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READING THE BALLET BODY IN CHILDRENâS FICTION
Kate Z. Davies
The ballerina is an enduring symbol of girlhood (Turk, 2014). As a testament to its popularity, many Canadian girls and women have taken ballet class, owned a pair of ballet slippers, and worn a leotard with a tutu at some point in their lives (Miskec, 2014). Ballet is also visible in mainstream media. For example, Angelina Ballerina, a dancing mouse, is a popular computer game, television, and book series read by many girls (Turk, 2014). A number of other childrenâs books have an underlying theme of ballet. These mediated texts, in their part, shape how children come to understand dance and the dancing body, particularly the ballet body, in contemporary society.
To understand what it means to be a dancing body during childhood requires knowledge of how such meanings are produced and reproduced. To achieve this end, I examine the meaning of ballet in childrenâs picture books. This chapter is part of my doctoral research, which analyzes how meanings of the active body are (re)produced across thirty childrenâs picture books. In this discussion, however, I examine six stories about ballet from my larger sample of books about childrenâs physical activity: Ballerina Rosie, Tallulahâs Tutu, Ballet Stars, Miss Linaâs Ballerinas and the Prince, Ella Bella Ballerina and Swan Lake, and The Only Boy in Ballet Class. To begin, I situate the research within the wider body of literature on ballet and children. I then introduce my Foucauldian approach to explain how I conduct my analysis. After presenting my results, I conclude with a discussion of the knowledges that (re)produce the ballet body in childrenâs books. In the review of literature that follows, I critique how gender has been analyzed in the academic literature on childrenâs active bodies, thereby providing a rationale for the Foucauldian-inspired approach underpinning this study.
Appropriate Gendered Identities?
Childrenâs literature is a powerful medium through which meanings of the body are normalized and conveyed during childhood (Hunt, 1985; Rogers, 2008; Saric, 2005; Stallcup, 2004). Paterson and Lach (1990) argue that âbooks can and do have profound effects on childrenâ (195). Moreover, Worland (2008) asserts that
picture books exert a unique influence on their audienceâŠMost significantly, the audience receives messages in the text at a point in their lives when they are especially impressionable and when they first begin to formulate ideas about culture, society and valuesâŠIn addition, picture booksâŠpromote ideas with increased impact because of the power of the illustrationsâŠThus, picture books deliver their messages twice, with words and illustrationsâŠResearch shows that children translate the values and messages in books into attitudes and behaviorâŠTheir behavior and their expectations of otherâs behaviors often reveal acceptance and conformity to what they have been most exposed to in books. (42â43)
Although scholarship that examines representations of childrenâs active bodies is scarce, there is some research regarding gender roles in childrenâs literature. These studies focus on the body as a site where meanings of disability, race, ethnicity, and gender are (re)produced and/or contested (Hamilton, Anderson, Broaddus, & Young, 2006; Hunter, 1982; Matthews, 2009; Nilges & Spencer, 2002; Rogers & Christian, 2007; Singleton, 2004; Stott, 1979; Weiller & Higgs, 1989).
For example, in a study that analyzes a project developed to make childrenâs bodies with disabilities visible in childrenâs picture books, Matthews (2009) found that the visibility of these bodies was contingent upon and constrained by dominant social understandings of disability that tended to render disabled bodies âimpermissible.â Hamdi and Newbery (2004) further observe that childrenâs books are generally devoid of discussions of impermissible bodies. Such deliberate omissions are linked to the belief that inappropriate references to the body may encourage childrenâs âuncivilized behaviorâ (Stallcup, 2004, 91). Given that ballet is considered to require highly able bodies, I am also interested in how impermissible bodies are reproduced in these books.
Rogers and Christian (2007) examine the construction of race in a selection of multicultural childrenâs books that, as they argue, âintentionally bring Whiteness to the surfaceâ (21). Their intent was to reveal how childrenâs literature marginalizes people of colour. Based on their findings, the authors suggest that multiple and contradictory meanings underpin the messages conveyed in the selected books. For example, they note that âthe talk in texts between White characters sometimes re-centers Whiteness and other times disrupts Whiteness as the centerâ (21). While the multicultural childrenâs literature aims to address the oppression of marginalized populations, based on Rogers and Christianâs (2007) study, there is also potential to perpetuate oppression by revealing âthe effects, both productive (when Whiteness is decentered) and repressive (when Whiteness is re-centered), of discourse and through them, the use of powerâ (47). I am interested in examining how childrenâs ballet books might represent race and ethnicity considering that high-art âtheatre dance,â such as ballet, with studio fees, has often been seen, at least in Canada, as a middle-class, white womenâs and girlsâ activity (Boyd, 2004).
