by Jenna in Uncategorized

Can I rant for a little minute? No? Well, it’s my blog so I’m going to anyway 😛

You might have heard that this week was host to come out of the pole closet day (Thursday, I think?). Well, I posted, not even a picture of me, but the Bad Kitty pic that’s floating around the community with a quote about feeling strong and sexy when you pole dance. I got so much kick back from friends and family telling me it was inappropriate to post about pole dancing on Facebook.

Sometimes I wish we didn’t have to be “inappropriate”. For example, a few of my friends are swing dancers… like pole dancing it requires training, practice, special attire, and dedication to do it well. They’re as proud of their swing dancing as I am of my pole… but here in lies the difference – it’s socially acceptable for them to be proud, post pictures on Facebook, and talk about what they love in public.

They can invite their relatives to watch their recitals without fear of repercussion. They can send pictures of new moves to their friends without people thinking they’re coming on to them. They don’t have to censor themselves because they’re worried that it might influence their ability to be professionals outside their hobby. And I guarantee no one ever said to to my swing dancing friends “as long as you don’t start doing it for money”.

I was never good at sports as a kid, and I was so jealous of all my friends who had their parents come to all their games. I desperately wanted a soccer mom, and had a great mom who was more than willing to be one, but I sucked at soccer and I hated playing baseball. Now I finally having something physical that I love to do, that I’m good at, that I can show off… except it’s stigmatized.

Somedays I don’t want to be a political statement, I don’t want to have to go into a 15 minutes explanation about why pole dancing is a real sport, I don’t want to defend anything. I just want to be proud without apology, and have a fan club in my corner (with the exception of TGIL who already is :)).