One sugar plum too many ………

Whilst researching and reviewing literature to inform my inquiry I found further articles discussions and debate in relation to the movie ‘The Black Swan’ which had been the inspiration for my blog entry of February 2011, "Questions, questions and more questions…….." where I discussed an article by Arlene Phillips following the release of the movie and I felt the urge to blog about some of the related issues again as once more these articles raised issues in relation to body image, eating disorders and the dancer as they are relevant to how peer and media pressure influence the dance industry and the expected body image of dancers in a media fuelled society.

              Pretty ugly?!

It is interesting that one of the articles entitled “Pretty Ugly: Black Swan Actresses Snag Praise for their skeletal bodies !” opens with the question:
"Would this flick have been unrealistic had the actresses been allowed to maintain their already svelte figures?"

http://www.ivillage.com/black-swan-actresses-receive-praise-their-skeletal-bodies/4-a-305978

“Two girls make a pact to lose weight. Each desperately wants to get under 100 pounds and over the course of a year through hours of exercise and severe diet they finally reach their goal. With visible chest bones and protruding hips, they are proud of themselves but how does the world react to them? Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman are now being rewarded with fame, fortune and talk of a possible Oscar for their portrayal of troubled ballerinas in the movie, ‘Black Swan’”.


Portman and Kunis are praised for their “dedication” and “strength” in what for many others is a disease and a weakness.
Would their acting have been less real without the dieting?

Does it make a difference if someone practices disordered eating for a creative pursuit instead of just to get thin?
For example: Renee Zellwegers increased weight to play the role of Bridget Jones. Or even more controversial a question – why didn’t casting directors pick an actress who was already the right proportions naturally for the role?

How far will a performer go to land the desired role? If it is to such extremes doesn’t this give out the wrong message as dancers compete for roles and places in companies and colleges and feel the pressures to conform to those standards?

What message does this give to dancers about their body image and what influence does it have on dancers in general as the industry expects a certain look?


Natalie Portman  observed that working out 8 hours a day, 6 days a week and eating only carrots and almonds to drop the 20 pounds required was tough,  saying, "It is a ballet dancer's life, where you don't drink, you don't go out with your friends, you don't have much food, you are constantly putting your body through extreme pain and then you get that sort of understanding of the self-flagellation of a ballet dancer" On one hand she says that she knows "the whole thing? I'm aware that it's sick" but then she adds that she feels like she was in "the best shape of her life" for the role.  Kunis, who got equally thin, says she was very impressed with how her "skin-and-bones appearance" looked on film.

Surely the Oscar nominations for both actresses (Portman actually won the prize for best actress) are, or should be, for their acting ability and skills but the way it is linked to their dedication and strength to lose drastic weight for the role in the media gives a false message that they are actually being praised and rewarded for their weight loss. What affect does this have in boosting women’s self-confidence and image and in particular from my inquiry point of view that of the female dancer? The psychological effect is that with all the pressures from your peers you think what is good for them is good for me. For most dancers they are not overweight to start with just not painfully thin.

http://www.thegreatfitnessexperiment.com/2010/12/actresses-get-oscar-buzz-for-eating.html

Actresses Get Oscar Buzz For Eating Disorders while a real ballerina gets called "fat".

At the same time as Portman and Kunis were being praised for their weight loss a real ballerina was being called “fat”    ……………………………………   critic Alastair Macaulay wrote in the New York Times (1/12/2010) after he attended a performance of The Nutcracker by the New York City Ballet…………“Jenifer Ringer, as the Sugar Plum Fairy, looked as if she’d eaten one sugar plum too many”.

The article caused much controversy and outcry as Ringer suffered herself as a young dancer with an eating disorder. In response she says, “the comment hurt initially but is just part of being a professional in a field that demands perfection from those who work in it. As a dancer, I do put myself out there to be criticized, and my body is part of my art form. At the same time, I am not overweight.”

If anyone checks out the web site and photograph of Ringland you can see she is still ultra slim by any normal standards. 

In defence of his comment Macaulay retorts, “Some have argued that the body in ballet is “irrelevant.” Sorry, but the opposite is true. If you want to make your appearance irrelevant to criticism, do not choose ballet as a career. The body in ballet becomes a subject of the keenest observation and the most intense discussion. I am severe — but ballet, as dancers know, is more so”.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/40639920/ns/today-today_people/t/im-not-fat-says-ballerina-faulted-too-many-sugarplums/

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/04/arts/dance/04ballet.html?scp=1&sq=Alastair%20Macaulay&st=cse

Isn’t this distorted body image pressurising dancers to be thin?

