Gendered Bodies and Leisure ─ The Practice and Performance of American Belly Dance

With its roots in Middle Eastern and North African dance, belly dance is a popular leisure activity in the West, with women (and some men) of all ages and body types pursuing the activity for diverse reasons. Drawing on empirical research, fieldwork, and interviews with participants, this book investigates the social world and small group cultures of American belly dance, examining the various ways and extent to which peoplea€?s participation in leisure provides a temporary break from their everyday lives. With attention to gender expectations, body image, and sexuality within belly dance, how people navigate membership in a tight-knit female-dominated community, the construction of spiritual experiences, and the process of identifying with a leisure activity, this book shows how people use the same pursuit in a variety of ways to escape from everyday life. Remaining sensitive to obstacles that block us from completely leaving our ordinary experiences, Belly Dance as Gendered Leisure: Playing in a Fantasy World sheds light on the manner in which dancers strive to deal with the challenges presented by internal power struggles and legitimacy bids, public beliefs and often sexualized assumptions about their art, and narrow cultural ideals of beauty. An engaging study of identity work and the reproduction and challenging of gender norms through a gendered leisure activity, this book will be of interest to sociologists researching gender and sexuality, the sociology of leisure, the sociology of the body and interactionist thought.

Rachel Kraus is Associate Professor of Sociology at Ball State University, USA.