Misconceptions

Costuming
There are several misconceptions about belly dance. Firstly, knowing that the dance was originally a dance performed by women for other women, I became very frustrated when searching for images for this blog because 99% of what I found was pictures of modern dancers in the westernized costumes performing for an audience or, when the pictures did reflect older forms of dance, the women were still scantily clad and dancing for a group of men. In reality, dancing for entertainment did not come until later in the history of the dance and for the most part, the women wore their everyday clothes. The costumes that dancers wear now are nothing like the actual garments worn by original performers of the dance but and it is in fact illegal for dancers in Egypt to preform with a bare stomach. The costumes wore today more than likely 
Harems
Another misconception is the presence of bellydancers in harems. This idea is perpetrated by Western Hollywood and its portrayal of dancers under the ownership of Middle Eastern Sultans. Harems were not collections of beautiful women lying around all day for the Sultan's pleasure, but included women of all ages who were slaves to the sultan and is not at all like the exotic places shown in movies today. 
Just for Women
While it is true that in Western culture belly dance is a primarily female dance, in the Middle Eastern countries where the dance originated it is preformed by men, women, and children. The dance is a family and social activity so everyone participates, not just the women anymore. 

Here is a link an article featuring great explanations of how several misconceptions arose and how they can be proved wrong. 
http://www.shira.net/advice/lifestyle/servingmen.htm