The context is as important as the message...
The issue here is, obviously, not about denying that
many women work as dancers and that
come of these women actually make a stable and comfortable living at it. We all know that this is the case. The problem is the environment that was chosen to push out this information.
We all know that most children mature sexually and physically much earlier than they mature mentally. There are many boys of sixteen who look like adult men and there are plenty of teenage women who can pass as adult females in their twenties. Nevertheless, they are still children in their minds who lack the experience, judgement, and maturity to make independent decisions about some matters that may significantly change their future.
Look, this is exactly why we have statutory rape laws. Many teenagers
look all grown-up. And with the openess in the media and society these days, many of them certainly "talk-the-talk" that can make you forget that they are not adults. But at the end of the day, they are still in the process of developing mentally and do not yet have the ability to make an informed and mature judgement about sexual relations. While most teenagers may give the
outward appearance of being adult, they are still much more vulnerable to being taken advatage of by more experienced and devious adults.
Obviously, suggesting a career as a dancer is not an
action that compares to statutory rape, so please don't misunderstand the example above to represent an analogy. However, the same vulnerability and immaturity that makes adolecent children under-qualified to make sound sexual decisions
also impacts on their ability to make appropriate and proactive career choices.
Let's face it.
Most teenage children don't yet have the skills to fully appreciate the long-term consequences of their actions with regard to education and career. Most adolencents are too absorbed in the immidiate culture of their peers where immediate acceptance and status are the most important thing and few really have a sense of what it means to be a responsible and independent adult.
These people are very much open to influence from their families and other individuals seen as mentors and role models. When they receive a presentation in their
school which validates Dancing as a realistic career choice for them, it makes it a lot easier for them to convince themselves that their fantasy of working in the "adult entertainment" industry can be a reality.
Realistically, there are precious few women who are actually able to make dancing work for them as a sustained and stable career. Certainly
a few do exist and some of them are valued contributors to thsi forum. But the Dancing profession is, in reality, not the glamorous life that many outsiders imagine it is. There are many very difficult challenges that a professional dancer must face almost every day at work. A stable income is almost impossible to acheive over a meduim or long-term period - which makes it a high-risk career from
that perspective alone.
If women (or men), who have reached a level of maturity where they can realistically make long-term life decisions, decide to Dance professionally, that is their right and option. However, it is unfair and dangerous to
advise young and impressionable adolecents that Dancing is equivilent to (for example) accounting and nursing as a long-term career. This kind of advice has no place in a school where children have come to expect useful and valuable guidance.
Having said that, I'm totally in favour of the concept of female
University students (especially the hot ones) turning to Dancing as a means of paying for their higher education...I've even
supported a number of them in their aim to raise tuition funds ($20 at a time)...
.
Zog.
