This one may get some mixed reactions, but I'm just going to dive head first into this issue.
I realize that not everyone has the same attitude toward pole dance as I do, and I try to appreciate that people are entitled to their own opinions. However, I find it very frustrating when I hear about or see people judging the sport without having any comprehension of what it is or what's involved. No, we're not strippers. We're not godless trollops or high school dropouts with daddy issues, and we're not selling our bodies or integrity by practicing or performing our art.* So let me break it down a bit.
Pole dance, pole fitness, aerial pole, whatever you want to call it, is a sport. Just like gymnastics, just like ballet, just like hockey. It takes an equal amount of strength, if not more, than most widely recognized sports (and definitely more than sports like golf). Pole dancing uses every muscle group in your body, from your fingers, wrists and arms, through your back, torso and core, right down to your feet. Pole athletes end up with bruises, strains, torn muscles, broken bones, and an assortment of other injuries, just like other athletes. If you go into a strip club, you're going to see something completely different (I'm talking worlds apart) from what you would see in a pole studio. Pole dancers practice in rather scant clothing, but so do gymnasts, swimmers, wrestlers, beach volleyball players, and so on and so on. Every sport's uniform is designed to accommodate what the athlete is doing with their body. Pole dancers use their skin to grip the pole. If that skin is covered, a dancer can't grip and therefore can't perform the tricks that make this such an impressive sport. Personally, I don't wear the seven inch heels that some pole dancers love, but there are reasons behind the shoes too. High heels help to work the leg muscles and keep a dancer's body weight forward (so they don't rock back on their heels). They also elongate the leg and force dancers to work on their balance, similar to a ballerina on pointe shoes. It takes skill and practice to be able to dance in shoes like these, so don't knock it 'til you've tried it.
It's not just the ignorance and misunderstanding that gets me though. I so often meet beginner students who, as much as they love the class, are afraid or embarrassed that people might find out they do pole dance. Props to them for coming out and giving it a try, but if the women in the class still view it as something racy or indecent, then why should the rest of the world think differently? The biggest step in changing society's image of pole dance is for people to stop being embarrassed by it. There's nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about! There's nothing to hide!
