Ballet has come to be an important part of girl culture, in part because so many girls in the United States take ballet at some point in their lives. Consumer products like dolls and music boxes have brought ballet into girls’ homes and reinforce a problematic link between ballet and femininity, though real girls who take ballet class are often quite thoughtful about the way ballet empowers them. Books for children, both non-fiction and fiction, have been important examples of the intersection between ballet and girl culture since the early twentieth century. Children’s ballet books deal with artistic expression, physical challenges, competition, gender, sexuality, racial and ethnic diversity, class barriers, and many other elements of real girls’ experiences with ballet class.
Stanzas and Sticks: Poetic and Physical Challenges in the Afro-Brazilian Culture of the Paraiba Valley, Rio de Janeiro