100 Skills Every Human Should Know: Dance

Before even reading the article "100 Skills Every Man Should Know", I was already apprehensive about the types of skills that would be listed. I cringed at the thought of reading through a list of things that would probably make me a little angry because I knew that I would disagree with these skills being aimed only towards men. As I rolled my eyes while reading through the list, I caught myself being surprised by some of the ordinary tasks such as shovel snow or shuffle cards. These seemed like skills that any person could do, so I was surprised that not every single skill focused on sports, activities that require physical strength, and stereotypically "masculine" skills as I had assumed. Although many of them did focus on these types of activities, I was shocked to see the skill "Know how to dance" on the list. 

I chose to focus on this skill because this is something that I, as a female, have been doing for as long as I can remember. I started dancing when I was 5 years old, and at the age of 11 I joined a competitive dance team. I have grown up learning different dance forms such as ballet, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, musical theatre, contemporary, and tap. Now that I am in college, I have learned how to do Bhangra (an Indian dance form) and I continue to do Hip Hop through the club dance teams at Siena. 

When I was younger, I always had a few boys in my dance classes but girls were the majority. The boys tended to not do competition because that would require ballet, so they were more likely to be found in the hip hop classes. While I agree that this is a skill men should know, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that this list encouraged men to dance as many people view dance as a non-athletic activity, reading the explanation behind this skill was less appealing to me. I disagreed with the point that said "None of that nae nae nonsense", because boys should be able to participate in hip hop dance or any type of dance that allows them to express themselves. I have never danced for the happiness of anyone except myself, so the idea that "nothing impresses a woman more" than ballroom dancing didn't sit well with me. I also think this skill can easily be aimed at any person as dancing is an art form everyone should be able to enjoy, not just men.

When I started doing musicals in ninth grade and eventually became dance captain my junior and senior year of high school, I noticed that the boys were always hesitant about doing dance moves that could potentially be categorized as "too girly". I remember dreading choreographing any boys only numbers because they refused to hold hands or would complain about any moves that seemed more feminine. I wasn't sure how much of this was their own feelings about the choreography and how much of it stemmed from being worried about what their friends who weren't in the musical would think, due to their ingrained misogyny. I can remember at least a handful of times when male athletes would joke about how boys in the musical were all sissies and my male friends in the musical who danced would get bullied about their sexualities. Recently, a "Good Morning America" host Lara Spencer joked about why Prince George is learning ballet in school, which also made me realize that bullying male dancers is a societal norm.

Demonstrating the art form of dance makes me feel incredible, as it is one of my biggest passions in life. I think dancing was included on the 100 Skills Every Man Should Know list because ballroom dancing specifically is a way for the man to be in control of the movements. The idea of a man "leader" while the girl is the "follower" is part of the subtle gender structures of ballroom dancing. Ballroom dancing tells the story of a relationship between two people, and it perpetuates the century long message of a woman following the man's lead. Art forms such as dance can reflect imbedded ideas about gender, and aknowledging the patriarchal structures within dance is something I have noticed more as I get more dance experience.

I don't really see the need for a 100 Skills Every Woman Should Know list, so I don't think I can list specific skills that would be on a list directed towards woman. Any skill that the article said could potentially impress a woman, such as cooking, giving good massages, or having a firm handshake, would also probably impress a man. The terminology could be changed to partner or significant other to make it more inclusive. The article "100 Skills Every Man Should Know" also denies to aknowledge relationships that aren't heterosexual with the way that it is worded. I think 100 Skills People Should Know would be much more accurate and that everything in this article could also be on that list, as it is important for everyone to know how to do things like parallel park, jumpstart a car, or make a logical argument. Changing the title of this article would ensure that gender stereotypes aren't being promoted and I think anyone would benefit from learning some more skills on this list. For me, I definitely have to work on my parallel parking and I really need to learn how to change a tire!