Stakeholder #3

Anonymous "No Title" 9/20/2011 via EMSI Public Relations. Public Domain.

The third stakeholder in this controversy is the public.  This is narrowed down even more to  dancers past and present, as well as people who are involved in arts organizations (arts critics, dance magazine writers).

Who?
Stakeholder #3 is none other but the public.  Specifically past and present dancers and other magazine journalists who are focused in the arts areas.  The dancers  are typically speaking out about the controversy through comments on news/ magazine articles or in certain cases through their own written articles. Their writings range from pure disgust with the critic, to some who begrudgingly see his point of view, but do not necessarily agree that he should have written it. As the majority of their responses to this specific incident are through text, it is difficult to determine their mannerisms and appearances.  In addition, arts columnists/journalists for magazines are also speaking out through text.  Their articles, although still opinionated, often do a better job at representing both sides of the story.  Practically all side with Jenifer Ringer in the fact that she is not overweight.  However, the people in these areas, perhaps due to the fact that they are communicating through text and not a face to face interview, seem to be almost more angry about the situation than Ringer herself.

Claims
1)  The first general claim made by one commenter (MsAvignon) and is echoed by a few others is that Macaulay is "vicious". (scroll down to comment section to see comment)
2)  Leonard Jacobs, at the Clyde Fitch Report, along with others claims that talking about eating a sugarplum too many "does not evaluate performance, it evaluates a waistline and tells the reader nothing about the aesthetic value of the event."  They are essentially saying that reviewers should be not be able to comment on this.
3) Another general claim is that almost all of them agree that Ringer and her partner DO NOT look heavy at all.  In Youtube comments on a taping of her interview on The Today Show, commenter "Heidi S. apparently scrutinized pictures of Ringer only to say "'I really tried to look at the pictures of her dancing, and I kept thinking "where are those sugar plums, because (sic) I don't see any of those!'"

Validity
With most of these "claims" we have to remember that they are actually opinions.  Often times they are from people who have not experienced the ballet world.  Out of the sites that had many comments, Jezebel was one of the most popular.  This is considered a heavily feminist magazine and we must consider their commenters that as well.  With most feminists supporting the body-appreciation movement of women, it is almost assumed that most of them would automatically degrade Macaulay (doesn't help that he's a man saying it either).  The writer of the article in the Clyde Fitch Report might be slightly bias toward the performer, seeing how he works with actors whose appearance has also been commented on by Macaulay.


Are Others Saying the Same Thing?
These stakeholders agree with mostly with Ringer in the fact that she is not overweight.  On the other hand, most disagree with Macaulay.  They believe it is not the critic's place to critic the body of a dancer, much less one who has openly discussed her atrocious past battles with eating disorders.  However, so of the public does say that Ringer is a little heavier for a dancer (although they are the minority of the public), but she is a beautiful dancer nonetheless.