Matt is my favourite, I like Scott and Gavin is, almost against my will, growing on me, but I do get really bored with the judges constantly emphasising how much harder everything is for the male dancers. Having been a dancer myself (a long time ago) I know that there are skills involved in being lifted and making it look effortless, and, paraphrasing Ginger Rogers, you do everything your partner does but backwards and in heels. I also hate the assumption that it is more awkward for the males to act the emotions of a dance, such as the rumba, as I am sure the female dancers must feel equally as exposed.

What does everyone else think?

I think the male celebrities might find it more difficult as they have to learn to lead their ladies - I have no idea if that is hard to learn..........

I dunno *shrug* I guess its difficult for both males and females but for various different reasons

I'm not expert but I imagine it is more of a challenge for the men in the Ballroom especially - because as has been pointed out, they have to lead.

That's not to say I think they should be given 'bonus points' or anything by the judges.

It was very hard in series 3.
Especially for the sportsmen.
Len told us so on at least a twice weekly basis.

... Can't answer this question as I've never been a man.

Is leading harder than following? No.

However, is recovering-from-a-mistake harder for leaders than for followers? Yes.

If you're a good leader, you can disguise a multitude of problems, especially in the ballroom - as Anton has demonstrated.

But if you're a good follower, there's only a limited amount you can do to help your partner, even in hold.

Leaders can impose timing, direction and movements. Followers can't - or at least, not so easily and not so completely.

That's what makes the difference.

I'll leave it to the experts. But I would have thought it was more difficult for the male dancers. The routines are short, the male professional can hide a lot of his partner's faults with clever choreography..much more difficult for the female professional. Same with the lifts, the male pro can keep his partner off the floor for at least part of the routine..I know there is skill in "being lifted", but even some of the less talented celebs seem to manage this adequately ?
It's not so pronounced an advantage as in Dancing on Ice, where it appears to enormously favour the female celeb, but it's still an advantage..particularly in the early stages of the competition. That's just my "uneducated" opinion anyway.

When I was learning to dance I sometimes had to take the male role (not enough boys dancing) and found leading easier than following as long as you knew the routine well. In the female role in ballroom you have to do a lot of the routine without being able to see where you are going and you have to be able to react to how your partner is 'driving' the dance without losing time and without looking like you are reacting. And in heels.

If they were actually learning the dance steps then leading would be harder. However what they do on SCD is learn a routine (hopefully off pat) so the need to lead your partner around other couples or into the next move is gone.

Thanks for this explanation DavidJames.

But what about this argument that Maks C. of dwts makes all the time. He says that the female pros can dance around the male pro and make him look good and cover for his weaknesses whereas male pro can't do that for his female partner.

No, it's not. I get so annoyed by the myth that it's harder for the men. Yes, they have to lead but the women have about twice as many steps and they're generally much more complicated and difficult than the steps the men have to do. I'd go so far as to say it's harder for the women. In our class when not dancing with my boyfriend, I sometimes do the leading when dancing the male steps with a beginner and it's not difficult at all. I know it's different when it's competitive but it can't be that much more difficult. Leading isn't pushing or pulling, it's placing and if your female partner knows what she's doing, leading isn't difficult in the slightest.

No.

Take the Argentine Tango for example, the female's footwork is so much more difficult ~ and the Rumba, whilst men may find it uncomfortable, they do so very little compared to females.

Going back to the OP's point about the Rumba. I have always thought that the dance appears to exist to showcase the female dancer. Even when danced by the professionals, my eyes are always drawn to the female dancer (and that's apart from the obvious reasons)..is that the case ?

Presumably you need to be just as skilful to be a top lady and a top gent re dancing, but the skills required are different.

A bit like scrum halves and fly halves in rugby - different skills required, but the top exponents of either discipline are just as good. Easier as a beginner to blag it at scrum half, though, I'd say.

