Abstract
This chapter offers a compelling overview of male dance students’ predicaments of masculinity in Finland. The chapter provides a much-needed insight into fear, coping, and peer support in male dancing by focusing on young men’s gender-specific dance education experiences. While noting the value of gender-specific peer groups for boys in dance, the authors argue that such groups are not self-evidently safe enough to fully perform gender and sexuality without fear due to cis- and heteronormativity. Recommendations highlight gender-sensitive and inclusive teaching in dance schools as the first step in creating safer spaces for young people to be themselves and celebrate the choices they genuinely value.
Keywords
- Dance education
- Gender
- Masculinity
- Heternormativity
- Cis-gender
- Inclusive teaching
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Notes
- 1.
Basic education in dance is extracurricular training provided primarily for children and young people in dance schools in Finland. The tuition follows the approved curriculum, which is based on the core curriculum determined by the Finnish National Agency for Education. Goal-oriented training progresses from one level to the next. It provides skills for the students to express themselves and apply for vocational dance training and higher education in dance (Opetushallitus, 2017).
- 2.
We consider wellbeing related to political safety (see Note 3) and “capability” as “the ability—the substantive freedom—of people to lead the lives they have reason to value and to enhance the real choices that they have” (Sen, 1999, p. 293).
- 3.
Deriving from the 1970s feminist and LGBT movement, “safe space” refers to a politically safe space where marginalized people can meet among themselves and share their experiences without the danger of being harassed (Flensner & Von der Lippe, 2019; Coleman, 2016). In educational contexts, it refers to “classrooms where students can speak freely, without being afraid of their peers or their teacher” (Flensner & Von der Lippe, 2019, p. 276).
- 4.
This research belongs to the ArtsEqual Research Initiative supported by the Academy of Finland’s Strategic Research Council (Grant No. 314223).
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Lehikoinen, K., Turpeinen, I. (2022). Fear, Coping and Peer Support in Male Dance Students’ Reflections. In: Risner, D., Watson, B. (eds) Masculinity, Intersectionality and Identity. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90000-7_10
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