# Dancers and the butt convulsion thing **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 26, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354 "2011-05-26T21:03:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/1 "2011-05-26T21:03:07Z")
For anyone who watched the American Idol finale last night, Jennifer Lopez’s booty shaking is a prime example of what I’m refering to and in fact what moved (pun intended) me to start this thread. I’m talking about when a dancer does that super fast butt shake where the rest of her body is still and her ass is shaking like a juicer. I’ve seen it done in some music videos (I’m thinking Rihanna), usually by black women. I recently saw it a few months ago when my boyfriend and I did a tour of some strip clubs. Don’t get me wrong- I enjoyed watching the woman dance, especially the pole work, but this particular move was so unsexy as to be repulsive to me, and they all did it. I hadn’t been to a club in 20 something years since I lived in L.A. and had an acquaintance who was a dancer. I went to plenty of shows and don’t recall that being one of the main moves. Is this a new(ish) trend? Do any of you find it sexy? ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/2 "2011-05-26T21:06:58Z")
People have been doing that move since I was in middle school (12 years ago, at dances) and likely long before. Personally, I think it’s not only fascinating to see, but also incredibly attractive (and not easy to do, to boot). May I ask what race you are, OP? White people tend to not. . . “get it.” White folks tend to have less of an appreciation for a large, bouncy booty (in GENERAL) than other ethnicities. And I’m saying this as a white girl. 😃 I mean, the moves you’re describing, I’ve seen my white friends recoil in disgust at, but that’s never the case with, say, my black or hispanic friends. For anyone confused as to what the OP is referring to, here is perhaps the most ridiculous music video on Youtube (and that’s saying something)-- moderately NSFW in the sense that it has a lot of bouncing (but covered) asses. [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_RMLwYIGJU) JLO on Idol was just shaking it, but it wasn’t quite as hard as these girls heh. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/3 "2011-05-26T21:09:49Z")
I think the move is sexy, but Jennifer Lopez doesn’t do it the way that I like. Plus, I’m female, so my opinion may not count as much as men for this thread, but… Jennifer’s was kind of amatuer. She did kind of a shimmy. I like when the girls do Mapouka, which is kind of an African booty shaking dance, or if they do kind of a hip hop booty bounce. Also, at the reggae clubs they do some great booty shakes too. But the shimmy that Jennifer Lopez did isn’t hot to me. ---
**Author:** ![turtledove\_river](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@turtledove\_river](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turtledove_river)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/4 "2011-05-26T21:15:15Z")
Butts are gross, jiggling butts are grosser. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/5 "2011-05-26T21:25:19Z")
**Diosa** , I am white so you probably have a point. It didn’t occur to me to include that question in the OP so to anyone else who responds, please include your ethnicity (if you don’t mind). Don’t know if this is relevant, but I’m fascinated by belly dancers and some island dancing (Tahitian? The one’s with grass skirts but faster than hula). Those ladies are almost always very curvy so it’s not an aversian to a larger bottom half. I don’t know, I guess to me it looks out of context. One minute they’re grinding and moving everything to the beat and then they just stop and wildly shake their ass as if it’s on fire (or sale) or something. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/6 "2011-05-26T21:29:03Z")
Hm. Yeah. I’m not white and I don’t get it. I don’t find it attractive. The first few times I saw a woman shaking and bouncing her rear, as opposed to dancing with her entire body, my visceral reaction was “what the heck?” I don’t get the appeal, at all. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/7 "2011-05-26T21:58:56Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > I don’t get the appeal, at all. Well, um . . .how do I say this politely? Men sure seem to like that move under the appropriate circumstances, if you get what I’m saying. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/8 "2011-05-26T22:02:12Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > (and not easy to do, to boot). I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/9 "2011-05-26T22:14:39Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Well, um . . .how do I say this politely? > > Men sure seem to like that move under the appropriate circumstances, if you get what I’m saying. Yep, I understand. I just find that type of display in public to be raunchy, overly exhibitionist, and somewhat base. Perhaps that’s the appeal. Who knows? Like I said, I don’t really get it. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/10 "2011-05-26T22:27:50Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Yep, I understand. I just find that type of display in public to be raunchy, overly exhibitionist, and somewhat base. Perhaps that’s the appeal. Who knows? Like I said, I don’t really get it. Well, I’m simply saying that the appeal is that when you are actually having sex and not dancing, men seem to like how that particular move looks and feels. Like most dancing, I imagine this particular move just moved into the realm of dance moves that way. