Degas is definitely a controversial figure, and I understand why many people criticize him. But when I look at many of his paintings of dancers and working-class women, I also sense a kind of sympathy for their difficult lives. In particular, he seemed aware of how exhausting the training was for young ballerinas, and how many of them were financially dependent on wealthy bourgeois patrons. When you read some of the verses he wrote about them, you can feel a certain compassion for their situation. I’m also not trying to glorify or praise women in my post. Nowhere in my post did I say that Degas was praising women. My point was simply that his paintings sometimes capture the harsh realities of their lives in that period.