johnna mink: the susan b. anthony of pole dancing July 16, 2007
Please, someone comment when this video can be found online, because it was hi-la-ri-ous! Why do these people not realize that Stephen Colbert will make them look foolish, foolish, foolish? Of course, Johnna is probably having the last laugh as her enrollment triples tomorrow. And for those of you who did not find any irony in suggesting that pole dancing is empowering, knock yourself out.
And, really, on a serious note: I’m all for sexual empowerment. I’m all for owning the sensuality of your body. But let’s look, for example, at the skills the above mentioned website claims you will gain from its videos: “Learn basic to complex exotic moves, lap dance, floor work, chair dance, walking with confidence, pole dance choreographies, more than 30 poses on the pole. As well as, over 30 exotic tricks and spins that will help you move sensually around the pole.” Of all of these, there might be one (walking with confidence) that is not a complete fabrication of the male-invented and dominated sex-entertainment trade. Perhaps if they were to tell me that my new skills could translate into more universal activities, such as exiting a car with pizazz, or being able to arouse lust when picking up change off the street, or driving men wild as I jumped the superfluous ropes and bars in line on a slow day at Great America, I might be interested. But all this is about is what the husband of one of the women in Johnna’s class said best: I think it’s great to say that pole dancing is feminist because then it doesn’t make us look like pigs for watching it.
Note: Only after publishing did I realize that I have two Colbert posts in a row. Well, I can’t hide my biases…
1. ComedyCentral.com , maybe?
2. Pole dancing is sexist only to those who choose to think about it that way. It in itself is innocuous; whatever you do on your own time to make it ironic is, or at least should be, your private business.
Adieu.
Jon: I approved this post only to be able to publicly ask you this: Would women, left to their own devices in the wild or whatnot, invent an activity that involves writhing around in an overtly sexual and performance-oriented manner on a large cylinder implanted in the ground and attached to the ceiling? “Pole dancing is sexist only to those who choose to think of it that way?” Yeah, and 14 year old crack mother hookers are being exploited only to those who choose to see them as such. Come on, some things just have a shared cultural valence that we all agree on. “Whatever you do on your own time to make it ironic…”? Jon, I admire your attempt at post-feminism here, the whole “a women can choose to exploit herself, be sexy, etc. if she wants to on her terms, blah blah blah”, but it IS by nature ironic to attempt to appropriate a pole, created by men w/ the express purpose of (see above mentioned description of activity) and claim it to be “empowering exercise”. Ever hear of an elliptical?
That said, I totally agree with you, and whatever you, Jon, choose to do with that pole in private really is your business.
Ciao!
i love accidental feminist. three statements of relativism all captured within one little comment. (can *you* find them?) the solution to this cultural impasse is simple: but if i told you, you wouldn’t listen.
by the way, i choose to view pole-dancing as sexist and demeaning… someone might say i subconsciously find it most enjoyable that way.
And that’s the difference between me and Matt: I get all in a huff, Matt calmly mentally castrates you. I love you, bro.