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Shelcy Joseph's avatar

100%! There’s also a parallel here between the whitewashing of pole dancing/sex work and Anora’s mainstream acceptance due to the fact that the main character is white versus the reception of say, Zola. Really well-written piece!

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NiftyKeisha's avatar

As someone who taught pole dancing full-time for 8 years, it’s so nice to see it getting attention again! I agree 100% that pole studios made an effort to distance themselves from strip club culture. Most of the teachers were never strippers as well, we were all trained dancers and I think that only made it more pronounced. I wasn’t even classically trained (my training was middle eastern, Brazilian, African, etc) and I still carried that perception. I didn’t like when people assumed I was a stripper even though I had no issues with people who chose to strip and I was a go-go dancer in lesbian clubs for a decade.

I think it’s important to have conversations about where it originated and there needs to be more about the whitewashing of the industry. I love pole dancing so so much. Happiest time of my life was teaching. It’s such a great community! Thanks for having this conversation!

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