I feel the same way, which is why I’m conflicted. Maybe the jezzies can help me out to reconcile my feelings about this. I know I’m going to get yelled at for this and I am open to hearing arguments for/against, but I don’t agree with prostitution, stripping, camgirls, etc. because it feeds into the idea that women…

Super unpopular opinion- I really don’t like legalizing prostitution because of the commodification of (mostly) female bodies. I think if it was a small scale with women having total control over being paid for what they decide on, it would be different. But, it’s not. For the most part, when prostitution is legal,…

Couldn’t it be that more women are hesitant to endorse a practice - legality aside - where they are especially vulnerable to the violence of human males?

The point is that often the women AREN’T consenting and I really doubt any man stops to find out or even care. And the wives of the johns aren’t consenting either — to either secret betrayal or sexually transmitted diseases that they’d never think to check for to treat.

Shocking! Women less likely to support something that would hurt mostly women!

Yeah, She’s really a bad look for this site.

Don’t sweat it. Jia’s always a snot. It’s part of her charm, I guess.

Some people would get the point you were making. Others would talk down to you like you’re an idiot. Just a guess.

Does Gawker have some sort of affirmative action program for insecure dimwits?

You're rude as hell

what if...I was realized that and I was talking to other commenters to facilitate discussion in what is always an echo chamber anyway? And what if I said outright I wasn’t referring to Stassa or criticizing her at all?

I didn’t catch the snark, so we’re all good! Ballet is so storied and specific—it’s really its own centuries-old culture—that if someone isn’t “in” it they’ll naturally have a tough time understanding ballet-centric criticisms. It can seem like people, especially some of the commenters on this article, are being…

I danced from 3-17. I had beautiful feet, excellent technique and fucking awful turnout. No amount of stretching would fix me, I just didn’t have the hips of a ballet dancer. Sad, sad story.

Oh man, you just gave me a ‘Nam flashback, because the exact same thing happened to me.

Higher arches and insteps, hyperextended legs, usually, and 180 degree (or nearly) turnout from the hip joints...all of which can be improved to some extent with practice and hard work...but only to a point. A ballet dancer interested in being professional needs to have a lot of that naturally, PLUS talent and…

A prodigy, if you will.

I don’t think it’s sniping. The article sounds like she is hoping to become a PROFESSIONAL ballet dancer. The commenters are correct in that, for her age, her technique, flexibility and natural turnout are just not where they would need to be to make that dream likely to happen. There is a world of difference between…

“...plans to become the world’s first ballerina in a hijab....”

I took ballet classes from ages 4 to 14 and I was never able to get past my tight hamstrings. Every arabesque involved my ballet teacher tapping me on the hip and telling me I needed to drop it and me wailing ‘I knooooow’. I never had a dancer’s body, alas.

came here to say that. Her turnout and extension aren’t so great. A career in ballet doesn’t seem likely. But good on her (and her mother) for breaking down barriers.