The Pressures of Dancers :: Dancing Psychology Papers

The Pressures of Dancers The typical idea of a dancer is that they are tall, slender, full of energy, and lucky because they dance with all of the â€Å"stars†. Much of this is true, however, what many people do not think of are the many hardships that a dancer goes through in order to achieve their high status in the dance world. It takes much hard work and determination along with good direction to become a dancer. However, nothing good comes without a price. Dancers often times have many pressures put on them which can lead to physical and emotional damages. These damages occur through the pressures from the media, parents, teammates, and the stereotype that society has placed on dancers. One of the hardest pressures that dancers have to get through is the pressure from the media. The media places harsh, rigid, and false ideas of dancers on to the mass public. Constantly bombarded by commercials, magazine ads, posters, etc., the idea of being thin and beautiful is what the society thinks of as the â€Å"norm†. The truth is â€Å"these ads portray women who have a weight way below average, and have no imperfections† (Karyn p.1). Many ads are airbrushed to give the models the look of being flawless which many women and girls do not realize. Since that look is â€Å"virtually impossible to achieve† many dancers will develop an eating disorder feeling that â€Å"it is their only road to achieve this goal† of being thin (Karyn p.1). When thinking about it, the whole point of a commercial is essentially to sell happiness. If selling happiness is the goal and the use of models is prevalent in the commercial, then it can be concl uded that the only way to achieve happiness is to be just like the commercial by having the product being advertised and looking like the person advertising it. These pressures from the media ads can lead to eating disorders. For many women and girls the â€Å"ideal image portrayed becomes an obsession and results in an eating disorder like anorexia or bulimia† (Karyn p.1). With the constant nagging to be thin, the dancers feel that if they are to be in music videos on television, they have to measure up to this false image of a woman.