There’s been some talk about ethics in
the belly dance community lately. This
is always a good topic, and something that needs to be discussed in any field. But not when the discussion comes from a false
position of self-righteousness, or when it’s a masquerade for a personal
problem between people, or when it’s meant to embarrass and “expose” someone
you don’t like. When a discussion about
ethics becomes the choice weapon in our own personal battles, then maybe it’s
time to step off the podium and examine whether we’re living up to the
standards to which we hold others.
There seems to be an assumption in the belly
dance world that the only issue of ethics pertaining to us is that of the casting
couch. Meaning, as long as we don’t have
sex with managers, venue owners, or other “men of power” to procure work, we’re
completely ethical artists. While this
is definitely one of the biggies, being an ethical artist entails much more
than not selling your body for work.
