http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xfva55_black-swan-clip-2_shortfilms
* Attached is a scene from Black Swan, in which the dominant male director of the film’s ballet company discusses balletic perfection with the film’s fragile main character, Nina. He also forces himself on her in the clip in the form of a kiss.
Dance is a mode of expression. It is movement. It is grace. It is passion. Most importantly, dance can be viewed as a microcosm of society, thus providing a window into the values and beliefs held by many different cultures. Dancers are some of the most athletic and talented individuals on the planet. Yet, many live lives of major disappointment, poverty, injury, or marginalization. Women, specifically, are often marginalized through dance, which I witness frequently being a female dancer myself. In classical ballet, a staple of dance in European and American cultures, women are made into a spectacle and are put on display through the support of their male partners. The Pas de Deux, or the typical partner-dance between one male and one female in ballet fully endorses male dominance within society. Thus, female ballerinas are made into incredibly weak and fragile characters in that they seemingly cannot perform without the male presence.
Another patriarchal aspect of ballet is the fact that within this genre of dance, women outnumber men, and strong male dancers are much more valued than female ones. Thus, if a male is present in a class with females, teachers will solely focus on this dancer, putting him at a much greater advantage than females. There is also a gender-related hierarchy in the administrative figures within ballet since choreographers, teachers, and managers are mainly male. Thus, power and authority within the world of ballet lies in the male presence, yet again. Overall, even though ballet remains the pinnacle of grace and femininity within all types of dance, it is also severely patriarchal and has many dark sides.
The film Black Swan, directed by Darren Aronofsky, reveals this patriarchal world of ballet in which rising star, Nina Sayers (played by Natalie Portman), dances to the top at the price of her sanity. This film brings up many unsettling realities for female dancers: the strong desire to be perfect, the rampant presence of eating disorders, the sexist storylines behind ballet performances, the sexual abuse from male directors, among many others. These disturbing realities all become Douglas-esque fantasies of power for the female dancers within the film, since it seems that these ballerinas are only able to rise professionally through extreme self-destruction and mutilation. While this film is artistically sublime, full of the beauty and grace that encompass ballet, its shocking undertones of female subordination and pain reveal an all too real vision of the ballet world, which further feeds into and upholds the system of patriarchy that is present in modern day society.
All of the women in this film fall into general female stereotypes that exist today: helpless, passive, promiscuous, or mad. These stereotypes can also be translated into many of the female protagonists of popular ballets. An example of this occurs in the story of Giselle, in which Giselle goes crazy after she finds that her lover has betrayed her. In fact, the major storyline of Black Swan revolves around another ballet with a fragile female protagonist, or Swan Lake. The basis of Swan Lake is that Odette, an enchanted princess who has been sentenced to a life as a swan by day, commits suicide after discovering that her lover has promised himself to different, evil swan, Odile. In the film, Nina is the spitting image of Odette: an extremely sheltered and innocent child, who cannot even undress herself without her mother’s help. This intense weakness within Nina almost disables her from landing the role of Odette in her company’s production of the ballet. Moreover, ultimately, it is this weakness and inability to hold the power of the role that pushes Nina to insanity, enabling her to mimic Odette and kill herself at the end of the film. Thus, women are yet again portrayed as incapable of true power, even when it is in a form of pure femininity.
It is important to point out another female character within the film, or Lily (played by Mila Cunis), who is completely opposite from Nina in that she defies many of the strict adherences to ballet’s forced-discipline (e.g. she has a tattoo, she walks into rehearsal late, she smokes cigarettes in the dance studio, etc.). This character appears to be the only strong female in the cast of the film. However, she only gains this power through the use of her sexuality (a mode of enlightened sexism, perhaps?), further illustrating the extreme lack of true female power in the ballet word.
Ballet is not only full of female subordination, but it also involves great female sacrifice. First, the costumes necessary for this form of dance for women can be highly uncomfortable, and they can even cause injury. Typical ballerinas wear tutus, which are adorned with heavy jewels. Tutus also contain a corset-like upper piece that can cause extreme strain on the lungs, and that symbolizes a complete regression from feminism. Another part of typical ballet costumes are Pointe shoes, which force women to stand on their toes while maintaining a limber upper body. These shoes are seen by many cultures as barbaric, since they can cause extreme foot damage, especially in adolescent ballerinas. And yet, Pointe shoes are only worn by women in this art form. Thus, Pointe shoes become another example of how our socially constructed standards of beauty for women can cause extreme pain. Moreover, Pointe shoes can be viewed as another fantasy of power for women, literally enabling them to believe that they are rising over men, while merely remaining a form of female marginalization.
