# Would you let your 12-year old daughter take pole dancing classes? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 16, 2018, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926 "2018-02-16T14:26:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/21 "2018-02-16T19:32:45Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > No, I thought of [this](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2112156/Dance-Moms-hits-new-low-Girls-young-EIGHT-wear-nude-bikinis-burlesque-routines.html). \*\* reaches for the brain bleach \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/22 "2018-02-16T19:39:45Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > I received an email this morning advertising pole dancing classes for kids, ages 12 and up. It – well, astonished is too strong a word, but at least made me do a double-take. I understand that pole dancing is an art form, artistic expression, etc., but since pole dancing DID originate as a way for women to sell their bodies to make money, I cringed at the thought of someone who hasn’t even fully developed from a child into a woman doing something like that. Since the Dope is pretty progressive about stuff like this, I was just wondering what the general consensus here was about a 12-year old taking pole dancing classes. I was thinking, how odd for kids at that age. But Ballet is available and the poles are horizontal rather than vertical and costumes are about the same. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/23 "2018-02-16T19:54:56Z")
No, no, no. Girls are over sexualized in this world as it is. She would have to wait til she was an adult, to do so. I would allow other dance forms. So she could work towards that if she so chose. But, no. We don’t need that. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/24 "2018-02-16T20:20:01Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > But Ballet is available … and costumes are about the same. Except [when they are wearing booty shorts and tied-off shirts](https://www.shemazing.net/this-morning-viewers-were-left-in-shock-by-an-8-year-old-pole-dancing/). ---
**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:** [February 16, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/25 "2018-02-16T20:30:25Z")
How about your sons, would you let them do [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvE7kXAJTF4)? Seriously, I had boys, but now I have granddaughters. I don’t even know if I would have let my daughters do gymnastics, frankly. Or do cheer. There’s the risk of injury. There’s the risk of anorexia. There’s the competitiveness to get bigger oversplits than the next girl… But not letting your kid do pole dancing because strippers do it is kind of like not letting your kid do karate because bad guys in a movie do it. Now there is a thing called pole fitness. Grandmothers take it. It’s very physically challenging and seems to be an excellent workout. I would be too scared to do it myself. I’m a klutz; I would land on my head, at some point. And this is pretty much what I would fear for a child or grandchild (although they are not klutzes). But it looks like a pretty good way for girls to develop upper body strength, not to mention a strong core. ETA: A few years ago I went to a granddaughter’s dance recital. Ballet, supposedly. They were wearing booty shorts and crop tops and dancing to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.” They were five. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/26 "2018-02-16T20:33:08Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > A 12-year-old pole dancing? [What a granny](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1OIEGYUUv0)! I was expecting a Chicago-area bank commercial featuring Granny wanting to get into Pole dancing. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/27 "2018-02-16T20:34:42Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Seriously. To this generation, and even many millennials, it’s just another athletic apparatus. When did this happen? I would have thought, before reading this thread, that a pole dancing class would necessarily include teaching the students how to gracefully remove clothing, and possibly include spinning tassels in opposite directions. ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/28 "2018-02-16T20:52:43Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > No, no, no. Girls are over sexualized in this world as it is. She would have to wait til she was an adult, to do so. I would allow other dance forms. So she could work towards that if she so chose. But, no. We don’t need that. Could you elaborate on this? A pole is a thing that you can swing around on and so forth. You can grab it by your arms and legs and do tricks. How is that “sexualizing”? Would you allow your daughter to buy a cucumber? A carrot? If she said: “Gymnastics are fun. I would like to try the bar”? Would you say: “No, no, no, the bar is a phallos and you must not use it, ‘bumping and grinding’\* like them bad girls used to do.” If girls are over sexualized in this world it is not because of 12 year old dancers’ equipment, I tell you that. That is not the problem. The dancers’ equipment is not the problem, if a problem it is, I tell you that. - Here’s a cigar. What’s the matter? You’re blushing. Perhaps it’s your specific brain rather than the cigarr that is the matter? - quote aceplace above ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/29 "2018-02-16T21:03:51Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > When did this happen? I first became aware of it during the kerfuffle [when Miley Ray Cyrus did it at 16](https://www.google.com/search?q=miley+cyrus+pole+dancing&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1). ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/30 "2018-02-16T21:09:16Z")
_shudder_ No, just, no. This whole little kids doing sexy, grown up routines is getting really out of hand. > [@Declan](#): > > I was thinking, how odd for kids at that age. But Ballet is available and the poles are horizontal rather than vertical and costumes are about the same. [Barres](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barre_(ballet)) aren’t used for actually dancing, though, only to offer support for certain exercises. You’re not thrusting and grinding against it. And the costumes aren’t provocative like they are in pole dancing. It’s not the remotely the same thing. ---
**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:** [February 16, 2018, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/31 "2018-02-16T21:15:49Z")
You don’t have to grind or thrust against the pole in pole dancing. Or “pole fitness” if you wanna be that way. You do have to have bare skin in contact with the pole, in order to grip it. So the costume is a function of what you’re doing. Not everything has to be sexual. You could argue that a lot of dancing is intrinsically sexual, if you’re that kind of person. (Probably not classical ballet though. Or tap.) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/32 "2018-02-16T21:18:20Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > _shudder_ No, just, no. This whole little kids doing sexy, grown up routines is getting really out of hand. > > [Barres](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barre_(ballet)) aren’t used for actually dancing, though, only to offer support for certain exercises. You’re not thrusting and grinding against it. And the costumes aren’t provocative like they are in pole dancing. > > It’s not the remotely the same thing. ^^^ This. Pole dancing exists in a context, and it’s not a context that’s harmlessly benign for a 12 year old girl. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/33 "2018-02-16T22:31:12Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > When did this happen? > > I would have thought, before reading this thread, that a pole dancing class would necessarily include teaching the students how to gracefully remove clothing, and possibly include spinning tassels in opposite directions. What’s wrong with tassels? Kids have them on their tricycle handlebars, so why not nipple pasties? And you let your son drink out of a juice box and play with a wiffle ball bat, so why shouldn’t he stand on the corner with a pimp cup and cane? It’s OK to buy a kid an electric train set, but not an e-stim dildo? Seriously, did I hit my head and wake up in Prudeland? What’s wrong with you people? ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/34 "2018-02-16T23:35:01Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > ^^^ This. Pole dancing exists in a context, and it’s not a context that’s harmlessly benign for a 12 year old girl. See, that was persuasive. Well put. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/35 "2018-02-16T23:57:23Z")
I am not a parent, but this gave me insty-Bleccchhh. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/36 "2018-02-17T00:00:18Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > See, that was persuasive. Well put. Well put, A3. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/37 "2018-02-17T00:07:28Z")
Well, considering that the pole is an artistic stand-in symbol for an erect penis, then no. Yes, it is, any denial of that aspect is willfully ignorant. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/38 "2018-02-17T01:26:31Z")
Absolutely. My oldest takes classes at a studio that offers it along with aerial pole, aerial ribbons, hoop, flow arts, bellydance, etc. The women in the pole class are not doing anything more than they’re doing in the other classes. They’re just using a pole while they do it. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/39 "2018-02-17T01:29:12Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Well, considering that the pole is an artistic stand-in symbol for an erect penis, then no. > > Yes, it is, any denial of that aspect is willfully ignorant. That would be a pretty damned long penis. ---
**Author:** ![palmer7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9f8e36/32.png) [@palmer7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palmer7)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926/40 "2018-02-17T01:29:41Z")
Absolutely not. I wouldn’t want my daughter to use that on a boy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-12-year-old-daughter-take-pole-dancing-classes/808926.md?page=3)