This paper discusses the deconstruction and reconstruction of female body aesthetics in modern dance from a feminist perspective. Drawing on “Gaze Theory”, this study analyzes how modern dance subverts the female body aesthetics established by classical ballet. The methodologies of literature review, visual analysis, and case study are employed. The research finds that modern dance systematically transforms the female body from a passive object of the gaze into an active subject of dance expression. This transformation occurs across three levels: technical liberation, creative concepts, and cultural reconstruction. Consequently, new body aesthetics are constructed based on the principles of subjectivity, authenticity, and diversity. This study aims to reveal the profound implications of this aesthetic revolution initiated by modern dance and to provide a new perspective for understanding the relationship between body aesthetics and political liberation.
References
[1] Jenkins, J., Finneman, T. (2018) Gender trouble in the workplace: applying Judith Butler’s theory of performativity to news organizations. Feminist Media Studies, 18(2), 157-172.
[2] Frach, S. (2025) Reframing visual narrative: The intersectional gaze in Nina Menkes’s Magdalena Viraga. Women’s Studies, 1-17.
[3] Yang, Y., Siu, T. W. (2025) Mind-body harmonization: women’s sports participation and social transformation in modern China. The Journal of Chinese Sociology, 12(1), 5.
[4] Zhang, S., Xu, C. L. (2020) The making of transnational distinction: An embodied cultural capital perspective on Chinese women students’ mobility. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 41(8), 1251-1267.
[5] Yang, L. (2025) The evolution of ballet pedagogy: A study of traditional and contemporary approaches. Journal of Literature and Arts Research, 2(2), 1-10.
[6] Heil, J. (2016) Exercises in discipline and freedom? The Graham Technique. Dance Chronicle, 39(2), 123-152.
[7] Bragin, N. (2014) Shot and captured: turf dance, yak films, and the Oakland, California, rip project. TDR/The Drama Review, 58(2), 99-114.
[8] Arat, Z. F. K. (2015) Feminisms, women’s rights, and the UN: Would achieving gender equality empower women? American Political Science Review, 109(4), 674-689.
[9] Peng, X. (2024) Historical development and cross-cultural influence of dance creation: Evolution of body language. Herança, 7(1), 88-99.
[10] Andaya, B. W. (2016) Rivers, oceans, and spirits: Water cosmologies, gender, and religious change in Southeast Asia. TRaNS: Trans-Regional and-National Studies of Southeast Asia, 4(2), 239-263.
Share and Cite
Ding, T. (2025) Aesthetic Reconstruction of the Modern Dance Body from a Feminist Perspective. Journal of Social Development and History, 1(5), 19-25.