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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Down To Earth

Beyonce shows kids how to shake their booties

Confession: I love Beyonce. All the way back to Destiny's Child. So it is with some excitement I share this video as part of Michelle Obama's Let's Move campaign to get you dancing as a form of exercise. Nietzche put it best: Dancing in all its forms cannot be excluded from the curriculum of all noble education; dancing with the feet, with ideas, with words, and, need I add that one must also be able to dance with the pen?



 

Tom Philpott, who originally posted this video at Grist believes there's also a solid policy basis in Beyonce's foray into kids' videos. "A mounting body of research suggests that the practice of sitting around all day -- which for too many people starts in school and continues into a life toiling in a cube farm -- is extremely hazardous to health. That said, I have to add that I wish the First Lady and the pop diva would launch a campaign to defend PE classes, which across the country are being sacrificed to appease the False Gods of Fiscal Austerity.," he writes.

But are there gender politics on display?



 

He notes that Beyonce's "short shorts, stilettos, and, uh, bounciness present a hypersexualized image of femininity to school kids..."

Well. What do you think?



Down To Earth

The DTE blog is committed to reporting and sharing environmental news and sustainability information from across the Inland Northwest.