An extremely
multifaceted and talented woman I know wrote this piece. READ IT: http://kellymaglia.com/musicblog/
Even if
you’re not a dancer be it pole, ballet, hip-hop, or otherwise, she brings up a
number of interesting and issues pertinent
to all people, but women especially, including (B,C):
A. Semiotics,
or the study of symbols.
B. The male
gaze
C. The taboo
of Sexuality
A.
Semiotics-
Symbols are
important. You can’t escape it. My simplified understanding from my undergraduate
studies in neuroscience is that the
human brain is structured to think of things
in a schematic way. Simply put we get overwhelmed and speed of
processing gets much slower if we constantly try to understand the nuances of every
single situation and we as a species would probably not have survived had we
tried to do so. If our brains had decided to take the time to determine if
every thing that was four-legged and striped black and orange was really
dangerous instead of automatically assuming it was a tiger that would eat us,
the earth would look a lot different. Full of super cute and vicious animals
but probably not terrorists and crazy extremists.
Ask any marketer or PR person, their job is to
take something meaningless and imbue it with meaning that speaks to our limbic
system, or Freud’s infamous id. They use our innate ability to schematize
things and utilize symbols in the following way (more or less):
“Here is an aesthetically
pleasing symbol. Let's bombard them with other images that associate it with other things our limbic systems enjoy- pleasure, sex,
money, control, until they can’t distinguish the two.”
Not to
belabor the point, but you see said symbol- an Apple logo, a Nike sign (to
reference the brilliant Kelly Maglia’s piece above!) and instead of seeing a
random schematized apple with a bite taken out of it or a weird looking
checkmark, you see an innovative tech company that can help you go above and
beyond your competitors in a “fight the man” kind of way or an all star
athlete.
Now on to
the sociologically complicated issue of the male gaze. Why do women wear makeup? Why do we spend
money on tight clothes, breast implants, etc? To boost our self confidence?
Sure! I know I feel awesome when I look great even when I’m going to place where
I know no man will see me, e.g my pole studio, or even staying at home. Growing
up I went to an all-girls school and we dressed up for each other on our non
uniform days as much or more than some of our co-ed counterparts. BUT its much
more complicated than that. When a girl tells another girl “oh my GAWD you look
amazing!” is it a simple compliment? Usually yes. But it can also be
confirmation to the recipient of the compliment that other people, hopefully
men, will come to the same conclusion . [Side note- Rachel Bloom addressed this
in a hilarious way in her amazing show on the CW Crazy Ex- Girlfriend in the
musical number “Put yourself First” in which some of the lyrics read “ put
yourself first in a sexy way” and Bloom’s character wonders what the point of
getting a back tattoo “for herself” is if she can’t even see it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqpSzNGqBBE.
So back to
the original point. What is the difference between pointe shoes and “stripper
heels”? Is it as simple as the difference between ballerinas and pole dancers?
I argue that it is because of semiotics. The pointe shoe equals a ballerina. The platform shoe equals a pole dancer. Once we’ve settled that point, is
there a difference between pole and ballet? Both require amazing amounts of
strength, coordination, flexibility, and to get there, dedication. One had its
origins in the courts of 15 and 16 century Italian and French royalty. The
other had its origins in strip clubs where men pay women ostensibly for sexual excitement.
Interestingly enough, even ballet dancers were viewed as “showgirls” i.e.”less
than”- only for entertainment and nothing more when the art form first gained
popularity! I do both. I grew up doing ballet from a very young age, never once
imagining myself as a “sylph”, a “swan or dying innocent” but rather feeling
more like an actress who could also dance (so kind of like a double threat?) playing
these parts. To me the key word here is something most would skip over. The "ostensibly". Meaning "presumably". Like most things when it comes to discussions about feminisms and the male gaze, etc, it's about who has the power in any given situation.
Ultimately I
transitioned to the pole world because I felt ballet was less female
empowerment than I originally thought.I felt that ballet was like being a
fashion model. A few powerful men tell you how to look and what to do, and you force
yourself into that mold. I was tempted
by the individuality of pole, and , being always the rebel, the taboo of pole. For the first year I told my parents I was continuing to go to “dance”
class and when pressed I straight out lied and said it was the same ballet
classes I had always attended. What does
all of this mean? I believe it mean that sex is taboo. Anything
that is even suggestive of sex, which a lot of things in pole can be (but don’t
have to be) makes people UNCOMFORTABLE. It just does. And like the four legged
orange and black stripped thing, our brains won’t necessarily take the time to
disentangle platform shoes worn by women who are paying to pole for exercise,
to explore their bodies, or for any other number of other reasons, from platform shoes worn by women who are paid
to pole to make a living, or because they love it, or for any other number of
reasons.
Let’s take
this one step further. There really should not be any distinction between these
two (see this amazing article http://harlot.media/articles/1572/strippers-need-to-take-back-pole-dancing)
That’s a
topic for another discussion but it’s extremely relevant to this one. Are pole
dancers who pole primarily without platform shoes “more athletic” and “respectable”
? There’s been a lot of back and forth
in the pole community about “bringing sexy back”, # notastripper
#yesastripper etc, etc. I say do what you want. That’s why I started poling in
the first place. If you want to be sexy be sexy. If you want to be more like a
gymnast do that. Don’t let any man or any woman tell you what’s right or wrong.
