#Honestly who tf cares if a transwoman studies female roles in ballet? She's not hurting anybody and at least she's doing something producti

[sorrowandpride]

I'll start this off by saying that I'm a woman who's studied ballet for pretty much her entire life. When I was a child, I had teachers who wanted to train me professionally with the goal of training at Canada's National Ballet School in mind, so I think I know what I'm talking about.

I recently learned about the Sophie Rebecca controversy, and it's absolutely disgusting. The transphobes who are screeching and clutching their pearls over Sophie taking syllabus classes with the RAD are absolutely ridiculous. They're the only ones who are embarrassing themselves by speaking on something they know nothing about (from what I've read, they can't even spell "pointe" properly).

I'll clear a few things up regarding ballet that transphobes are consistently getting wrong.

Ballet is not a single-sex space, so stop clutching your pearls. It may be XX female-dominated, but danseurs have been integral to the discipline since its creation. Believe it or not, danseurs can and do teach female students (and vice versa). Members of the male sex have even danced female roles (Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, for example, is an all-male drag troupe that performs parodies of romantic and classical ballets).

Sophie is taking RAD syllabus classes. These are simply classes that build skill in ballet (as well as other forms of dance, such as character). While syllabus classes and exams are part of professional training, most syllabus students are recreational dancers. Sophie is too old to pursue a conventional career as a danseuse, and many dancers retire at her age. The amount of schools that would accept her into a professional program that feeds into a major company are close to, if not zero. Nobody "lost a spot" to her. As long as they can pay the fees, anybody can take RAD syllabus classes and exams. They give you a sense of achievement and track measurable progress. The RAD has defended Sophie Rebecca and stated publicly that she is NOT a professional danseuse. As far as I'm aware, her highest level of completion is Intermediate Foundation. If I remember correctly, Intermediate Foundation exams don't even include pointework (since ballet is, you know, far more than pointework). No serious company is going to hire a student who's only reached Intermediate-level classes, and very, very, very few will a hire a danseuse who's not proficient in pointework. All she's doing is showing a love for adult recreational ballet. That's it. She's not taking anything away from XX girls. Ballet is open to EVERYONE, not just pale, skinny XX women.