PandalinaHooker
Forum Replies Created
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Veena, I love that you made the association between the sensual movements of ballroom dance and pole dancing. What a wonderful way to look at it! It makes me think of all the women rushing to put their kids in Ballet or Jazz dance classes. Ballet dance has LOTS of adult-themed connotations (even though the movements may not seem sensual to us, the stories they tell are definitely not always kid stories!!), and Jazz used to be considered something reserved for uneducated, promiscuous people (not unlike stripping, and unfortunately the strong mainstream misconception of pole dancing still has the two in the same box)! And don't get me started on all of the sexual connotations of Latin/ballroom dancing!!! What an amazing way to put it in perspective!
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I know I'm relatively 'new' to the community, but as the resident budding anthropologist I'd like to point out that fun is relative. I think that's what makes the pole dancing community such an interesting study! The population, though relatively small, is diverse and everyone has finds pole fun for different reasons, though it usually all comes back to self expression and self confidence, which are both individual and extremely subjective experiences. Some people express themselves with their butts, some people do it with their strength and some with their ability to tell a story with their body. When I interviewed Veena, I think she did a great job of describing this–it's not that sexy and pole are being disassociated, it's more like sexy is a subset of pole dancing instead of encompassing pole dancing.
I'd also like to point out that while pole dancing may have never been 'meant' to be a sport, that doesn't mean it can't be one. Whenever people bring up a sort of ownership to any form of art (and I do consider pole dancing art) I like to counter with Kant. Before I go any farther, let me explain what I mean by 'ownership'. I mean ascribing characteristics to the apparatus and what it was meant or not meant to be, not that any specific person owns it. It's more like a thought owns it, or an idea, or a process, not an individual person or group. Now that I've cleared that up, back to Kant. His philosophy on art is that once the piece has been given to the public (in this case the pole apparatus) then it is the publics will for what it will become because art is subjective and so is our experience of it. So, since literally anyone can purchase a pole provided they have the funds, than to each and individual person that pole will become what that person wants or perceives it should or is meant to be.
However, I do not think it's fair to the pole dancing community, which is so rich in diversity, to be lumped under one category. Not every pole dancer is a sexy dancer, just like not every pole dancer is an acrobat. In that aspect, I think trying to desexualize the pole apparatus in the public eye seems fair, because by detaching the sexy from the pole it allows more freedom in expression for all different styles of pole artistry. Just because the POLE isn't sexy, doesn't mean YOU can't be sexy–you get me? Like SV's idea of treating the exotic, sexy dance style as a subset of pole instead of what pole is.
Anyway, I know this is a long winded response, but I've got one last thing to mention. I'm not sure how aware everyone is of this, but in the public eye most of the representations people have for pole dancing comes from porn stars. When I did the 'media' part of my assignment I found that actual pole dancers (all of the names I've come to know, like Jenine Butterfly, Pantera, Alathea and so forth) are invisible in the media. When "pole dancing" comes up, it's usually referring to a woman standing next to a pole dancing sexy (not that there's anything wrong with that, but when people tell me someone 'pole danced' I at least expect to see a cross ankle recline or even a simple spin or two). To me, this is a stylized, rather crude representation of an otherwise vibrant and expressive world! And from what I'm told, the videos from the Porn Stars have more to do with floor work than actual pole dancing (but I've never seen the videos myself, to be fair). Is that really how you guys want to be represented to the masses? Like I said, I don't think there is anything wrong with being sexy–it's a wonderful empowering thing–but I think the mainstream representation today of pole dancing doesn't even give exotic pole dancers the credit they deserve. I mean, I'd rather see Alathea on TV talking about pole dancing than Carmen Electra, one of them is obviously more fit to talk about it than the other.
Just my thoughts, sorry for the novel. 🙂
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MajikMyke! I'm glad you asked! I will gladly share my project with you all! I intend to post the "Final copy" as a blog, and if you message me your email I will even send it to you as a .doc file if you prefer (complete with my interview with David C. Owen, which I think is a little long to make a blog unfortunately, I ended up with 12 pages!). 😀 I'm glad to know that people are interested in seeing the final work, even if it's not an 'official' research study.
And I just want to say, again, thank you to everybody for the wonderful responses! You all have fantastic answers and I've been enjoying reading them!
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Wow! What a diverse group! I've really enjoyed reading your responses and just want to say thanks so much for letting me learn more about ya'll, and I look forward to reading more! 🙂
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@poledanceromance : omg, lol@love hut! I love it! I may have to steal that terminology for future reference!
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Here is a link to something that has helped me accept and even want to flaunt my "battle scars"
http://www.slrlounge.com/a-beautiful-body-celebrates-mothers-and-their-un-photoshopped-beauty
​I'd say don't worry about it–I doubt anyone is saying "Gross" let alone noticing them; as my great grandmother used to say, "If they're looking that close, kick em!" 😉
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This will be fun! I can showcase my pre-weight mommy-tummy! yaaaay stretchmarks! I've got JUST the swimsuit, too! Time to trollolol on to Davo's house so I can butthook his music selection and Pole. 😀