# Pole dancing--inherently sexual? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 19, 2017, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pole-dancing-inherently-sexual/777531 "2017-01-19T07:18:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pole-dancing-inherently-sexual/777531/41 "2017-01-21T00:46:09Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > Another thing I was thinking about: > > When I first started poling, I had trouble understanding how hetero male viewers could not help but sexualize what I was doing. > … > Then I was watching the Olympics this one time and was super into the Men’s Gymnastics. > … > Yeeeaaaah, naked men’s gymnastics. > … > Then it hit me. > … > ALL dance is a great fitness regimen. And all forms of dance can be sexy. Now imagine the only way you’d ever seen men doing that stuff was at Chippendales shows. Then suddenly one day you happen to turn on the Olympics, see the same sorts of moves and think “Wow; when did Chippendales go mainstream??!1! Yuuuuummmmmy!!! Shame they’ve gotta wear clothes on TV.” That’s about how it looks to us poor schmucks who entered adulthood when absolutely all poles were in strip clubs. Kind of like the newer sexier forms of cheerleading will be passé eventually, the male kids of today won’t be nearly as amazed by pole dancing by the female kids of today since it’s busy going mainstream. -Ish; for large values of “ish”. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pole-dancing-inherently-sexual/777531/42 "2017-01-21T01:52:27Z")
There are so many ways to get a workout, you have to wonder why someone would go to the trouble of doing this one. It smells like a gimmick, and the gimmickry, of course, derives from attention you get by doing something that was originally done by strippers. So not inherently sexual–just gimmicky. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pole-dancing-inherently-sexual/777531/43 "2017-01-21T01:59:21Z")
The fitness business is full of gimmicks. For the ladies there’s Zumba, jazzercise, Bikram yoga, yoga in general. On the more male side there’s crossfit, “boot camps”, Orange Theory, etc. Damn near everybody in the business has a patented gimmick to sell. With expensive shoes to match. There’s no money to be made from people who run on the street wearing old shirts & beat up KMart sneakers. Nor those who lift heavy things at the Y or play in a civic softball league. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pole-dancing-inherently-sexual/777531/44 "2017-01-21T02:13:18Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The fitness business is full of gimmicks. For the ladies there’s Zumba, jazzercise, Bikram yoga, yoga in general. On the more male side there’s crossfit, “boot camps”, Orange Theory, etc. > > Damn near everybody in the business has a patented gimmick to sell. With expensive shoes to match. There’s no money to be made from people who run on the street wearing old shirts & beat up KMart sneakers. Nor those who lift heavy things at the Y or play in a civic softball league. Very true, indeed. I wonder how many homes have poles installed that eventually just got forgotten, and do nothing now except to block the view of the TV. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pole-dancing-inherently-sexual/777531/45 "2017-01-21T03:49:59Z")
Inherently sexual? Warning, they aren’t wearing much.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM6kUQXxdAI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM6kUQXxdAI) ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pole-dancing-inherently-sexual/777531/46 "2017-01-21T03:50:29Z")
I think proximity is also an issue. When I would take my son to the gymnastics gym there would be these young women walking around in their tights or doing gymnastics. I had to make it a point to never look at them close up. I’m not a perv but I didnt want to be tempted either. Now from the bleachers all I see is the athletic moves. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pole-dancing-inherently-sexual/777531/47 "2017-01-21T04:59:32Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > You know what the pole represents, right? Fat old men, who smell like Budweiser, and their Og Given Right to shove singles down the Hanes of some kid who is younger than their daughter? ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pole-dancing-inherently-sexual/777531/48 "2017-01-21T09:05:05Z")
No, it’s not. [Pole acrobatics](https://youtu.be/DvE7kXAJTF4) have been practiced in [multiple cultures](https://youtu.be/X7s8GiLrJvc) for hundreds of years. It’s an athletic pursuit. It’s only sexual in very specific, niche contexts. And yes, men pole dance, you may have noticed in the videos. (Dare I say it was the Western world who decided it is “dirty”? Sigh.) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pole-dancing-inherently-sexual/777531/49 "2017-01-21T13:51:42Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Inherently sexual? Warning, they aren’t wearing much.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM6kUQXxdAI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM6kUQXxdAI) Wow. That guy’s hands are probably stronger than my thighs. And I’m fairly strong for my size and age. Thanks for that. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pole-dancing-inherently-sexual/777531/50 "2017-01-22T22:26:04Z")
I dont personally find pole dancing to be any kind of sexual turn on no matter who is doing it. But i do find it highly amusing when they slide off and land on their heads, or the pole comes out of the ceiling and falls over etc. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pole-dancing-inherently-sexual/777531/51 "2017-01-27T19:15:09Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > When I would take my son to the gymnastics gym there would be these young women walking around in their tights or doing gymnastics. I had to make it a point to never look at them close up. I’m not a perv but I didnt want to be tempted either. Tempted? _Tempted?_ Just what are you saying you’d be tempted to _do_??? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pole-dancing-inherently-sexual/777531/52 "2017-01-27T19:38:14Z")
Look at 20yo women who’re in good shape and wearing close-fitting clothing? Sounds pretty much standard (male) human nature to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pole-dancing-inherently-sexual/777531.md?page=2)