its so funny to me that european whites love to dance so much?
but american whites dont???
was there some type of religious resistance to dancing?
@star-anise
Those willing to poke gentle fun at American Baptists say: âNo dancing, because it might lead to sex. And no sex, because it might lead to dancing.â So yes, there actually was religious resistance to dancing, which has persisted beyond all belief. Not to mention the suppression of various types of folk dancing as European immigrants were assimilated into bland whiteness and encouraged to do ânon-ethnicâ dances like square dancing.
Iâm a Canadian white and itâs also my observation that the British colonists especially brought the notion that civility, culture, class, professionalism, and correct behaviour were all undergirded by the ability to sit still, stand straight, and maintain an unemotional facade no matter what. âStiff upper lipâ and all that. Acceptable forms of dance among Whiteness are often formal, complicated, and difficult to pick up without paid instruction. White people often make the mistake, even when writing about our own culture from a couple hundred years back, of thinking that dance is ONLY a mating ritualâyou donât dance for sadness, or joy, or anger, or fun. Itâs not an accident that anti-colonial resistance by Indigenous groups, people of colour, and non-English white people, have in many cases used dance as an avenue of resistance and identity. Nor is it an accident that moral panics have often been over white people enjoying âethnicâ forms of dance and music like jazz, swing, hip-hop, or rap.
By denying people dance, rhythm, and movement, colonizers denied them a powerful kind of literal medicine, a form of resilience that could have allowed them to heal enough to defy colonial rule. But itâs no accident that the intrinsic motions of colonialismâdictating what people wear, where they live, who educates their children, what they eat, what language they speak, what music they can make, and how they can danceâare those that contribute most directly to PTSD and widespread mental health and addiction problems.
When mental health professionals work to heal trauma, thereâs a growing understanding that rhythm, music, and dance are all deeply powerful tools of healing and resilience. Our bodies are primed to thrive on rhythm, beginning with the heartbeat of the person gestating with, moving to being rocked as a baby. Itâs why the stereotypical shellshocked person rocks back and forth. Itâs a primal self-soothing mechanism. And thatâs why weâre increasingly doing not just breathing exercises, but encouraging drumming, clapping rhythms, and basic dance. Itâs why Iâm starting to ask my clients to share songs that are important with me. Itâs something that white settlers have literally been trained for years to think of as not just unimportant, but dangerous and alien.
Reblogging for tag:Â #âwas there some type of religious resistance to dancingâ oh my sweet summer child
Also, the version I heard was, âNever have sex standing up. It could lead to dancing.â
ok but is that a large print Bible, a regular print Bible, a pocket New TestamentâŚ
My mom was only allowed to go to her high school prom because she promised not to dance.Â
I mean I was only on this train of thought thinking about how much more fun European whites are than Americans when it comes to a night out to go dancing and drinking and having fun. And I knew their was a reason for it but I just didnât realize it was this deep.
I think American whites would be much more relaxed if they would just release their inhibitionsâŚ
Ha! I went to a Southern Baptist School and we didnât even have a âpromâ because they were so against dancing. We had a Junior/Senior banquet....not to mention all the restrictions on what you could wear!Â
