I recently went out to a club/bar/lounge on a Friday night in a poppin' area. Yeah, that's not a sentence I say often. Oddly enough, they were playing hits from my era, which, of course, I had no complaints about. In my mid-40's, I have no qualms about dancing solo as I stood in the bathroom line, surrounded by strangers -- some of whom watched me; most of whom didn't care.
What I found interesting was this -- it's socially acceptable for girls to dance together. But it's not the same for guys (in America). I saw three guys sitting on the sidelines, bobbing their heads and doing light seated dancing moves. You could tell they wanted to dance -- but social decorum doesn't allow for a bunch of straight dudes to dance together at a club. I felt empathy for them -- the only way they could dance is if they find a woman partner to dance with. Despite my empathy for these 20-some's, social decorum didn't allow for a married middle-aged woman to ask the boys to dance with me. To dance for the sake of dancing. I could be their "beard," of sorts (hahahaha).
So here is yet another area where we have to reach equality between men and women. Guys, just get up and dance. And ladies -- no need to judge. We all deserve the freedom to dance when we feel like it.
(234 words)
