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Children and Pole Dance on Anderson Cooper
Here is two videos that comprise the majority of the pole dance discussion on Anderson Cooper yesterday. We'd love to know what you think, how you would have approached this and if there is anything that should be added to the conversation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vCDTHt8ejM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2jKjldNmwc&feature=channel&list=UL
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46 Replies
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It's a pity that pole dancing carries such a stigma. I do hope things like this will help champion a better attitude towards pole dancing in general. Like someone in the audience was saying, you can sexualize anything if one really wanted to try. Gymnastics the girls are doing the same things we are, just they're on a horizontal beam, but of course that's OK. /sigh
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Just watched them both. Must say those ladies kicked ass!!!!! They were great, they had an answer for everything, every objection they have a justification for. As it should be. They kept their cool and made their points. Some people will always be threatened by anything having to do with sexy so of course the pole will make them cringe. That's their problem. For those of us who've been saved we'll keep on poling and to answer AC's question about where's it gonna go when they are 15, um, have you seen the insanity that is some of these back bend-y contortionist people on the pole? Yeah, there'll be even more moves to learn and master in 10 years. Can't wait. Keep poling https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif
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I don't think it was explained well, and that creates interesting tv for daytime viewers, right? If they explained that they provide pole dancing/fitness classes for women who are looking for an alternative fitness/dance class and have one for kids that is strictly for fitness/dance (no exotic dancing) it may have gone differently. There are people who hear "pole dance class" and think it is for women who want to strip…they don't know. They were lead to believe the kids were taking "stripper classes." Bottom line–if someone has a problem with a kids dance class THEY are the ones with a problem. It would have made more sense to compare pole to ballet and other forms of dance, instead of team sports. This show feels more like 2 steps back just based on the misinformation.
I have had several birthday parties in my home that were basically pole parties by the end cause the kids were just all over it and having fun. Watching this video made me nervous of what another parents might think and maybe I was stupid to let that go on. I wonder if any home polers with kids have ever been reported? https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_confused.gif *feeling paranoid*
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Aren't these kids really doing pole "fitness"? Are they really "dancing"? I know I always refer to pole as pole " fitness", the "dancing" seems to be word people get worked up about.
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Just wanted to also mention that where I live there are two circus schools with kids classes and they teach Chinese pole there, as well as trapeze, silks, etc. It would have been interesting to have heard that angle as those cirque type classes are crazy popular.
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As my sister Sublime said……… we use a pole for our exercise apparatus, so we are therefore a stripper? So, shall we call male gymnists cowboys, since they use a horse (pommel)?
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Wow, I can't believe how people are so adamantly against this! I'm all for it for kids as long as they are focusing on the fitness aspect. I did not see the whole show, just the clips. I felt that the owner and other guests could have defended and explained pole fitness better, with better examples of why it is no different than other sports. The lady in the audience even gave a better analogy. There really could have been stronger responses for all his questions.
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I think what immediately rubs me the wrong way with this is that Anderson right away hits on a couple of pet peeves of mine.
First, he mentions that children's fitness pursuits should be leading to sports teams (or they arent really valid, at least, that was the implication I was left with, though I tend to be really sensitive on this issue). I used to coach high school volleyball, and when I saw what parents would force their kids into for a 'scholarship' when the kid didn't have the heart or real talent to play in ANY college, let alone Division 3, it was upsetting, for everyone involved. Not everybody needs to be forced into that mindset. Team sports are not the only way to be fit and active, have discipline, work hard, and succeed.
Second, that at 15 years old, a child will have mastered the basics of pole dancing and all advancement past that occurs only in a strip club. I think both sentiments are incredibly closeminded. In all other forms of dance (ballet, modern, ballroom, hip hop, etc, etc, etc), in yoga, in gymnastics, in circus arts, in capoeira, in martial arts, there is no ceiling to what can be achieved; no dead ends in the art itself. I could go on and on.