This type of culture and media pressure increases the chance of young women developing problems with body image issues and eating disorders. It seems to me the painfully thin image of ballerina’s as portrayed in the ‘Black Swan’ could well be detrimental to the ‘normal’ dancer’s body image.

One reaction to the article was from a spokeswoman for charity ‘Beat’ Mary George said: “Dancers are under a great deal of pressure and their bodies exposed to punishing regimes and it is widely acknowledged that eating disorders are not uncommon in that world. How sad that someone who has courageously talked about and overcome her past problems with eating should be needlessly criticised in this way.”

What is worrying from reading all these articles is the acceptance of the ‘victims’ and that is why I think young female dancers are so influenced in a negative way. If a prima ballerina in the twilight of her career (Jenifer Ringland) accepts that her body is there on public show to be criticised as her profession demands perfection and prolific actresses such as Portman and Kunis are prepared to almost starve themselves to death for a role in a film what message does that give to those of us just embarking on a career in the industry.  It can push dancers to their physical limit and increase the risk for body image issues and eating disorders and injury as hopefuls try to emulate those already successful in the industry. If we cannot look to those practitioners who are already successful in the industry to change attitudes, who can we look to, to change them or do we just accept and conform?

Plus size model retouched to look thinner

Another interesting article with regard to how the media distorts and influences what we see and read was an article by model Crystal Renn who has become the poster woman for curvy girls everywhere. As a teen model, Renn, now 24, tried so hard to get down to the size 0 designers wanted that she developed bulimia and anorexia. So when Renn saw the published results of a recent photo shoot she did for charity ‘Fashion for Passion’ in which her body was whittled down via retouching, her reaction was vehement. She said she could barely recognize her full-figured self in the slimmed-down shots. As a size 12 she said she was made to look like a size 2.

“I absolutely understand a reasonable amount of retouching, but to change my body completely, that is not what I’m about and that’s not my message, and that’s so important to me. Mostly people felt a sense of betrayal before they knew that the pictures had been retouched. I think women have so few role models to look up to that they felt  that I  clearly think I  need to do this [lose weight] to be beautiful and so  I’m going to have to do that, too. I don’t want women to think that I think thin is the only way to be beautiful,” Renn said. “Beauty is not a pants size. I think it’s about what I have to say and how I live my life, which is in a healthy way, I believe, for me and I want them to know I’m healthy and happy with who and how I am”

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38358777/ns/today-style/t/plus-size-model-shocked-being-made-look-thinner/

Results of a survey of young teenage girls found just eight per cent of 14-year-old girls were happy with their bodies. Seven out of 10 said they would be 100 per cent happier if they could lose half a stone and four in 10 had considered plastic surgery. Two thirds of the 2,000 girls blamed celebrities with "perfect bodies" and boys for their negative body image.
Girlguiding UK found similar results in their poll. In a study of 3,200 young women, more than half said the media made them feel that "being pretty and thin" was the "most important thing". The most influential role models by far, cited by 95 per cent of girls, were Kate Moss and Victoria Beckham.

As females we all want to look good. There's nothing wrong with that. But when it is taken to extremes, you get the unattainable. Girls are at risk of developing a distorted idea of body image, so we get the size zero debate. There are young girls wanting cosmetic surgery and various enhancements. As a dancer in a profession where your body is on show and is the main tool of your trade the risks are much higher.

Later this week I am taking workshops at a South Yorkshire high school with different ages and abilities in performing arts students and  I think I will seek the views of the year 11 girls Contemporary Dance group to see if their answers support or contradict my research so far.

I would love to hear anyones views, opinions or personal experiences on any of the issues raised in this blog.

References

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/40639920/ns/today-today_people/t/im-not-fat-says-ballerina-faulted-too-many-sugarplums/
http://www.thegreatfitnessexperiment.com/2010/12/actresses-get-oscar-buzz-for-eating.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/04/arts/dance/04ballet.html?scp=1&sq=Alastair%20Macaulay&st=cse

Blog entry February 2011 Emily Rose Harris – “Questions, questions and more questions!” http://emilyrose91.blogspot.com/2011_02_01_archive.html

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38358777/ns/today-style/t/plus-size-model-shocked-being-made-look-thinner

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