The Dance of Empowerment

On a positive note, women are slowly building empowerment through Uyghur cultural dances. Since the Uyghur community feels they are being undermined and taken over by the Han population, their cultural dances provide a vehicle for spreading their culture and ensuring it persists.³⁸ It is helping the Uyghurs stamp their presence in Xinjiang, where the Hans seem to be dominating demographics. They are using these dances to communicate the Uyghurs' “oppression and marginalization” by the Chinese government.³⁹ As a result, they have gained respect and are held in high regard for doing this for the Uyghur society.



Even more interesting is how these women are using their dances to increase their autonomy and power. As we have learned previously, Uyghur women have a role in passing down Islamic customs and knowledge and along with their dances, they are also assuring that their culture is preserved through future generations. This in turn raises their influence in society. Moreover, dancing has allowed them to communicate to the world as to exactly who they are. Salima, a Uyghur woman, states that dancing is “a way of expressing ourselves.”⁴⁰ Whereas in their homes and even in the public sphere they are governed by patriarchy, dancing has become their own world where they can build their identity through artistic expression.

However, there has also been a negative outcome in this situation. The Uyghur feel their cultural dances have been polluted by the Han for it is increasingly being “exoticized” and turned into a tourist attraction since Uyghur women are purported for their beauty.⁴¹ They are being objectified and many Uyghur workers have reported feeling humiliated for they are forced to dance for businessmen.⁴² Nevertheless, this has not deterred the fact that dancing has empowered women for it has allowed them to define their identity and help perpetuate their culture.