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Many people now engage in pole dancing and aerial activities such as aerial silks. Increasingly, adults have taken up these practices as leisure and fitness activities. The social theorist Bruno Latour tells us to follow objects and to look at those who attempt to speak for them. My research on pole and aerial includes examining how a pole and other aerial apparatuses have become more than simple pieces of metal and fabric.
Pole dancing currently straddles the adult entertainment, art, fitness, and sporting industries. From symbol of seduction to empowering sport, many people are now attempting to shape how we perceive poling. I am particularly fascinated by the people that have made this happen and the pole community that has developed around poling. My research on this topic is ongoing. |
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photo by Georgia de Lotz
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Poling is an activity that is inclusive of people of diverse backgrounds, ages, races/ethnicities, and physicalities. Instructors have told me how they use the pole to encourage people to explore and appreciate their bodies' movements. Deb Roach in a 2021 chat on Instagram hosted by Smink provided food for thought on how to approach teaching polers with disabilities:
"[Adaptations for pole moves] is just us [people with disabilities] taking what mainstream pole is doing and adapting the moves and that is one way to go about it. But [I created a system and] what my system was about was translation. So taking pole movement and allowing- giving the person with the disability that’s in front of you the tools and the resources to share with you, to explore the movement, and to translate it into something that is genuine and authentic to them." |
At least 30 countries have federations endorsed by the International Pole Sports Federation (IPSF), and hundreds of pole studios exist in the United States alone. Poling has garnered public attention in recent years because the IPSF was granted Observer Status by the Global Association of International Sports Federation (GAISF), leading to speculation over whether pole sports will one day be included within the Olympics.
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"Our whole shabang is very LGBTQ friendly so there is the new gaze. It’s not male. It’s not female. It’s 'You go girl.'"
--Interview with someone who started a pop-up strip club in the southern U.S. |
photo by Jp Valery
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Strippers have long been leveraging their pole skills in adult contexts as part of their jobs. Poling as a symbol of athleticism and sensuality was present in strip clubs prior to its popularity as a fitness activity and sport; the first pole fitness classes taught in recent decades were taught by strippers. Therefore, strippers argue that those who borrow from them while stigmatizing them are engaging in a form of cultural appropriation.
One issue that cropped up in my interviews and background research involved the negative working conditions for strippers and sex workers. While some commentators argue strippers exhibit a false consciousness, actions by sex workers challenge this narrative, such as: stripper strikes in the United States against racism and unfair labor practices, as well as petitions and legal challenges against exploitative labor practices in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. The latter reference unsafe aerial equipment, and quotas/fees/rules that treat strippers like workers (versus self-employed) without granting them those benefits and protections. For more information, check out online information from groups such as Strippers United, the East London Strippers Collective, and more. |
A central factor in the expansion of pole as a fitness activity and sport that is often neglected is the pole itself. Companies have been asked to design poles that are portable, can easily shift from static to spinning, and can be attached to slanted ceilings. Pole Danzer and X-Pole were two early companies in the field.
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"We manufactured the pole. . . . [But at the time there was not a market outside of strip clubs.] So then I realized that the key way to expand the market was to expand the schools [teaching pole]. . . . We had a lot of feminist organizations kicking off with this: 'You're denigrating women.' But then when you get a person doing it, they just love it, and it becomes part of their life. . . . That's why we promoted fitness, fitness, fitness. . . . In order to expand the market [we had to change people's mentality about pole dance and what it means.]"
-- Interview with Clive Coote of X-Pole |
"I built a pole [for my wife and my friends] would see it and then they would want one. . . . [We put up a website] and they just started selling from the beginning [since 2000]. . . . In the old days there was nothing. Nobody made a spinning pole. I’m not saying that I invented the spinning pole but I was probably the first person on the market with a spinning pole. So then all the clubs, the women would go, I want the pole to spin. . . . It’s so much easier for the women just to spin with the pole spinning than to actually force their body around. [Our poles are in locations from strip clubs, to pole studios, to restaurants, to planes and limousines.]"
-- Interview with Robert Trent of Pole Danzer |