Mr. J.Q. Public [So Right It's Wrong] | As the only right-winger posting at this blog, you can imagine that I suffer a great deal of intimidation. I am almost afraid to write this, as I am afraid that Damozel will accuse me once more of being a 'concern troll' and delete my post forthwith. Yet the subject is one that is of deep concern to me and, I believe, to most Republican men.
I was very disappointed by this piece, 'White Men Can't Dance', penned by libertarian Megan McArdle in her blog ( 'Assymetrical 'Asymmetrical Information'). She remarks that 'for the last three seasons, the show So You Think You Can Dance has tended to be very, very white by the time it gets down to brass tacks,' as if this were a bad thing.
For centuries, white men---and, I believe, white Republicans especially--- who try to dance have been discriminated against, to such an extent that 'white men can't dance' has now become, to all intents and purposes, a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Nowadays, we are not encouraged to believe that we can ever play professional basketball or win a dance competition. This, I believe, is a form of reverse discrimination that cannot too quickly be corrected.
It is not that we can't dance---it's that we're afraid of the ridicule that invariably ensues. We are too bombarded by images such as this scene by the Nicholas brothers from the film 'Stormy Weather,' the dance which Fred Astaire called the best dance routine ever filmed. As a young man, my one experiment trying to do the splits that this amazing duo achieved with no apparent effort caused my voice to revert to its earlier treble for a period of at least six weeks.
In a free market, there are many niches. In the past, the entertainment industry has been biased in favor of one or two. It is high time that they broadened their approach.
White men who are bold enough to try, at weddings and other such events, and who attempt to show off their carefully crafted and innovative moves are mocked and derided. Relationships, and perhaps whole lives, have been ruined by an ill-executed turn on the dance floor by a white male carried away by either drink or enthusiasm.
Though men of other cultures are more fortunate, American men who attempt to master traditional dances of white men such as (though not limited to) Morris dancing, maypole dancing, the 4-hand reel, and the polka (video demos after the jump), to name but a few, are ruthlessly mocked for our interest and derided for our will to succeed.
If one brave and pioneering reality show, unafraid of the cries of the PC crowd and moved by market forces, has attempted to show that white men can---and will---achieve , it does not behoove Megan McArdle to challenge their bona fides.
Exhibits after the jump....
EXHIBT A: MORRIS DANCING
EXHIBIT B: MAYPOLE DANCING
EXHIBIT C: SCHOTTISCHE
EXHIBIT D: THE 4-HAND REEL
MY PIECE DE RESISTANCE, ENTITLED 'WHO SAYS WHITE GUYS CAN'T DANCE?' These youngsters have achieved my life long ambition: to look cool dancing an Irish jig.
TELETUBBIES: POP LOCK & DROP IT
This is not related to my thesis, as I understood from the late Rev. Falwell that all or some of the Teletubbies are gay---not that I personally think there's anything wrong with that. But gay men, if indeed the teletubbies are 'men, have some innate special skills such as dancing and designing clothes not shared by heterosexual men.. Besides, the Teletubbies are clearly not 'white.' I include this to illustrate how even persons of improbable physique may achieve a certain grace if they are not discouraged from trying to do so.
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