#notastripper: Respecting our History

History of Pole Dance

What do pole dancers believe to be our history?

Mallakhamb

This sport goes back to as early as 1200BC India. Men would perform acrobatic tricks on a wooden pole.

Chinese Pole

This was also performed by men. Two poles are used for acrobatic tricks. The performers can be fully-clothed as the poles are silicone or powder-coated.

Carnivals

Female dancers called “Hoochie Coochie” dancers would dance around the pole that was holding up the tents. (I came across two time periods for the start - 1890s and 1920s, not sure which is legit.)

Strip Clubs

Poles started popping up in strip clubs in the 1970s. Erotic dancers started teaching other dancers the skills.

Pole Dance Studios

In the 90’s Canadian strippers opened the first public pole studio for non-strippers and strippers alike in Vancouver. It didn’t take long before the idea spread throughout the world. Yay Canada!!

Respect

I believe that pole dancing started with the Hootchie Coochie girls. I do not believe that pole dance has a connection to Mallakhamb or Chinese Pole. I think some people say it does, because they think taking the sexuality out of pole will ‘legitimize’ pole. In the words of a feature performer from the States, whom I will call Glitter, “Well then, go do that then!” Meaning do Chinese Pole or Mallakhamb, if you don’t want to accept that our sport derives from sex workers.

When I first got into pole dance, I would say ‘not the stripper kind’ when I was explaining my new hobby to people. From talking to my pole dance friends, I learned that I wasn’t the only one. Often, you will see pole dancers post videos with #notastripper hashtag attached. This is wrong and I was wrong.

#notastripper undervalues our heritage as pole dancers and is very disrespectful. The more I questioned my values around this with an open mind, the more I realized I was wrong. As discussed in a previous story, I no longer believe that sex work is immoral. I believe it should become normalized and pole dancers should not be ashamed of our history. We should embrace it.

Feature Performer

I did a Zoom interview with a club dancer (stripper), Glitter. Glitter isn’t a career stripper as she doesn’t do it for her main income. She will guest as a feature performer at different clubs. Some career strippers would refer to her as a ‘tourist’, as she doesn’t have to live the same hardships as the regulars do. The hardships worsen the more marginalised you are.

From what I have learned, a lot of career strippers don’t rely on pole tricks for their performances. With her acrobatic skills, clubs will pay a high price for Glitter to dance. This can cause friction between her and the regular dancers. Glitter loves performing in clubs, as they let her be creative and even make a mess on the stage, whether it’s with silly string or water. Glitter said the first time you do this work it’s a lot of fun, afterwards it’s not as exciting - it’s just work!

She told me about the ‘hussle and grind’. You have to be ‘on’ and really work the crowd for tips. You have to listen to the same types of stories from customers, and nod and smile like it’s the first time you’ve heard it. I could compare that to my job of working with seniors. It really does get tiring.

Glitter said that one misconception that people have is that all strippers have sex for money. This is not true. She also noted that some strippers don’t refer to themselves as ‘sex

workers’. Glitter believes that sex work is sex work whether you “hook” or strip.

Thank you

I have great respect for erotic dancers. The thought alone of always having to be ‘on’, in full makeup every night exhausts me. This is not a job I could do. It’s important that all pole dancers, regardless of their reason for pole dancing, or the style of dance they choose, appreciate why they are able to partake in this sport. It’s because strippers chose to share and teach their skills to non-strippers. I thank them from the bottom of my heart.