In the middle east today, the fertility of a woman is still a prime factor in calculating her value. A newly-wed bride has no status, but her husband's mother rules the home, and probably picked her son's bride. Due to the fact that American culture is used to seeing women who are scantily-clad, this is not necessarily as titillating as it sounds. What is unfortunate is that it gives the impression that only those who are young and beautiful should dance, and that they do it only for the pleasure of the men in the audience. It is even more unfortunate that these situations also tend to involve audiences who are inebriated or rude, and do their best to demean the dancer.
Dancing tends to be improvisational, informal, and performed amongst friends.
Costumes tend to be covered and ethnic, and less emphasis is placed on the beauty and youth of the dancer. Oriental dance done in the context of a communal event, like a SCA event, is much closer to the spirit of the dance than that done commercially in the United States. Oriental dance has seldom been taken seriously by classically trained Western dancers, and this has made it more difficult to gain respectability. In addition, its tradition of improvisational dance, as well as its sensual and erotic connections make it more difficult for these western dancers to understand. I heartily encourage more people to explore this most ancient of dance forms, so that they, too, can understand the power and joy which it expresses.