“I Don’t Have to Be So Caged Up”

Bibliographic Data

ID24230797
AuthorsStephanie D Sears
Year2026
Volume25
Issue2
Pages322-344
Publication date2026-10-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMeridians (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1536-6936 • E-ISSN: 1547-8424
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1215/15366936-12525714
OpenAlexW7220844531
LanguageEN
References cited22

Previous research suggests that when Black women dance they can reject controlling images and construct alternative ways of seeing and being in their bodies. While this research has provided critical theoretical concepts and directions, it often fails to capture the interiority of the dancers as well as the labor that facilitates this embodied resistance. This article extends existing research by centering Black women’s experiences to examine how and why dancing together can facilitate their sense of embodied freedom. Drawing on participant observation and interview data, the author found that Shine, a US-based Carnival “mas band,” is a space where Black women engage in restorative mirroring, or the process of looking and being seen, in which Black women mutually recognize each other beyond existing representations. As a result of their engagement with restorative mirroring, participants experience embodied freedom from the constraints of motherhood, Western ideals of beauty, and racialized and gendered stereotypes. Importantly, participants also experience the embodied freedom to experience their dancing bodies more freely moving and being in the world. Thus this is an empirical exploration of the relationships between embodiment, dance, and the collective work needed to support Black women in the pursuit of embodied freedom.

beauty standards · Black women · collective resistance · Dance · Embodiment · gender stereotypes · Motherhood · racialized stereotypes · Arts and Performance Studies · Diversity and Impact of Dance · Feminist Theory and Gender Studies

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