I think that women should be free to crack on and enjoy whatever hobbies they choose. Their clothes and behaviour do not make them responsible for misogyny and sexual exploitation. And yet this whole thing still sits so uneasily for me.
Normalising something that some women find empowering (pole) risks simultaneously normalising something that disempowers other women (pole dancing). There's clearly a ton of PR work to do as both are inextricably linked in many/most people's minds. And most people won't care enough to give it a second's thought, let alone take part in a 21-page online discussion.
This isn't pole fitness women's problem necessarily - men exploit pole dancers not pole fitness hobbyists. And I totally get the argument that women shouldn't feel responsible for sorting out the male-created problem of sexual exploitation. But I guess that, in terms of solidarity, I can't support the mainstreaming of an otherwise innocuous activity when I know that this is likely - unfairly, unintentionally - to legitimise a separate activity that exploits vulnerable women. Bloody infuriating to even be discussing this, as the dilemma wasn't created by women. But the problem does exist.
I suppose that as women it pays to pick our battles and I'm still not convinced that this one is winnable. I think that the battle itself might actively harm some women for the sake of other women's hobbies, which currently isn't worth it for me in terms of feminist priorities. Obviously other women will disagree, which is fine.