pole dancing for fitness

[hairyqueenofscots]

in my work i work with very highly qualified academics, i am support staff. they have all recently started these classes and burlesque. I have recently got very interested in the feminism on MN. I am saddened these woman are doing this ,they have everything going for them! Am i wrong? be gentle i am a learner :)

(and an insurance company)

Buddy, I dont understand that bit either which is why I asked what I thought was a sensible question.

Ok I understand that if I was gyrating round a pole for fun in a club giving the guys an eyeful then yes, of course, I would be no different than a stripper.........but no one sees me apart from the others in the session and the instructor.Who am I giving the wrong message to?

My DS of course sees me practice at home but he doesnt know about the seedy aspect of pole, to him, it's a normal fitness thing and not a dirty pervy thing. Surely that is a positive??

AF, the not being bothered to explain was to SGM but before she came back with an answer.....she was questioning whether it was a serious question but maybe I just dont get her sarcasm :)

betty, your son will grow up, be introduced to the sex industry in all it's wondrous woman-hating majesty and have a bit of a light bulb moment one day, I am afraid

I stress again this is my opinion, because I like you and have no wish to offend you

sgm always bothers to explain, but if you have spent much time on the FWR you can get very sensitive to what is a genuine question and what is an empty windup (which is one of the reasons why this section is not what it used to be < gimmer >)

I hope not AF I really do but maybe I am kidding myself. Hopefully if he does get introduced to it he will be so conditioned that he will think of it as fitness first and find the sex aspect of it unacceptable.

I can live in hope I suppose.

Don't worry, no offence would be taken..I like your posts and find you approachable which is why I asked. I am just genuinly interested :)

I just don't get how being told that I must never do what men can legitimately do is the feminist stance?

as for empty wind ups.....have better things to do, lol.

Ok thanks SGM and sorry for any confusion.

"Buddy, the drugs industry is heavily involved in human trafficking and sexual exploitation. The normalisation of coke use within the middle classes as recreational fun has lead to a serious increase in violence; a violence which is both gendered and classed"

erm, I know all that! why single me out to explain how bad the drugs industry is when what I asked is how is paying a gym the same as paying directly into the drugs industry?

I know betty, I wasn't accusing you of an empty wind up....but there have been a shedload of them on this topic

I can imagine AF!

times that by a million

and you answered a completely different one

what about the actual money? I can't see how that funds the sex industry at all!

I don't know how much cocaine costs but understand the chain of events that go from paying a small time MC dealer at nice dinner parties to funding terrorism and sex trafficing

but paying £7 to a gym for pole fit, where some goes to an instructor, some to the room hire, and some to the instructors insurance, pays anything into the sex industry at all??

I see it as indirect support, Buddy. By normalising and mainstreaming a practice, you support all of it's manifestations. Not quite so literal as you are saying.

Totally agree with the normalising viewpoint and the insiduous drip drip nature of this.

I have a friend on FB who does this fitness pole thing, and she is the only person I know who constantly puts up pictures of herself in various 'fitness' poses and they are always liked by several hundred men. She is not in heels, just shorts and vest, but the impression is sexual all the same because of the roots of this 'fitness' class. She is a teacher btw, not that this is relevant in any other way than to show how normalised this is.

It is also of note that most people would rather die than post a picture of themselves midway through a fitness class on fb, so for me, despite the protestations of those on here, there is an element of performance for men , it is not just fitness.

no way would I post photos of myself at pole class , in my class everyone wears unflatteringly short scruffy old shorts and vest tops and sports bras with hair up and leg warmers

so who am I normalising it to? I don't do it outside of the classes, spell it out to me, who am I influencing?

Mooncup- I have lots of pics on fb of my poling........because a) I have lots of poling friends on there who are genuinely interested and b) whenever I manage a new move it's nice to share with them.

I assure you, no men "like" my photos and if they do......so what!

I certainly dont pole for male gratification, I don't flatter myself that it would be of any interest to them.

I have had a couple of pro poleshoots done...for me....for my old age....just to see what I was once capable of doing. Nothing sexual about it.

AF/SGM- thanks for the explanation...I understand now.....whether i agree is another matter but yes I can see where you are coming from.

Betty, we don't have to agree. We certainly do on many other issues, I have noticed.

Is there any other type of fitness class where people post fb pictures though? Zumba? Step? Spinning? Yoga?

I find that really intriguing.