53.
36.
HeilbrunAlfred B.1976. “Measurement of Masculine and Feminine Sex Role Identities as Independent Dimensions.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology44, no. 2: 183.
37.
HenleyNancy M.PincusFred. 1978. “Interrelationship of Sexist, Racist, and Antihomosexual Attitudes.” Psychological Reports42, no. 1: 83–90.
38.
HicksGary R.LeeTien-Tsung. 2006. “Public Attitudes Toward Gays and Lesbians.” Journal of Homosexuality51, no. 2: 57–77.
39.
HoskinRhea Ashley. 2019. “Femmephobia: The Role of Anti-femininity and Gender Policing in LGBTQ+ People’s Experiences of Discrimination.” Sex Roles81, no. 11: 686–703.
40.
JaffeSarah. 2018. “The Collective Power of #MeToo.” Dissent65, no. 2: 80–7.
41.
KlapperMelissa R.2017. “‘You Shouldn’t Tell Boys They Can’t Dance’: Boys and Ballet in America.” The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth10, no. 2: 248–67.
42.
KomarovskyMirra. 1946. “Cultural Contradictions and Sex Roles.” American Journal of Sociology52, no. 3: 184–89.
43.
LarsonEliza. 2017. “Behind the Curtain. Exploring Gender Equality in Dance Among Choreographers and Artistic Directors.” In Dance and Gender: An Evidence-based Approach, edited by OliverWendyRisnerDoug, 39–59. Florida: University Press of Florida.
44.
LuptonDeborah. 2014. Digital Sociology. London: Taylor & Francis Group.
45.
MesserschmidtJames W.2018Hegemonic Masculinity. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
46.
MessnerMichael A.1998. “The Limits of ‘the Male Sex Role’.” Gender & Society12, no. 3: 255–76.
47.
MilkieMelissa A.2002. “Contested Images of Femininity: An Analysis of Cultural Gatekeepers’Struggles with the ‘Real Girl’ Critique.” Gender & Society16, no. 6: 839–59.
48.
MishelEmmaBridgesTristanCaudilloMónica L.2021. “Google, Tell Me. Is He Gay? Masculinity, Heterosexuality, and Gendered Anxieties in Google Search Queries About Sexuality.” Sociological Perspectives.
49.
MockJanet. 2014. Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & so Much More. New York: Simon and Schuster.
50.
ParsonsTalcottBalesRobert Freed. 1955. Family, Socialization and Interaction Process. New York: Free Press.
51.
PascoeC. J.2007. Dude, You’re a Fag. Berkeley: University of California Press.
PolasekKatherine M.RoperEmily A.2011. “Negotiating the Gay Male Stereotype in Ballet and Modern Dance.” Research in Dance Education12, no. 2: 173–93.
55.
RisnerDoug. 2007. “Rehearsing Masculinity: Challenging the ‘Boy Code’ in Dance Education.” Research in Dance Education8, no. 2: 139–53.
56.
———. 2009a. “What We Know About Boys Who Dance: The Limitations of Contemporary Masculinity and Dance Education.” In When Men Dance: Choreographing Masculinities Across Borders, 57–77. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
57.
———. 2009b. Stigma and Perseverance in the Lives of Boys Who Dance. New York: Edwin Mellen Press.
58.
———. 2014. “Bullying Victimisation and Social Support of Adolescent Male Dance Students.” Research in Dance Education15, no. 2: 179–201.
59.
RogersRichard. 2013. Digital Methods. Cambridge: MIT Press.
60.
SakalliNuray. 2002. “The Relationship Between Sexism and Attitudes Toward Homosexuality in a Sample of Turkish College Students.” Journal of Homosexuality42, no. 3: 53–64.
61.
SchiltKristenWestbrookLaurel. 2009. “Doing Gender, Doing Heteronormativity: ‘Gender Normals,’ Transgender People, and the Social Maintenance of Heterosexuality.” Gender & Society23, no. 4: 440–64.
62.
SchippersMimi. 2007. “Recovering the Feminine Other: Masculinity, Femininity, and Gender Hegemony.” Theory and Society36, no. 1: 85–102.
63.
SeranoJulia. 2016. Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity. London: Hachette UK.
64.
StaceyJudithBarrieThorne. 1985. “The Missing Feminist Revolution in Sociology.” Social Problems32, no. 4: 301–16.
65.
StevensonMichael R.MedlerBarbara R.1995. “Is Homophobia a Weapon of Sexism?” The Journal of Men’s Studies4, no. 1: 1–8.
66.
StraussAnselm. 1987. Qualitative Analysis for Social Scientists. New York: Cambridge University Press.
WhitleyBernard E.2001. “Gender-Role Variables and Attitudes Toward Homosexuality.” Sex Roles45, no. 11: 691–721.
75.
WillerRobbRogalinChristabel L.ConlonBridgetWojnowiczMichael T.2013. “Overdoing Gender: A Test of the Masculine Overcompensation Thesis.” American Journal of Sociology118, no. 4: 980–1022.
76.
WilliamsChristine L.1992. “The Glass Escalator: Hidden Advantages for Men in the ‘Female’Professions.” Social Problems39, no. 3: 253–67.
77.
WilsonDavid C.DavisDarren W.2018. “The Racial Double Standard: Attributing Racial Motivations in Voting Behavior.” Public Opinion Quarterly82, no. 1: 63–86.
