I've never really liked or understood the claim that women who take pole-dancing classes and/or learn how to strip - often suburban, middle-aged, middle-class women - become more liberated or somehow more free.
Friend BZ shared this Jezebel link with me, in which a writer participates in one of the pole-dancing classes. Predictably, I thought it was kind of silly and very misogynist.... but now I think I have a possible answer to the claim:
Learning to pole-dance is liberating because it frees one from the constant pressure placed on women by the patriarchy to conform to the male gaze, to patriarchal definitions of what women are supposed to be like. Embracing one's own self as as sex object gives the illusion of liberation because it brings one into compliance with patriarchal standards.
I'm sure I'm not the first person to point this out, but I'm the first person I've heard make this point in relation to those bizarre pole dancing classes.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Stripping as Liberatory
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2 comments:
Exactly why I shared it. She was very like, "Wait, what?" as far as the whole love yourself as a sex object thing went. See why I'm a little obsessed with Jezebel?
So here's my question - is it MORE or LESS "liberating" to strip for money (vs. stripping at home, seemingly for free). I have never, ever understood this thought process.
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