What Do You Call "Dancer" Characters?

[Virella]

I would like to remind people that Pr*stitue is considered a slur; please don't use it. "Full Service Sexworker" is the preferred word.

I find sexworker really offensive as a word myself, yet I'm not asking people to refrain from using that word; I can go on about a rant why I find it highly offensive, but I do not think this is the place for it. But perhaps that is my Dutch sobriety kicking in who has no issue with these ladies and gentlemen in the first place, whereas other countries are still far, far behind in that regard and tend to make it sound more nicely then it is.

[PkThunda]

I would like to remind people that Pr*stitue is considered a slur; please don't use it. "Full Service Sexworker" is the preferred word.

I find sexworker really offensive as a word myself, yet I'm not asking people to refrain from using that word; I can go on about a rant why I find it highly offensive, but I do not think this is the place for it.

 

I am a sexworker.

[Sinjo]

Sexologist

[Virella]

I would like to remind people that Pr*stitue is considered a slur; please don't use it. "Full Service Sexworker" is the preferred word.

I find sexworker really offensive as a word myself, yet I'm not asking people to refrain from using that word; I can go on about a rant why I find it highly offensive, but I do not think this is the place for it.

 

I am a sexworker.

Thinking about it, it may be a language barrier thing we're hitting up against. Sekswerkers, the Dutch word for sex worker which you are using, mostly implies, if nearly not always, someone who engages into sexual activities with handicapped people in exchange for money. And that... wasn't the term I was looking for, prostitute is about the most technical, and polite term we use for these ladies and gents, whereas sex worker would be used for the one I described above! So my excuse for the confusion, will try to keep it in mind next time, but I hope you understand it from my point of view as well.

[Nero]

Please keep your posts relevant to the topic at hand. Discussions or disputes regarding the usage of certain terms or labels should be taken offsite or to private messages unless they directly address the original poster's topic in a civil, non-provocative manner.

 

Only you can prevent thread nuking.

[Madda]

Professional Twerkologist

Brb dying

[Ignacius]

RM31xJzLtYw

[Pastry Army]

vTIIMJ9tUc8 Dancers you say? Obviously this song needs to make a comeback for those shenanigans.

[Telluride]

I call this one dancer... because it's the second part of her name... and she can dance... and do, ah, other things... and mix drinks?

 

[K'nahli]

Not once did I ever fall under the impression that they were anything more than low-income entertainers. Aside from the aforementioned example of the Ball Dance quest not so much as implying anything of the sort, I also find it a little difficult to believe that such people would be hired to remain present in a private and very well-established residential district; a subjective opinion perhaps, but that's my impression nonetheless.

 

Also the middle of the markets seems like an unusual venue for me. At least for mere dancers - who are scraping for any coin at all to be thrown their way - it seems perfect since it ought to be consistently crowded with people who obviously have money.

[Flashhelix]

As far as lore goes, all the dancers I've seen seem to be prostitutes as well. The prostitute you guide for the Costa FATE is wearing the same outfit as the dancers at Hidden Falls, and I can vaguely remember flavor text about the dancers you see at the Ruby Road Exchange also being prostitutes, so it seems dancing and prostitution go hand-in-hand, at least. If they're not a prostitute but dance for a living, I figure they'd just be a dancer.

 

Or "Courtesan" if you wanna sound a bit cooler about it.

[Blue]

The connection between dancing and prostitution is due to very ancient real world traditions in the courts, going as far as to ancient egypt. It was an usual show for a woman to dance before the Pharaon (Sultan, King, etc.) and the other nobles, and then go have sex with him or one of them (only if the king/sultan/etc. was not pleased with the performance/looks of the woman, or sometimes, the king/sultan would pass on a woman as a gift to one of his most loyal man). And it's not just dancing, women living at the court were required to have a full set of skills all focused on entertainment for them: this went from dancing, acting, playing instruments, serving tea/wine. This can be still seen in the art of the Geisha today.

 

In short, even though a woman may have been hired just to dance, it was not uncommon (and almost a given) for them to sleep with one (or several) of the audience at the end of the show for a much more substantial cash. See the Moulin Rouge as an example.

 

The profession of exclusive dancer is something that belongs to our very modern era, where such profession does have a substantial enough income. I don't think Eorzea is developed enough for one to live of just dancing.

 

I'm not saying you have to be a prostitute to RP a dancer in FFXIV, but this is why the connection between the art and profession is legitimately justified, so don't be overly shocked if one may think so of your dancing character.

[Aya]

It really depends how one lives.  Many people live not doing anything at all (relying on family, friends, etc).  Others live by begging, though many do not live all that well.

 

I think its a stretch to say that no one could make a living by entertaining, especially when such entertaining is so obviously integral to the culture as it is in Ul'dah.  I also don't think its a stretch at all to suggest that many of these individuals might be more prone to temptation for other avenues of earning income than the general population

[111]

It really depends how one lives.  Many people live not doing anything at all (relying on family, friends, etc).  Others live by begging, though many do not live all that well.

 

I think its a stretch to say that no one could make a living by entertaining, especially when such entertaining is so obviously integral to the culture as it is in Ul'dah.  I also don't think its a stretch at all to suggest that many of these individuals might be more prone to temptation for other avenues of earning income than the general population

It's an interesting question.

 

Clearly prostitution is well entrenched in Eorzea. NPCs speak of whores quite often and willingly. With the relaxed sexual views, and lack of Earth religions preaching against such things, I don't see there being anything keeping people from doing such things. Certainly there isn't much shame in it. Especially in Ul'dah.

