Thread: Belly Dancing: Hot On Shakira; Not On You

Well, I assume at least some of those women are maried, and that they are A: trying to please their husbands with some new moves, B: you are right and they just want to lose weight. Hell, they may want to become strippers, I just don't know.

I think the phenomena is somewhat similar to what I like to call DaVinci Code Syndrome:

Take Mr. Stupid Barely-Literate Ignorant American. Mr. MBLIA has heard from all his friends how intelligent a book the daVinci code is. So, he goes and reads it and gets enthused, all the while thinking he's being intelligent and cultured. When in reality, he;'s just reading an overly-publicised example of mediocre badly-written paperback airport fiction barely worthy of the epithet "novel".

Likewise, Mrs. Slightly-too-large-and-not-exactly-easy-on-the-eyes watches people bellydance in movies and other pop culture outlets, and it is portrayed as sexy and alluring. So, she goes to learn how to bellydance and while doing so is thinking to myself "I'm bellydancing, I'm so sexy".

It's not bad. It's just another example of insecure people trying to find some way of bolstering their self-image. Just like some people turn to religion.

I love the tone in the article. Makes all those silly overweight people look silly. =P

And if you&#39;re stupid enough to let yourself get that fat in the first place, why would you be smart enough to do good activities? >.<

Originally Posted by The

I think the phenomena is somewhat similar to what I like to call DaVinci Code Syndrome:

Take Mr. Stupid Barely-Literate Ignorant American. Mr. MBLIA has heard from all his friends how intelligent a book the daVinci code is. So, he goes and reads it and gets enthused, all the while thinking he&#39;s being intelligent and cultured. When in reality, he;&#39;s just reading an overly-publicised example of mediocre badly-written paperback airport fiction barely worthy of the epithet "novel".[/b]

oh god, not again

About the article though, maybe the fat girls were trying to lose weight by belly dancing? Seriously, belly dancing is hard to do and is a great workout. Now, this doesn&#39;t mean they should have their rolls hanging out, but at least belly dancing is doing something, and not just sitting there eating Twinkies.

EDIT: and thanks, now I have that damn Shakira song stuck in my head...

Originally Posted by The

I think the phenomena is somewhat similar to what I like to call DaVinci Code Syndrome:

Take Mr. Stupid Barely-Literate Ignorant American. Mr. MBLIA has heard from all his friends how intelligent a book the daVinci code is. So, he goes and reads it and gets enthused, all the while thinking he&#39;s being intelligent and cultured. When in reality, he;&#39;s just reading an overly-publicised example of mediocre badly-written paperback airport fiction barely worthy of the epithet "novel".

Likewise, Mrs. Slightly-too-large-and-not-exactly-easy-on-the-eyes watches people bellydance in movies and other pop culture outlets, and it is portrayed as sexy and alluring. So, she goes to learn how to bellydance and while doing so is thinking to myself "I&#39;m bellydancing, I&#39;m so sexy".

It&#39;s not bad. It&#39;s just another example of insecure people trying to find some way of bolstering their self-image. Just like some people turn to religion.
[/b]

Exactly, that is why I state that I blame Shakira for this. Of course I say this to a comedic effect, but it is completely what I think is happening. They see us men drool over this sexy latina shaking her hips like they were a slinky on crack, and decide that they would want that sort of attention being brought to themselves, despite their pale white, doughy physique. It is an outrage fuel by plain stupidity and a complete lack of self perception.

Originally Posted by The

About the article though, maybe the fat girls were trying to lose weight by belly dancing? Seriously, belly dancing is hard to do and is a great workout. Now, this doesn&#39;t mean they should have their rolls hanging out, but at least belly dancing is doing something, and not just sitting there eating Twinkies.
[/b]

For this I quote the article itself:

We were all wowed by her hypnotic hips and worm-like movements and, once the word got out of what a great exercise belly dancing is, all the fatties seem to have decided this would be the way they would finally lose those several (dozen) extra pounds they’ve been carrying their whole lifetime. Not spinning, not jogging, not Tae Bo, not Richard Simmons tapes, not anorexia or bulimia, and certainly not exercising in the privacy of their own home as mercy would intend. Belly dancing would be the answer for their prayers, not only burning 330 calories for a one hour work out, but also strengthening the muscles in their stomach.

...

It’s no secret that I am currently a good 10 pounds overweight myself, but you don’t see me flaunting around, barebelly, and contorting in ways in which the word “unflattering” falls disappointingly short. No, you see me buying a spinning bike and going to Tae Kwon Do, exercising 6 days a week. I tell you people and I’ve told you before, no matter how many ab crunches you may do each day, if you have a 30 pound layer of fat between your skin and muscles, you will never have a six pack. You need to first lose all this fat, and then you can tone your stomach to look nice and firm. These people are skipping that step altogether and just publicly embarrassing not only their robust physique, but their frail wits and cockeyed grasp of reality.
[/b]

In other words, yes belly dancing may be a great way to burn calories and exercise your stomach muscles, but there are dozens of other, better, ways to do it without publicly flaunting your lard. First lose a reasonable amount of weight, then get into belly dancing class.