Men On Poles.

Some of Our Issues Just Might Be the Same

My entire experience as a pole dancer has been with women. My teacher is a woman. The women I dance with are fun, supportive and respectful. However, not all men who want to learn to pole dance have either a place to dance or the courage to be that one male dancer in a roomful of women. There are at least two issues facing a man who wants to pole dance. The first is finding a studio that accepts men. Some do not. The reasons for this closed door policy vary but basically they come down to problems with the traditional male patriarchy and the fact that some women want to explore their bodies and sexuality without men around. The objectification of women by men underlies this policy. The second issue is not confined to men who pole dance but to male dancers in general. A prejudice exists toward male dancers. The labels gay and effeminate are commonly applied to male dancers.  I would like to explore these issues because they are linked. The male pole dancer is dealing with the opposite side of the objectification coin. He is dealing with the men who do not want to see a male body dancing.

The objectification of women in ballet by both choreographers and audiences started in the middle and late part of the 19th century. The Romantic ballet put women at center stage and pushed the men into the shadows. Many professional male dancers moved to Russia and Copenhagen. The middle class men of France and England did not want to see male bodies on stage. Dance historian Ramsey Burt in his book, “The Male Dancer: Bodies, Spectacle and Sexualities” argues that Victorian gender ideologies were responsible for this prejudice. It was the men who were uncomfortable with the male body not the women. Homophobia.

Female objectification was not confined to ballet. Freud wrote about the conflicting attitudes men had toward women not long after striptease began in Paris in 1890. It was acceptable for the female dancer to get naked for the men while the chaste wives were at home being caregivers.

Ted Shawn was expelled from Denver University for dancing in 1911. When Ted cited examples of men dancing in Russian ballet and in other cultures he was told, ‘that’s all right for Russians and pagans but not for Americans’. In the period following Ted’s expulsion Martha Graham, Ruth St. Denis and their fellow choreographers emphasized athleticism and masculinity in ballet and modern dance to get male dancers back into the theater. They had considerable success but Gene Kelly still suffered name calling on his way to dance class.

In the late 60′s to mid 70′s women were throwing away their high heeled shoes, demanding equal work and pay, and distancing themselves from the erotic, nude dancers on stage in the Mitchell Brothers Theater in San Francisco. Women did not want to be sex objects anymore. Russian superstar Mikhail Baryshnikov defected in 1974 and showed the West that “straight” men dance. It appeared that women were starting to make headway against sexism and that gender stereotypes were on the way out.

This brings us to 2010. Why are women back in lingerie and heels doing a dance that has its roots in stripping and male objectification? Why are men pole dancing in spite of the fact that their sexuality is still being questioned and they are marginalized by some female pole dancers? The answers are simple. We do it because we can and it fulfills a need we have to express our bodies and minds in movement. Why can’t the dance pole be used by both sexes to get their bodies and sexualities back from the Victorian era? Some of the heterosexual men who objectify women are the same men who dismiss the male dancer as effeminate or gay. The dance studio is a place where people who are ready to challenge the male patriarchy can explore and enjoy pole dancing. Some of our issues are the same and pole dancing men have much in common with pole dancing women. The male dancer knows a lot about prejudice and being stereotyped.

Written by Male Pole Performer (pictured), Bob Zamora.