The Black Swan Complex Devours More Young Women

Didn't Black Swan teach us anything about a woman's quest for perfection gone awry? My answer was "Absolutely not!" after viewing this preview for Dance Moms: Miami.

Good news psychologists! You'll be employed forever. The saddest part of this video is that we consider this to be entertainment. Watching young women compete and force their bodies into extreme physical shape is a source of amusement. The mothers are also scary and reminiscent of Nina's mother in Black Swan.

Nina diets and practices obsessively to achieve "perfection." She sacrifices her body and ultimately her life for her craft. I wrote a paper last year arguing that the final scene in Black Swan demonstrates Nina's rebellion against the constraints of the society in which she lives. Her final words are "I was perfect" signifying that to preserve a perfect performance, she must die at the end. It is only in death that she can finally be perfect. She rebels against the world that makes her "imperfect" by taking her own life and making sure that her last dance was "perfect." While this is a work of fiction, it's a frightening reality on Dance Moms. When I hear people discuss the show, I hear them say, "It's awful. I can't believe those parents." Then, why are we watching? Will you be watching for the premiere tomorrow?

What I've Been Reading

1. 20 Things You'll Regret Doing in College. 


Some highlights with my comments: 
Giving that person your cell phone number. Yes, why do I do this?
Wearing sweatpants in public. I will never regret this. I like being comfortable!
Never talking to that attractive person who seemed to be sitting just a few rows ahead of you in all your classes. Yes, I think we're all guilty of this! 


2. Italian Vogue cover replicates this image, left, of a woman with the world's smallest waist. 

Why is scary-skinny considered "fashionable"? These images are disturbing, and it bothers me that more people aren't holding Italian Vogue accountable for its cover.


3. Adolescent boys keep Deep Secrets. I read Dr. Niobe Way's book, Deep Secrets: Boys' Friendships and the Crisis of Connection, this summer, and I was happy to see that Feministing did a post on it a few weeks ago. Dr. Way is a developmental psychologist at NYU, and she's spent the past two decades doing research on male friendships during early and later adolescence. 


She found in interviews that boys in early adolescence have close friendships. They admit to needing close friends to share their feelings with, opposite to the stereotype that boys don't want to talk about their emotions. She noticed a shift in boys attitudes in later adolescence when male friendships dissolve and boys are stereotyped into only talking about girls, sports or video games.