Letters to the Editor
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Step It Up and Dance: Off On the Wrong Foot.
"Step It Up and Dance" has only had two episodes so far, and both have featured judges lecturing male contestants in the final round about being "faggy"(in the words of one contestant, whose choice of words was nodded at by the judge) or not appearing "masculine" enough. Keep in mind that the first week's challenge was about the dancer's own self-expression and in the second week's case, the male dancers were in a routine where the characters those dancers were playing in the routine were specifically gay or bisexual.
So, I'm not sure how the judges decided that strict gender expectations were somehow criteria for either the dancer's "personal expression" (i.e. demanding that a guy who genuinely isn't butch act butch in that routine wouldn't exactly fit with the idea of 'personal expression,' would it?). And in a challenge where the dancers created gay and bisexual characters, how exactly did the judges determine the scale of "acceptable" gender specifics for those characters? (Are the judges judging or participating in the challenge?). Also, holding to Bravo's general attempts to be a wee bit more professional than other reality competitions, couldn't we have judges who have at least caught up with some of the major choreographers in the last couple of decades or so who are actively challenging stereotypes like the ones the judges seem intent on pushing?
The show obviously felt a need to make a big issue of this twice now, and humiliate at least two different gay male contestants over it, two weeks in a row. Keep in mind this is a show on Bravo. About dancing. Hosted by camp actress Elizabeth Berkley. Ummmm hmmm.
Talk about a show that needs to buy a clue really quick before it pisses off and loses one of its core target audiences.