In Black Swan examples of further physical and mental sacrifice for women are heavily prevalent throughout the film. In the movie, the only women that succeed in the profession of ballet are those who “lose themselves” in dance, thus completely submissing themselves to the craft, no matter the consequences. Nina constantly self-objectifies her own body and abilities through the motif of mirrors within the film, in order to reach “perfection.” She forces herself to pirouette until her feet are bloodied, and she rips at her own skin as a habit of discipline and self-control. This OCD-like tendency in Nina is extremely disturbing in the film, but it is relatively typical in the ballet world.
Physical and mental disorders are immensely present in ballet dancers due to the psychological pressure that is associated with this art form. In fact, the premise of ballet lies in an unnatural ideal of the female body (similar to those that are discussed by Douglas and Brumberg, which exist for all women in today’s society). Successful ballerinas have an otherworldly thinness, coupled with extremely long limbs, necks, and flexible hips. The extreme stress of maintaining such physiques, in order to fit in with all of the other dancers of a company and to be easier lifted by male dancers, causes ballerinas to have trouble maintaining healthy diets. In fact, even though Douglas and Brumberg show us that eating disorders are rampant for all women in society today, it is often speculated that female dancers are even more likely to develop these disorders than are the rest of the female population. Furthermore, as is discussed in Douglas’ “Lean and Mean” chapter, the anxiety and social pressure of being thin translates into girl-on-girl meanness in the ballet world, since female dancers will constantly critique and compare themselves to their peers.
In Black Swan, Nina exhibits signs of both anorexia and bulimia in that she is often seen wretched over a toilet in the bathroom of her company. She also struggles to try a tiny taste of a celebratory cake that her mother offers her for receiving the role of Odette. Moreover, the aforementioned meanness associated with body-shame for women is portrayed throughout the film as these dancers vie to be noticed by the company’s director. One example of the extreme female competitiveness that stems from the psychological pressures of ballet occurs when Lily gives Nina drugs the night before a dress rehearsal in order to hinder her from performing at her best the next day.
Another problematic sacrifice involved in being a female ballet dancer in today’s world of patriarchy is that at times, one must give up other wants in life in order to keep dancing, making it nearly impossible for female dancers to “have it all.” Many ballerinas only remain in their prime dancing years from ages 18-32, which directly cuts into their normal adolescent development and activities. Thus, as a woman, it becomes very difficult to receive a college education and to become a major ballerina at the same time. Furthermore, it is nearly impossible for ballerinas to maintain a professional career and to become pregnant, making them choose between motherhood and their careers. In Black Swan, Nina’s mother admits that she gave up on dancing to have Nina (a fact that causes numerous rifts in their relationship). This example from the film exemplifies the terrible choice that many dancers (and women of all occupations), are forced into through Frye’s cages of oppression, in that they are often disallowed from living lives of both familial and occupational fulfillment.
One last aspect of our patriarchal world that resonates within this film is that of the symbolically abusive male director of the ballet company. Aronofsky portrays director, Thomas Leroy (played by Vincent Cassel), who is constantly sexually inappropriate with Nina, sliding his hand down her leg during a rehearsal, and asking her to his apartment for drinks. In fact, it can be speculated that Leroy only gives Nina the lead role of Odette because she kisses him in his office, further suggesting that female dancers can only advance because of men or through the use of their sexuality. Historically, this behavior is also unfortunately typical within the ballet world (i.e. famous choreographer, George Balanchine was well known for having inappropriate relationships with his dancers). However, this dominant male-submissive female problem also occurs in many work places in today’s society as is discussed by Douglas.
Overall, Black Swan depicts a rampant sexism that is prevalent in the realm of ballet, and that can be translated to our society as a whole. The film exemplifies a world where women are manipulated, tweaked, and pushed toward a certain ideal, at the expense of their emotional and physical states (much like what Western culture does to women today). Aronofsky creates female characters full of neuroses and weakness, merely waiting to be exploited mentally and physically. However, most of the broken female characters in the film are ultimately destroyed by these feelings of subordination and weakness. For example, Nina falls to eating disorders and insanity because of the social pressures of ballet, thus leading to her eventual demise. Thus, perhaps Aronofsky’s portrayal of the destruction of the fragile woman can be seen as a metaphor for the fact that female inferiority can only cause harm in society and should not be put up with. Although it will take a large amount of courage and strength, instead of falling to male dominance, female dancers and all women need to “grand jeté” over the numerous social constructions and pressures that oppress them today, in order to truly succeed in this world. Only with a unified awareness of and stand against the patriarchy that exists within ballet and within society as a whole, can we transform it and turn it into a distant memory of the past.
Works Cited
Brumberg, Joan. “Body Projects” from The Body Project.
Douglas, Susan. Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message that Feminism’s Work is Done. New York: Times Books, 2010. Print.
Frye, Marilyn. Oppression.
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