 

I agree in general though Aya, it's doubtful every dancer is a whore. Eorzea is a land of contradictions, and it's hard to draw real world parallels.

[Ryanti]

Not once did I ever fall under the impression that they were anything more than low-income entertainers. Aside from the aforementioned example of the Ball Dance quest not so much as implying anything of the sort, I also find it a little difficult to believe that such people would be hired to remain present in a private and very well-established residential district; a subjective opinion perhaps, but that's my impression nonetheless.

 

Also the middle of the markets seems like an unusual venue for me. At least for mere dancers - who are scraping for any coin at all to be thrown their way - it seems perfect since it ought to be consistently crowded with people who obviously have money.

 

 

If one remembers the Ball Dance quest, the girl in question wanted to learn a different art of dancing more sophisticated than her own. It was heavily implied that she was one of Ul'Dah's infamous dancing girls, and they strengthened the stereotype with her being Miqo'te.

 

From the way she looked down upon her current ... profession, it's easy for me to correlate that "She's a lowly whore!" mentality with seeing those dancing girls in Ul'Dah. In places like Bazaars, I would imagine they would make a fair bit of money by receiving coin from the pockets of impulsive individuals.

 

But it definitely would be seen as sleazy and promiscuous regardless of whether or not the dancers are actually prostitutes. My head-canon tells me that some are, some aren't. But I think there's definitely an image out of there of all of them being correlated with a sexual overtone and viewed as kind of lower than the standard member of society.

 

Not to mention that there are performing artists that breath fire and juggle and do street acrobatics. Those people aren't usually seen under the same light as the dancers though. There's not really a feeling of promiscuousness with them I think. It's more regulated towards the dancers, and that could very well be because the dancers might use their gender as an advantage.

[111]

An obvious reason for 'sexy dancing' especially in revealing clothes, is to attract clients for prostitution. Even modern strip clubs do the same thing for 'lap dances'

 

I don't think it's a strange leap of logic to assume that's the reason some of those women are doing it. Unless the Syndicate is footing the bill for 'morale' reasons.

[111]

Side question, sexy male dancers when :c.

[Hyakki]

Side question, sexy male dancers when :c.

 

They're already here.

[111]

Side question, sexy male dancers when :c.

 

They're already here.

Oh yeah, 10/10 totally would.

[Blue]

It really depends how one lives.  Many people live not doing anything at all (relying on family, friends, etc).  Others live by begging, though many do not live all that well.

 

I think its a stretch to say that no one could make a living by entertaining, especially when such entertaining is so obviously integral to the culture as it is in Ul'dah.  I also don't think its a stretch at all to suggest that many of these individuals might be more prone to temptation for other avenues of earning income than the general population

 

What I meant is that I doubt that in the settings of Eorzea there are as many willing to pay you to JUST dance (and not sleep with them afterwards) than there are today. Today a dancer can fill up a theater to be seen dancing, but in Eorzea's times? You've got to be very expensive and good to be paid to just dance and by enough people to make a living by the end of the day.

 

Dancing is born by the natural instinct of attracting a sexual mate. It is a series of movements that enhance your body and call to attract others to it. There is a lot of animals that perform ritual dances on their mating season, from birds to marine mammals, and man is not any different from that. Dancing and sex are interwined and bound to each other in society, and only in our very modern times we are trying to stray a little from that (though not so much, see all the borderline-porn music videos that are coming out today, for example).

[Telluride]

Don't forget the midlander woman at the tent in Costa Del Sol - the one who tells us about her aching feet, and seeks to see the 'color of your coin' before she'll dance for you, because she has children to care for. She is, in fact, quite well clothed in a tunic and long dress.

 

Costa also has its little dancing troupe, and we see them training under the watchful eye of their picky Roegadyn instructor. It's never really suggested that this group offers anything but dance; the nearby fate with the hired girl suggests that extra services might be available in Costa, but not necessarily that all the dancers there will do so. Also, in the postal quest involving the "bathing dance" we see that the girls just can't handle it - they're certainly not coming across as hardened working girls.

 

Also, Eorzea needs belly dancing. We've got the outfits for it, now. And while belly dancers are often overtly sexual in their dances, it's because of the style of the dance, not because they are going to offer anything else to the onlooker besides the stage performance.

[Sinjo]

Side question, sexy male dancers when :c.

 

They're already here.

Oh yeah, 10/10 totally would.

 

I need to get in on that!

[Virella]

Don't forget the midlander woman at the tent in Costa Del Sol - the one who tells us about her aching feet, and seeks to see the 'color of your coin' before she'll dance for you, because she has children to care for. She is, in fact, quite well clothed in a tunic and long dress.

If you are speaking about the woman at the tent? If you do the ACN quest, you sort of figure out, for a better lack of terms, is the madam of the whole business there.

[Madda]

Also, Eorzea needs belly dancing. We've got the outfits for it, now. And while belly dancers are often overtly sexual in their dances, it's because of the style of the dance, not because they are going to offer anything else to the onlooker besides the stage performance.

Sounds pretty interesting enough, but then you find out that there's like 7 different styles of dance that revolve around the term "belly dancing".

 

That does sound like a really cool concept though. Mind if Madda steals borrows it?

[Ryanti]

Also, Eorzea needs belly dancing.

 

 

I second this. /bellydance pls.