"Despite not being included in participation, ['Inappropriate Song Night'] has not received much push back from men or trans men about attendance."

That's an observation by the Wisconsin State Journal in its article about a burlesque dancing event at a Madison place called Dance Life. We're assured that the dancing expresses sexuality but is not "a sexual event." It's a "safe place" where "women or non-binary people" can "be ourselves." The audience, we're told, is 100+ each week, with "men and trans men"* excluded.

[Dance Life owner Arielle] Juliette said even those who come into the event not knowing it’s an “escape from the male gaze” still leave with that strengthened feeling.

Being able to express whatever needs expressing is, in part, what makes something like ISN so special according to [Finn Enke — a nonbinary trans male and UW-Madison professor of Gender and Women’s Studies, History and LGBTQ Studies] who said “however they want to use their bodies, to show whatever they have experienced and to do something in a space where there is no question about validation from men — there is no question of evaluation from men. There is none of that (stuff) that is so pervasive in our culture. That strikes me as a super important thing to have.”

I remember stuff like this from the 1970s — the reclaiming of sexy dancing by feminists. Get the men out of the room and the meaning is transformed. I guess this is a recurrent theme, because I found a Feministing article from 8 years ago: "Musings on Feminism and Belly Dancing." I'm guessing the word "empowering" appears. Yes:

To my pleasant surprise, most women in the class took her up on the offer—women in their fifties, women with stretch-marks, women of all shapes and sizes were dancing exuberantly, their bellies revealed, and, you know, all of us had a wonderful time. It was incredibly empowering....

The other students in my anthropology class were impressed by my story, until I admitted that some (male) significant others of the women in my class (and their children) were in the audience at the hafla. One of my classmates raised her hand to say that this meant my fellow belly dancers were therefore performing for the benefit of their male significant others, and that this fact undermined anything feminist or challenging of norms about the whole experience....

With so much legitimate and vital concern about the objectification of women, sometimes it’s hard to say what’s objectifying and what is an empowering enjoyment of one’s sensuality....

Beyond dancing, I wonder about sex itself. Should men be excluded, for feminist empowerment?
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* Isn't "men and trans men" an inappropriate locution? Why not just say "men"? If a two-part expression is desired, why use the modifier for the trans men and not the cis men? Perhaps the trans men are more emphatically excluded, as they may assert a stronger argument for inclusion, but I see no evidence that any trans men (or other men) are seeking inclusion. Ah, I see the answer in the article. There was concern that if trans men were not specifically excluded, they might feel offended by an unintended message of inclusion. It was therefore important to signal to them that they are regarded as members of the male group, the ones who are excluded. That is, they were shown the respect of being included in the exclusion.