Changing Dance Audience Desires through Media and Dance Literacy: A Strategy to Reducing Heath Problems in Dancers
Throughout history dance performances have been a form of entertainment for communities, and their dancers as role models for young girls. However, research conducted in the last twenty years related to how female dancers interpret body images, presents a problem within the United States dance industry. Young female dancers have been found to have a higher risk than their non-dancing female counterparts for developing serious health problems, like depression and eating disorders. These problems, according to communication experts Heiland, Murray, and Edley, stem from dancers comparing their body images with those media produced. This issue is the basis for my paper. This paper is aimed toward professional dance educators and program developers, since it is critical for them to be exposed to the idea that media and dance literacy education could be used to prevent health problems from developing in their students. As you read, the paper will discuss how to reduce these health issues, by considering the role which dance audiences play in influencing the dance industry and general media producers. First, this paper presents a primary source, which demonstrates the problems dancers are face with and introduces sub concerns related to solving the issue of dancers health risks. For instance, it argues that dance audience desires are a key factor in whether it is possible to alleviate pressures created by the media’s standard for female beauty. This aspect is then discussed using an economic-social lens, consequently setting the framework for whether the solution proposed throughout the paper would be effective. Overall, this paper states the health risks dancers face, develops a solution to the problem, with a basis in media literacy, and then it explores nuanced arguments within the context of the solution which limit its implementations...