Why Don't More Men Dance Tango?

Unless things have changed during my Tango Sabbatical, it is rare to go to a milonga and have the men outnumber the women. I am referring, of course, to milongas in the United States, since it seems that in Buenos Aires they are fairly evenly split (give or take a lousy night here and there), and I have way too little experience with milongas in other countries to have an opinion on this matter.

Many theories abound as to why we can't get more men to dance tango, mainly circling around the "it's too hard to learn" core. There is no dearth of women, of course, and even if there were, if we could get more men, the women would show up.

But in searching for something else on the internet, I came across this article, which although extremely long (by today's soundbite society standards), I found absolutely fascinating. It is an anthropological thesis on why men don't dance - any dance - although not specifically alluding to Tango. He even discusses the "men who dance are sissies" position of some men.

The bottom line is, it's all about passing on genes. He even compares humans to salticid spiders – the Fred Astaire of spiders!! Here are some of his provocative opinions, although I highly encourage reading the entire article:

"Men ... risk a great deal ... by dancing. In a fight a man risks losing his ability to pass on genes. This is the thing of which evolution has made us most terrified. If a man dies, he passes on no more genes. If a man fights badly, he might die. If a man dances badly, he will show the women that he is not a good catch, and so he will pass on few genes."

"Sub-consciously, it seems, women can tell a good-quality man from a low-quality one, and their decisions are influenced by smells...The supposed reason for under-arm hair is for increasing the ability for others to smell one’s sweat. It is interesting to notice that a movement common to almost all partner dances is for the man to turn the women under his raised arm. In passing, the woman’s nose wafts past the man’s armpit every time."

"Men who are good dancers will have more affairs than men who are bad dancers...Anything which improves a man’s chances of passing on genes, is likely to end up forming part of innate human nature."

"Women will rate the likely future marital fidelity of men who dance well as lower than that of men who dance badly."

"Men who consider themselves to be bad dancers will be less likely to dance. When asked to dance by women, the chemicals released in their bodies will be similar to or the same as those associated with fear."

"...women did not have to marry the good dancers, but they might use their knowledge to get the best sperm by having an affair."

"...the best male dancers did or had done martial arts....There seems to be a link between male dancing and male fighting ability."

"In partnered dances, the man leads and the woman follows. The lead part is more difficult, requires greater strength, and it helps if the leader is larger than the follower. To dance well in unison, the man has to look after his partner. Women do not enjoy men who seek to prove how strong they are by leading with unnecessary force."

Maybe he IS talking about tango after all...