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“That’s hot.” What a phrase. Everyone who was alive in the early 2000s remembers this being Paris Hilton’s signature phrase, whether we used the term ironically or not. In the last few years, Paris Hilton has grown to be a feminist icon, speaking out about her history of sexual trauma and other allegations of child abuse at an old-school reform school she attended. 

In the wake of the #metoo movement, and with other women such as Pamela Anderson (inarguably one of the world’s most famous sex symbols) coming forward and describing her own sexual trauma in a new memoir and Netflix documentary, it seems that women are undergoing a second sexual revolution, mirroring the awakening periods of the 60s and 70s. 

Being a dancer has opened my eyes to so many inequities in the ways that men and women are treated insofar as sexuality is concerned. Of course, there are the obvious aspects that most people are familiar with – women’s nipples are sexualized whereas men’s aren’t, women are oftentimes slut shamed and victim-shamed more than men – but there are a multitude of ways that this has directly shaped my view of myself and my own sexuality, and that definitely warrants a conversation.

The most asked question I get is “are you a stripper?” Which in itself is a fair question, that’s the most popular version of pole dancing. Although that may be a small portion of pole dancing, it isn’t the entirety of the art. Being more than just a pretty thing to look at, I’m a performance artist; I put on a show. And yes, that show probably makes people pretty happy, but at the end of the day I don’t dance for you, I dance because I love it. I dance because I love the way it makes me feel. It empowers me, and a lot of people aren’t ready for that conversation. 

When women take back the narrative of their own sexuality – like Paris Hilton and Pamela Anderson have recently done – it takes the power away from the men (or even other women) who demean and shame sexual women. We are owning pole dancing. And according to research, this is basically the best thing to happen for feminism since the original sexual revolution of the 60s and 70s.  In the United States, sexuality (especially women’s sexuality) is so often regarded as shameful or reproachful, and women take back that narrative. “Furthermore, in a study of post-World War II burlesque films, Schaefer (1997) identifies a similar sense of departure from the socially acceptable female body, in terms of unruly excess, as burlesque bodies of the 1940s refused to be contained or domesticated according to gendered norms. He describes how female burlesque artists “strutted, pranced, swung their arms, bumped their hips, poured out of, and then stripped their costumes” (Dodds, S). With women getting to take control over entertainment, it reshapes into a feminist narrative, instead of a patriarchal disguise, of which many women’s entertainment industries are based.

 
To add to this, it’s actually quite clear that pole dancing is inherently important to female sexuality and fitness as a whole, “Fitness pole dancing is exemplary of such discursive “unstitching.” It is an industry built upon entrepreneurial work by people (for the most part women) who have set up opportunities for other people (for the most part women) to participate in during their leisure time. The exceptionally popular and internationally federated practice of pole dancing now has several governing organizations, numerous university societies, and a magazine. Repeated demands have been made for its inclusion in the Olympics” (Owen, L.). 

Could you imagine pole dancing in the Olympics? Yeah, me neither, but it should be! Society is always ready to call women sluts and promote men. As a lasting thought, this reminds me of something that recently happened in my hometown. I grew up in a small town – a pretty red county all around. An old movie theatre was recently renovated into a really nice event venue where many notable bands and artists have played. Recently an all-male striptease show was performed. I was asked if I wanted to go by some girlfriends, and although it would have been a fun girl’s night out, I couldn’t help but shake the underlying annoyance with the double standard nature of something like that. I know for a fact that an all-female striptease show definitely would not have been performed and would have been called “trashy”, even though it’s still fun and sexy and an absolute blast for the performers. 

It’s time to revolutionize women’s sexuality as we did in the 60s, ladies. Burn those bras. Fuck those double standards. Be your sluttiest self and own the term. Take it back. The second sexual revolution is upon us, and I’m fucking here for it. 

CITATIONS

Dodds, S. (2013). Embodied Transformations in Neo-Burlesque Striptease. Dance Research Journal, 45(3), 75–90. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43966084

Owen, L. (2012). “Work That Body”: Precarity and Femininity in the New Economy. TDR (1988-), 56(4), 78–94. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23362773