shanmonster

It takes a lot to offend me, but I think I've actually found something I consider personally offensive. It's from an Atlantic Canadian Middle Eastern dance teacher's website (which I won't link publicly at the risk of alienating her students), and part of the text reads as follows:

Some young girls and mature women are looking for 'powers' in many wrong places and in many wrong ways... they should try our Beginners group, instant friendly acceptance is guaranteed! This is where they can find friends, attention, support, respect, good advice, and learn how to cultivate real natural feminine powers without irritating men by trying to compete with them in masculine ways. For the same reason women don't like men who act in feminine ways. Actually, all men, male friends and family members are always glad to see women as nice, sweet, gentle, entertaining, playful, seductive, delicate and feminine!

Actually, it's funny, in a sad sort of way. But holy yuck! I quite like my "masculine" traits, and wouldn't part from them without a knock-down, drag-out fight. The guys in my kung fu class seem to like me just fine. And my buddy Nigel, a drag queen who does his own wonderful blend of club/belly dance, is adored by plenty of women. I don't think he'd part from his carefully cultivated girlish ways without a hissy fit.

From the same website comes this howler:

We also know about the powerful influence of music on human mind, but the bellydancing music seems to have something more... some strange powers, perhaps, like Egyptian pyramids... The beautiful hypnotizing slow tunes or energizing fast rhythms seem to come from faraway, like some kind of important messages from our distant and forgotten past, or from our past lives, or from a distant place of common roots of all humanity, or from our own roots that were neglected and abandoned some time ago... The sounds are invading our minds, touching our souls, filling our spirits with vital energy and igniting the fire of love and good will from our ancestors, whom we, probably, had to listen much more than we actually did...

What a load of hooha! These are the sort of people who either scare the shit out of me or really help develop my tact muscles.