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I have two girls, 12 and 6, and they have free access to my pole. I wholeheartedly agree w/ Goldie and w/ Lyme, that it's a branding issue (b/c of negative mental associations)….pole dance=strip club (to a lot of ppl), whereas pole fitness=???, they just don't know, and this is where we, as pole dancers, can create a positive mental association with the word. When I tell someone I pole dance I know where their mind usually goes, until I show them some vid's on youtube or SV, then it opens up a whole nother area they never knew existed (holy sh*t, that's gymnastics!!!). Pole will always have a dual connotation, but my goal is to remove the solely negative association that a lot of ppl have. It's becoming more and more accepted, with all the pole studios going up etc. etc….a lot of people frowned on the Beatles initially too, and Christopher Columbus was told he'd fall off the edge of the flat Earth…but look how that turned out 🙂 Rock on fellow polers!!!
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One thing that bothers me is that it is taboo to express one's sexuality. If I had a teenage daughter, I'd much rather her express her sexuality dancing sexily around a pole in the basement or in a dance studio rather than with teenage boys. I don't like the idea of taking all the erotic out of pole. Bringing the topic back to childern, little kids aren't goint to be expressing a sexuality they do not have, therefore, they are going to see it as monkey tricks not sex. If they don't understand sexuality, they cannot express it. Once they start to develop a sexual side, that will come out in their dance as well as other areas of life. I'd rather them develop it in a healthy and safe way. This also extends to grown women. It is nice to have a safe place to express this side of ourselves especially since our culture is so utterly against women that express their sexuality. I think it is the culture that needs changing, not pole dancing, erotic or not.
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One thing that bothers me is that it is taboo to express one's sexuality. If I had a teenage daughter, I'd much rather her express her sexuality dancing sexily around a pole in the basement or in a dance studio rather than with teenage boys. I don't like the idea of taking all the erotic out of pole. Bringing the topic back to childern, little kids aren't goint to be expressing a sexuality they do not have, therefore, they are going to see it as monkey tricks not sex. If they don't understand sexuality, they cannot express it. Once they start to develop a sexual side, that will come out in their dance as well as other areas of life. I'd rather them develop it in a healthy and safe way. This also extends to grown women. It is nice to have a safe place to express this side of ourselves especially since our culture is so utterly against women that express their sexuality. I think it is the culture that needs changing, not pole dancing, erotic or not.
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^ Yep, suppressing female sexuality is a worldwide issue. But not mine, I get one life…and I'm going to live it for ME!https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_rambo.gif
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I get sick and tired of people’s ignorance, I’m at the point where frankly I could not care about others opinions because that’s all it is an opinion not fact, you only get one life do what you want that makes you happy and fit at the same time and if a child taking a pole dance class leads them to be a stripper then so be it they were probably going to head that way anyway! With or without the pole!
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I agree with you CorbyOconnor, Mr. Cooper's comments all fell flat for me. Why is it only acceptable for kids to participate in an activity if it will get them a scholarship or to the olympics? I think it's much more healthy and useful as far as life skills go, to teach a kid to be active and healthy for the sheer enjoyment they get out of it.
I agree that there is a branding issue though. My kids play on my pole, and I have no problem with that. I don't think I'd sign them up for classes though, or push them to be competitors. It's hard enough to pioneer the evolution of pole as an adult, I wouldn't want them to have to deal with that as kids. And I don't expect everyone to "get" that there is a difference between cirque style aerial pole and sensual/sexual pole dance. Not everyone has *seen* the difference, and that's really what it takes to understand. Even with pole getting exposure on TV talent shows and dance shows, not everyone has encountered pole in any form other than sexy strip-club form. Circus arts studios would probably catch much less flack for teaching children's pole classes than an adult pole dance studio would. As adults, we love the sexy side of pole, and studios want to capitalize on that and advertise that they offer that, but I think it's a poor choice as far as business image goes to advertise the sexy/sensual adult pole classes and then also offer children's classes.
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The studio I visit in the Bay Area just sent me an e-mail about aerial silks for kids. I bet you $100 that no one in the media would ever cover it because it's SILKS. So even though aysha stag and double stag in silks are EXACTLY THE SAME POSITION and you can do gemini on silks (not sure of the term) and gemini on pole, but because there's a pole it's not art, it's sexual. I just don't understand people who hate pole and think it's sleezy, but then casualy sit there and smile at a cirque de soleil show. SMH.
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