Dance/Movement Therapy, Women’s Rights, and Feminism: The First 50 Years

One of a collection of six scholarly essays solicited by this journal to celebrate the first half-century of the American Dance Therapy Association, this paper examines the roots of dance/movement therapy through the cultural lens of the women’s rights and feminist movements over the last 50 years. Despite DMT’s disruption of the patriarchal bias in counseling, and despite having displayed a richness of cultural discourse over the years, a historical analysis of publications in the field reveals a paucity of discourse around feminism and women’s rights, as well as lack of intersectionality. Much as the women’s rights and feminist movements can be criticized for their lack of intersectionality and exclusionary practices, DMT has arguably fallen into a similar pitfall. The authors suggest that moving forward into the next 50 years, the field of DMT may be especially equipped to contribute to discourses around activism, multiculturalism, and social justice through a body-based lens.