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/11 "2011-05-26T22:33:05Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Yep, I understand. I just find that type of display in public to be raunchy, overly exhibitionist, and somewhat base. Perhaps that’s the appeal. Who knows? Like I said, I don’t really get it. Careful what you say here. I said I found gay men marching in assless chaps to be distasteful and I was called a prude. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/12 "2011-05-27T00:41:03Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Well, I’m simply saying that the appeal is that when you are actually having sex and not dancing, men seem to like how that particular move looks and feels. Like most dancing, I imagine this particular move just moved into the realm of dance moves that way. I think you just confirmed for me why I don’t get it. I didn’t consciously think about the sexual aspect until now, and perhaps that’s what turns me off about it. Say you saw a guy at a dance hall who whipped out his peen and flailed it around on the dance floor while everyone watched. My guess is you would probably find his act rude, classless, and very unattractive, whereas the same display in the privacy of your home would rev up your engine. Same thing. I don’t want to see sex moves (if that’s what that butt shaking thing is all about) in public. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/13 "2011-05-27T01:07:08Z")
Well I certainly don’t do this in public but my husband goes kind of bananas when I do this at home, if you know what I mean. I’m sort of a round butted white girl and hubby is a skinny white guy so there you go. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/14 "2011-05-27T01:19:42Z")
I like a good pelvic swivel on a male dancer. Mm, mm, mm. > [@Nzinga](#): > > I like when the girls do Mapouka, which is kind of an African booty shaking dance, or if they do kind of a hip hop booty bounce. How the hell much do I love this message board? I just spent the last 15 minutes watching online Mapouka videos. AWESOME. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/15 "2011-05-27T01:26:27Z")
Holy shit, that’s gotta be jelly because jam don’t shake like that. Those mapouka girls are FINE. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/16 "2011-05-27T01:28:20Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > I think you just confirmed for me why I don’t get it. I didn’t consciously think about the sexual aspect until now, and perhaps that’s what turns me off about it. Say you saw a guy at a dance hall who whipped out his peen and flailed it around on the dance floor while everyone watched. My guess is you would probably find his act rude, classless, and very unattractive, whereas the same display in the privacy of your home would rev up your engine. Same thing. I don’t want to see sex moves (if that’s what that butt shaking thing is all about) in public. I heard there is this new fangled white man singing black people music and-- gasp! :eek:- \* swiveling his hips seductively\* on television, mimicking sex acts! A good chunk of modern dance has its roots well within the realm of fucking and that has been the case for many, many years. Your analogy of a man literally whipping out his cock doesn’t really work, since the dance in the OP isn’t Jennifer Lopez lifting up her skirt and fingering herself on the American Idol stage. What she did was just swivel her hips in a different way than is traditional (traditional in white America, I mean-- as \*\*Nzinga, Seated \*\* mentioned, people have been shaking it like that for _years_ in other cultures/ other music styles. Besides Elvis, a more recent example of a man doing something somewhat similar was Ricky Martin-- there was a big uproar over how he oh-so-seductively shook it on national T V. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/17 "2011-05-27T01:40:04Z")
It’s about as attractive (and analogous to) a big-breasted woman holding one boob in each hand and furiously flopping them up and down. Looks ridiculous. White guy, leg and butt man. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/18 "2011-05-27T01:42:37Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e\_RMLwYIGJU](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_RMLwYIGJU) Hardly ANYBODY does that at the Walmart up here. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/19 "2011-05-27T01:56:05Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > I heard there is this new fangled white man singing black people music and-- gasp! :eek:- \* swiveling his hips seductively\* on television, mimicking sex acts! > > A good chunk of modern dance has its roots well within the realm of fucking and that has been the case for many, many years… Which is precisely why people are uncomfortable with it. But if _they_ say it’s simulated sex, they’re being uptight and ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354/20 "2011-05-27T09:36:09Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I don’t know, I guess to me it looks out of context. One minute they’re grinding and moving everything to the beat and then they just stop and wildly shake their ass as if it’s on fire (or sale) or something. That says they know they have an ass. Glow-in-the-dark white girls usually move like they don’t know they do, I remember laughing mine off hearing a German VJ call Britney Spears a “Shakira wannabe” because of a video where she tried to copy some of Shakira’s moves and the result didn’t look sensual, it looked like an aerobic routine. It’s the same problem with foreigners trying to learn flamenco, they move their arms and their legs as if they were separate objects with nothing in between. You don’t like it, that’s fine. But liking it or not is something which has a large component of cultural ingraining. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancers-and-the-butt-convulsion-thing/583354.md?page=2)