Relevant to my topic of the depictions of the ballet body, several studies have focused on the gender differences in childrenâs books. In a study of the pictorial representation of gender and physical activity level in Caldecott Medalâwinning childrenâs literature between 1940 and 1999, Nilges and Spencer (2002) found that both females and physical activity were underrepresented in these awarding-winning books. In a survey of two hundred popular childrenâs books, Hamilton et al. (2006) concluded that female characters continued to be underrepresented. In addition, while twice as many male characters occupied jobs outside the home, nurturing behaviour appeared to be more common among female characters despite the decline of such behaviours from 1970 to 1980. Although female characters (79%) were just as likely as male characters (86%) to be portrayed as active bodies, the study did not specify whether the types of activities girls and boys engaged in were similar (Hamilton et al., 2006, 762). However, according to Weiller and Higgs (1989), âmany reading materials available in the school libraries present certain prescribed roles for girls and boys in sport activitiesâ (66). For example, âin dance and tennis females were represented six out of six times [and]âŠfive out of six times in gymnastics as opposed to three out of six by malesâ (Weiller & Higgs, 1989, 66). Based on their findings, Weiller and Higgs (1989) conclude that these readings reified the traditional gender order. As I noted at the beginning of my chapter, ballet tends to be popular particularly among girls. Thus, part of my concern in this chapter is whether ballet picture books provide a different gender balance.
Some researchers have, indeed, focused on books aimed specifically at girls. For example, Dohnt and Tiggemann (2008) conducted a study âto evaluate the potential for the picture book, Shapesville, to promote positive body image in young girlsâ (222). The story, which depicts five friends who range in shape, size, and colour, is intended to encourage diversity and acceptance. Based on their results, Dohnt and Tiggemann (2008) conclude that âShapesville can be a successful prevention tool for use with young girlsâ (232). For example, the study reports, â[The girlsâ] knowledge of the five food groups increased significantly [after reading Shapesville]. The promotion of healthy eating is important to obesity prevention and Shapesville may assist in this causeâ (231). Dohnt and Tiggemann (2008) then state, âThe girls reported learning that appearance is not important, commonly, âIt doesnât matter what you look likeââ (231). The authors conclude that Shapesville appears to be a useful tool in the prevention of obesity and disordered eating. In a study of images featuring Barbie and the Emme doll (the latter based on a plus-size model), Dittmar, Halliwell, and Ive (2006) suggest that by the age of eight, girls who had been exposed to thin-ideal body images may internalize these images to the point where viewing images of a larger body, such as the Emme doll, actually elicits a negative response toward the larger size image.
Instead of body image concerns, Kane (1998) examines the portrayal of female protagonists in sport novels published between 1970 and 1997. Based on earlier work, she organized and analyzed the texts according to one of two themes: âlone girlâ and âwomenâs team sportâ (236). Using a feminist perspective, she found âstrong support for heterosexual relationshipsâ across the novels (256). According to Kane, this âredirectionâ is problematic for two reasons. First, it âundermines womenâs connections with each other.â Second, âit simultaneously reassures the reader that all of the female characters are unequivocally heterosexualâ (256). Through her analysis, Kane also demonstrates that to be accepted as an athlete, female protagonists must behave just as their male counterparts would, notably when injured. Singletonâs (2004) analysis of female protagonists from two early twentieth-century adventure series for teenage girls supported this latter finding. Like Kane (1998), she employs a feminist perspective to find that âthese highly active and physically competent female characters support, through their continuous iterations of femininity, the ideological attribution of maleness to physical skill, risk taking and adventuresâ (Singleton, 2004, 131). These findings provide interesting intersections with my research on ballet where the injury rates, similar to sport, are high. However, it must be noted that the sport research focused on young adult sports fiction or womenâs sports fiction. Indeed, research on the impact of ballet in childrenâs developing bodies exists.
