Belly Dance, Embodiment, and Positive Body Image: What the Research Really Shows

When we talk about belly dance and body image, we often hear personal stories: women feeling more confident, more connected to their bodies, and more at home in themselves after dancing. These stories matter — but it’s especially powerful when lived experience is backed up by research.

(I missed this study when it came out but felt it is still relevant and important enough to belly dancers to write about it in 2026)

In 2014, Australian researchers Marika Tiggemann, Emily Coutts, and Levina Clark set out to explore why belly dance seems to support positive body image, and whether it fits within a growing psychological framework known as embodiment theory. Their findings help explain what many belly dancers already know in their bones.

“Belly dance represents an embodying activity, associated with a number of benefits for its practitioners, including positive body image.”— Tiggemann, Coutts & Clark, 2014

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Skim-Reader Summary

Skim-Reader Summary
Belly Dance & Body Image: What the Research Shows
📚 The Study	Tiggemann, Coutts & Clark (2014), Belly Dance as an Embodying Activity?: A Test of the Embodiment Model of Positive Body Image. Sex Roles, 71, 197–207. 213 Australian women (112 belly dancers, 101 non-dancers)
💃 Key Findings	Belly dancers had more positive body image They experienced less body dissatisfaction They showed lower self-objectification
🧠 Why It Works	Belly dance supports embodiment (feeling the body from the inside) It reduces constant appearance monitoring
✨ Big Takeaway	Belly dance supports body confidence not by changing bodies — but by changing how women relate to their bodies.

Tiggemann, M., Coutts, E., & Clark, L. (2014). Sex Roles, 71, 197–207.

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What Is “Embodiment”?

In psychology, embodiment refers to experiencing your body from the inside, rather than primarily seeing it as an object to be evaluated from the outside.

An embodied relationship with the body includes:

• Feeling ownership of and respect for your body

• Valuing what your body can do, not just how it looks

• Less appearance monitoring and self-criticism

• A stronger sense of connection between body, mind, and self-expression

This matters because decades of research show that self-objectification — constantly viewing your body through an external gaze — is linked to poorer mental health, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997; Tiggemann, 2011).

How the Study Worked

The study included 213 women in Adelaide, Australia:

112 recreational belly dancers from local dance schools

101 university students who had never belly danced

Participants completed validated questionnaires measuring:

Positive body image

Body dissatisfaction

Self-objectification

Enjoyment of sexualization

This allowed researchers to compare belly dancers and non-dancers, and to test whether belly dance fits within the embodiment model of positive body image (Menzel & Levine, 2011).

What the Researchers Found about belly dancers

The results were striking — and very consistent.

Compared to non-dancers, belly dancers reported:

• Higher positive body image

• Lower body dissatisfaction

• Lower self-objectification

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Belly dancers were less likely to monitor their appearance and more likely to experience their bodies as capable, expressive, and acceptable.

Importantly, these differences were not explained by weight, age, or appearance ideals — but by how dancers related to their bodies.

It seems WIX AI can't differentiate between different dance styles but this was a beautiful image so I went with it anyway!

The Role of Self-Objectification

One of the most important findings was how belly dance supported positive body image.

Belly dance supports positive body image largely because it helps women stop watching and judging their bodies from the outside.

This is significant because self-objectification has been identified as a key risk factor for body shame, anxiety, depression, and eating pathology (Tiggemann, 2011; Tylka, 2011).

Why Belly Dance Is Different from Other “Sexy” Dance Forms

The study contrasts belly dance with so-called “exotic” dance forms (such as adult entertainment dancing), which previous research has linked to higher self-objectification and poorer body image.

Why the difference?

The authors point to several unique features of belly dance:

• Accessibility across body types and ages Belly dance classes are typically open to women of many shapes, sizes, and life stages — a sharp contrast to narrowly defined aesthetic ideals in many dance forms.

• Function over form Movements emphasize internal sensation, muscular control, and articulation rather than external lines or thinness.

• Community context Belly dance is usually practiced in supportive, female-centered environments rather than performance spaces dominated by external judgment.

• Embodied sensuality Sensuality in belly dance is experienced as self-directed and expressive, not primarily for an observer’s approval.

  
  

These elements appear to protect dancers from the harmful effects of self-objectification, even while engaging with sensual movement.

Belly dance supports positive body image largely because it helps women stop monitoring and judging their bodies from the outside.

This is a big deal. Decades of research show that chronic self-objectification is linked to anxiety, depression, disordered eating, and reduced well-being. Any activity that reliably reduces it is worth paying attention to.

Belly Dance as an Embodying Practice

The authors conclude that belly dance clearly qualifies as an embodying activity — one that integrates mind, body, and self-expression.

According to the embodiment model, such activities support positive body image by:

• Increasing body awareness and physical competence

• Encouraging mind–body integration

• Supporting agency and self-expression

• Reducing appearance-based self-surveillance

• Helps women reconnect with their bodies in respectful, affirming ways

“Embodiment involves experiencing the body as trustworthy and deserving of respect.”

For many women, this reconnection can be deeply healing — particularly in cultures that relentlessly encourage body surveillance and dissatisfaction.

“Belly dancing also has a strong mental and physical element of being ‘in the moment’, which is another characteristic of embodiment.” - Professor Tiggemann

Why This Research Matters

Although this study focused on recreational dancers, its implications extend far beyond the dance studio.

Many life experiences — including illness, surgery, aging, and body changes — can disrupt a person’s sense of trust and safety in their body. Research like this helps explain why gentle, expressive, embodied movement can be such a powerful tool for reconnection and healing.

Belly dance, when taught in respectful ways, offers more than fitness or performance skills. It offers a way back into the body as a place of agency, joy, and belonging.

References:

Flindersblogs (2014). Shimmy your way to body love. Flinders University. Retrieved from https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2014/11/18/shimmy-your-way-to-body-love/

Tiggemann, M., Coutts, E., & Clark, L. (2014). Belly Dance as an Embodying Activity?: A Test of the Embodiment Model of Positive Body Image. Sex Roles, 71, 197–207.

If you know of any other belly dance studies I haven't blogged about please leave me a comment or drop me an email.