Yes but that's true of every single dance in ballroom and especially latin. The men are the rock the female is to lean against - he's there to show her off. That's why I think sometimes there's an unfair advantage for the men because they have a female professional that drags the eyes away from him and makes everything look spectacular. Yes, in ballroom hold it would be more advantageous to have a male professional guiding just in case something goes wrong (like in Alesha & Matthew's foxtrot) but that is not something that happens a lot.

I just think it's yet another form of sexism when all anyone says is how hard it is for the poor male celebs while the female celebs have it easy. Yeah right

Technically, that's what dancers call "rubbish".

Firstly, yes male pros can and do "dance up" - it's quite obvious when, for example, Brendan feels worried, he starts getting all exhibitionistic with his dancing. Anton too - putting extra effort into the rondes and so on.

Secondly, no matter how good the follower is, she can do almost nothing if the leader simply forgets the steps. Look at Matt Di Angelo's disastrous Foxtrot with Flavia in S5. Whereas, by comparison, a leader can totally cover for a follower if she forgets the routine. Look at Matthew and Alesha's Paso in the same season.

Thirdly, the judges aren't judging the pro, they're judging the celeb. If the pro simply dances around the celeb, the judges will pick up on that, comment on it, and mark it down accorgingly.

Apart from that...

I think the difficulty level for the men and women works out to be fairly equal. I just hate the fact that no ever challenges the assumption that leading is always harder. I don't think it is.

You're right, it's not.

I always feel like the judges go on about that to encourage the men more because while dancing is very acceptable for women, guys tend to get a lot more stick for it. But that has no bearing at all on which role is harder. Leading isn't anywhere near as difficult as being the one the eyes are drawn to. That's just a fact. I've done both sides of it and if I was looking to hide in a dance, I'd much rather be in the man's shoes.

Actually, slight caveat - in social dancing, leading is arguably difficult, because leaders have most responsibility for floorcraft as well as for the other aspects of dancing.

But that doesn't apply in this case.

Yes, but isn't that a two-edged sword. The female professional can draw our attention away from a weaker male celebrity, but it's much more difficult for one of the good male celebrities to put on a really flamboyant performance in something like the Rumba ?

There's truth to that, yes.

I agree about floorcraft being the hardest part of leading. But like was said, that isn't an issue on Strictly at all. The hardest part of leading isn't part of the equation on this show so I don't understand why the judges go on about it so much.

You remind me, years ago there was a social lady who always came up to me for a waltz after I finished my one-hour private lesson on Friday. The start was fair enough, then for psychological reasons her left hand on my shoulder became heavier and heavier, as if she was sinking in the Titanic and clinging on to me for dear life. Her hand grew so heavy I could hardly move. I wanted to head for the lifeboats but couldn't..........

I think the question is, in ballroom when a celeb became completely lost, would it be easier to recover as a man or a woman. Assuming neither had the faintest idea what to do next, I believe it would be easier for a woman celeb to fall in and follow. When Matt di Angelo had a meltdown in the foxtrot Flavia tried to wrestle him back into basic but given her size and height couldn't. Anton routinely wrestled with a willing Kate to save her from falling down.

I do believe I would gain an insight if I were to don high heels to move backwards without a wing mirror, with a hand supporting the perfect spot on my lower back. But first let me buy insurance......

Women are naturals they are born to dance most men unfortunately are clodhopperish.

Please speak for yourself.

LOL, I love that story

In ballroom, I would agree that it would be preferable to be dancing with a male professional rather than a celebrity. But in latin, it's harder for the girls. They are what the eye is drawn to, they have twice, sometimes three times as many steps, much harder steps and they're required to be as perfect as possible because there's this idea that the men should be able to get away with more because it's harder for them. I get annoyed when people say it's tougher for the guy celebs. It isn't and it's very unfair on the girls to say that and it contributes to the stranglehold the male celebs have on this show - in the eyes of the public, even if they aren't as good as the best female, it's tougher for them so they get away with more. That's how it seems to me anyway and that is extremely unfair in my view.