A significant portion of the academic literature investigating the influence of ballet on children is concerned with the physiological (Kadel, Donaldson-Fletcher, Gerberg, & Micheli, 2005; Moller & Masharawi, 2011; StokiÄ, SrdiÄ, & Barak, 2005) or psychosocial (Bettle, Bettle, Neumarker, & Neumarker, 2001) effects of ballet training. Moller and Masharawi (2011), for example, examine the effect of participating in ballet on the developing childâs posture. They found that young children who engaged in ballet training to increase flexibility were predisposed to back problems later in life. With the exception of Pickard (2013), who, drawing from Bourdieu, examines âwhat is perceived and believed to be an ideal ballet body by young ballet dancersâ (3), research that critiques what it means to be a dancing body is limited to adolescent and adult dancers, similar to sport research (Oliver, 2005; Sherlock, 1991; Wainwright, Williams, & Turner, 2007). Moreover, most of the dance studies research focuses on the ideal body of the female ballerina.
Although research on girlsâ sporting or physically active bodies is rare, the two studies I identified to examine ballet in childrenâs literature focus specifically on girls. In her essay about the prominence of the foot in childrenâs stories about ballet, Miskec (2014) suggests that âballet is the perfect space for ideal femininity: thin bodies, frilly skirts, speechlessness; graceful movements making it all look easy while hiding the pain, physical anguish for beautyâ (240). In particular, Miskec argues that the image of the ballet foot is problematic not only because it sexualizes young girls, but also because it simultaneously infantilizes the female dancers whom these girls epitomize. In contrast, Turk (2014), who studies American childrenâs literature and girls, contends that images of ballet, specifically âliterary representations of ballet in girlsâ cultureâŠcan be used to speak to contemporary girlsâ lives and imaginations, including ways in which ballet provides enriching girlhood experienceâ (483). For example, she discusses how the princess image of the ballerina provides space for Olivia, the dancing pig, to shed the stereotypical Disney princess/ballerina costume for ones that represent princesses of different cultures such as India. Turk challenges Miskec, asserting, ââideal femininityââŠcan engage young people in valuable questions about the art formâs past, present, and futureâ (501). Although relevant and necessary, these two studies do not employ a systematic social science methodology to evidence either one of their arguments.
Based on the reading of previous literature, a certain type of âideal femininityâ (thin, pale skin, heterosexual, engaged in nurturing activities but enduring pain) appears to persist in childrenâs books across several physical activity contexts. These studies use a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches. I aim to continue to examine the representations of the ballet body in childrenâs picture books, but employ a Foucauldian theoretical approach to guide my analysis. This approach not only highlights what type of body is represented but also examines why certain representations persist in these books.
Foucauldian Approach to Childrenâs Active Bodies
To examine how childrenâs bodies are (re)produced in childrenâs picture books with the unifying theme of ballet, I draw from Michel Foucaultâs ideas about power, knowledge, and the body. More specifically, I consider how ballet functions as a truth game that shapes meanings of the dancing body through childrenâs picture books.
Foucault (1980) was interested in the relationship between power/knowledge and what he termed âdiscourse,â or the ways that we know about a topic or phenomenon, such as ballet. Some discourses, he noted, become dominant over time, in a discontinuous manner, thereby making it difficult to trace a particular discourse back to a particular individual or instance (Markula & Pringle, 2006). Moreover, Foucault asserted that discourses are constrained and enabled by the knowledge available at a given time and within a given context. Therefore, of the discourses that are available or possible, only a few are actually reproduced (Markula & Pringle, 2006). For example, based on my literature review, a certain way of understanding femininity was reproduced in childrenâs books. These dominant discourses do not represent truth per se, but instead operate as âtruthful,â what Foucault (1980) refers to as âeffects of truthâ (94) that then circulate through texts such as childrenâs books.
Dominant discourses are those that have endured a process of division and rejection whereby competing discourses are discarded, not because these discourses are less âtrue,â but because dominant discourses sustain the power-relation of the specific sociohistoric context in which they operate (Markula & Pringle, 2006). It was the process of how a particular discourse becomes dominant and produces a truth-effect that interested Foucault and underpinned his approach to discourse analysis (Markula & Silk, 2011). I discuss this approach in more detail, in the Methods section. For the purpose of this discussion, it is necessary to explain Foucaultâs understanding of discourse in terms of its relation to power/knowledge.
Central to Foucaultâs theorizat...