I think it's the old school of thought of appeal: for women it's showing the legs, for men it's showing the arms. But funny enough, a few of my women friends say that they find the male leg sexier than the female, and that men should show off their legs more often. Who knows... could be a dancing tradition, passed down for years, and now the reason is long forgotten (probably some strict teacher laid down the law and it stuck). Interesting though, on male skaters they wear long sleeve unitards, and they don't look any more feminine than without long sleeves.[/i]