WTF in the U.K.: pole dancing edition
Another study break, another WTF moment, this time coming courtesy of some high school in the U.K.
That's right, school officials - get 'em while their young! What I also love, is the poster in the background that says something about "The Art of Dance," as though it's part of some phys. ed curriculum (or is it career day?). Now, when I was a girl (insert granny voice here), we learned to square-dance and recoiled at the prospect of holding boys' sweaty hands...
Sheesh.
0
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: WTF in the U.K.: pole dancing edition.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.feministing.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-tb.fcgi/11719
I am constantly amazed at the sheer athleticism displayed in the polar arts.
Although pole dancing is traditionally associated with stripping, from the looks of the video this type of pole dancing resembled ballet more than something raunchy and sexual. It looks like it takes a great deal of strength, coordination and balance like any other sport/dance.
I s'pose the style of dress could have been more age-appropriate considering the audience, but I would imagine that exposed skin is necessary in order to grip the pole.
Although "teenagers watch pole dancer!" sounds shocking, after seeing the video, I have no problems with it. I didn't find anything about it more sexual than any other type of dance.
I just saw that CNN has a video report on this story on their website - it contains more contextual information about circumstances. Apparently, the "Art of Dance" is a pole-dancing company that was invited to do a demonstration for the students as part of the school's "Be Fit" week. The dance instructor stressed that the performance would showcase the athleticism of the exercise, while conceding that some students, particularly the 14 year old boys, might find the connotations distracting.
Ya think? First, where is mention of how the female students responded? (+grumble+)
Second, I acknowledge that pole-dancing requires athleticism, strength, and skill. And it emerges from a background in sex work - an industry that is unfairly, punitively subjected to marginalizing, protectionist cultural discourses. Still, I have a problem with the way the mainstreaming of pole-dancing (as fun physical activity) has sexualized exercise for women and, especially, for an (ever) younger generation of girls. So i guess my question to readers is: can pole-dancing be de-sexualized? Personally, I'm skeptical.
This is so typical of a story that gets blown completely out of proportion by the media. The real story is here, but if you're too lazy to read it, I'll summarize.
South Devon College hosted a pole fitness team (called 'The Art of Dance,' that's what that sign is for) to do some demonstrations as part of their health week. The dancer in question agreed to do it on the condition that she could post these videos online in order to get publicity for her dance school. She's not a stripper, and she's not objectifying herself. The dancer herself said she's trying to break through this negative stereotype of pole dancing. She's in control of her body, and I for one would love to be fit enough to do what she can do. Get your facts straight.
"she's not objectifying herself"
So then, objectification is something a person consciously does to themselves, rather than the way that person may be viewed by others?
As to whether the sexual connotations of pole dancing can be reconceptualized in a more postive manner, perhaps a scantily clad woman dancing before an audience of high school boys is a less than optimal means of doing so.
From the cellphone photage the high school boys seem to be well-behaved. I didn't here any hooting or cat-calling. There was even the polite applause at the end.
For anyone interested in a more complex reading of women's objectification, check out Rosalind Gill's great article "From sexual objectification to sexual subjectification."
HAHAHAHAHA.
Ok, now with that out of the way...
I admire the woman's efforts to desexualise pole dancing, as by the looks of this video, it can be a very impressive type of gymnastics rather than something that belongs in a strip club. However, it would be pretty damned difficult to completely desexualise it, seeing as it consists of a woman dancing with a large phallic object between her legs. Think about it.
sometimes a pole is just a pole.
Wait, what?
So now a female can't go near an object that's thinner than it is long without it being sexual?
How about tampons? Or balance beams? Can little girls not straddle a tree branch without it being suggestive?
Sorry to bite your head off, but honestly, the sexualization of everything is getting ridiculous.
All I'm saying is that a tree wasn't designed to be danced around sexually in a club. There's a reason why pole-dancing is so popular in strip clubs, as opposed to...furniture dancing?
Furniture dancing, like where a paying customer sits in piece of furniture and the dancer dances in his lap?
Or when dancers dance on top of tables?
You bet they have furniture dancing.
Why do girls have to be portrayed as airheads who fawn over cutesy puppies, kittens and now, mini burgers from Burger King. As I have researched, apparently this isn't the first sexist incindent with Burger King commercials. See "I am Man" commerical on You Tube. I just don't get it. Things really need to change in this world, and to me, this is not helping and is not innocent entertainment. Russ Klein who is the VP of Marketing at Burger King really needs to take into consideration that we no longer live in the dark ages. You would think that for the million plus bedroom furniture he got paid this past year, he would have a clue about not being sexist.