WTF!

So I was on Amazon looking at books and I clicked look inside for many of them but then I came across this one and nearly exploded.

Well since I can punch the author of the book, I'm simply going to explode in rant here. Now luckily this isn't a recent book. It was written in the 1980's when people were even more close minded than they are now (hard to imagine right?) However, recent or not, this still upset me. Before I rant though, I will say a few good things. Recently the ballet world has been changing and continues to change. In many companies, dancers are no longer weighed in front of others or penalized for being a few pounds over the weight limit. Some limits for some companies have even been risen or removed entirely. In recent years we have even seen a few larger dancers appear on stage in ballet, modern, tap, jazz, and other style companies. It's not perfect yet. Unfortunately, it took a lot of cases and deaths of dancers caused by eating disorders to bring about some of this change. Ballerinas who are over the weight limit receive nutrition help and often counseling as well to help them lose weight healthy and lower the risk of the dancer developing an eating disorder. In some companies, all the dancers receive periodic counseling and are taught nutrition to help the matter. Many companies also keep a closer eye on their dancers. If a dancer appears to be heading down an unhealthy path of an eating disorder, someone at the head of the company and a therapist will intervene and talk to the dancer. And a few dancers have even been forced to go on leave until they are able to get healthy again. Companies also recognize that muscle weighs more than fat and some have gone to measuring fat percentage instead of or along with measuring overall weight. In general, the whole idea of dancers and diets is changing.
Of course, as great as Balanchine was, he is part of the reason for all this shit happening in the first place.

So with that said, it really angered me that this book says this and is still being printed. With the deaths of dancers from "diets" and all, I would like to thing people would not print this stuff anymore. I mean this to me sounds like something the mind of a person with an eating disorder would say to themselves. And the use of the word need, um no. Please shut the fuck up. The beginning says "The number one reason have to diet is the merciless exposure of their bodies in classes and onstage." Um, no. The only way that could be a reason is people can't accept different bodies. I personally have seen some amazing dancers who weren't exactly thin. I'm not saying it's okay to be overweight but if you continue reading it says "A dancer can look pretty terrible in tights unless shes pared her weight down to the absolute minimum." While it's not healthy for anyone to be overweight and it's often not safe for overweight dancers to go on pointe, they don't have to be the absolute minimum either. That isn't exactly much better than being overweight is for ones health. As long as they are within a healthy weight range, or more importantly, have a healthy fat percentage, it shouldn't matter. The world has this idea of what dancers should look like and every time a dancer who doesn't fit the look, the critics attack mercisly. It's not because of the tights or the back row of the audience or anything like that. It's because people are close minded and expect perfection of these dancers. Except, no one can be perfect. But if the idea of a larger dancer was accepted, it wouldn't matter. It's not because the clothing is merciless, it's the critics who are merciless. And saying a dancer looks terrible if she is not the bare minimum, bullshit! Saying that certain costumes work against you, well certain costumes don't look good on overly thin girls either. Certain costumes don't look good on certain body proportions or heights. Certain costumes don't work well with certain skin tones. But as a director, you can look at the dancers you have and make sure you have a costume produced that will look good. And if you don't want a certain hair color or skin tone or weight or height, you can choose not to pick those dancers in an audition. But the only real reason certain costumes don't look good on certain weights is because society says so. The critics say so. Some damn idiot says so. Because we are programed to think that curves or a bit of thickness is bad and ugly. There was a time when being really thin was considered ugly. Then it got popular and having a bit of weight on you became ugly. Well why should it matter. All that should matter is health.
But suppose a young impressionable dancer picked up this book. Suppose they read this. How do you think they would feel. What effects might this have on that person. Maybe next time she goes to dance class she will look in the mirror and remember what the book said. Maybe she will think she looks to big. Maybe she will want to keep her warmups on all class because she is afraid the book is right and she never saw it but everyone else noticed how big she looked. Maybe she will think that must be why she didn't get that part in the nutcracker. Maybe she will start to wonder how long she has been ugly and never even noticed. Maybe she will go home and throw her dinner away. Maybe she will decide not to eat the next morning and just go for a run, because she has to diet for that recital costume. And maybe it will continue for a week or two. And maybe one day she will faint in class and end up in the hospital. Maybe she will cry when the nurse tries to give her food. Maybe her heart will give out. And maybe, just maybe, she had never been ugly or fat at all. Maybe she had been healthy. Maybe her diet took away her health. Maybe she is told she isn't allowed to dance anymore. Or maybe she dies. All because society put this fear in her. This fear that if she didn't diet, she would be ugly and never be a professional. This fear that made her question if it was the reason for every time she wasn't picked for a part, or put in the back of a dance, or yelled at, etc. Maybe lots of girls will read this book and not be bothered. But the one girl that it does bother, or many girls, they might destroy their dreams in a desperate attempt to achieve them by doing what this book said. You put these ideas into a young persons mind and they can take over. You put these ideas in a young persons mind who is starting puberty and watching their body change and it's even more dangerous. I realize this book was written long ago and I realize this country has freedom of speech, but I also realize the damage this could do to a young person. It makes me sick. Freedom of speech or not, it should be edited or removed.


And yes, I put this as a customer review on Amazon too.