Party Crashing Curiosity

I could not wait to get my pole dance project under way. This is truly an understudied environment and I'm all about being the pioneer! I began a month long conversation with the studio manager at the New York City location about if and how the school would want to be involved in my project. It was during much phone tag with my contact at the school that I discovered they were having a Halloween party for their students. I decided this was a perfect opportunity for observation of the students at this school and a full on sub-cultural experience.  After I put out a few more unreturned phone calls in order to get on the guest list for the event I did what any intrepid investigator would do, I went ahead and crashed the party.

When I arrived at the studio’s location I was shocked to see a huge crowd of women waiting to enter. The level of anticipation and estrogen in the air was palpable even from across the street. It was clear these women had arrived to experience something very special to them and it was a striking sight to any outsider passing by. Unfortunately this outsider had to think quickly about how to get in. The crowd was so large it was clear that asking permission to enter without an RSVP was simply not going to happen. While standing on the edges of the crowd in my scheming party crasher stance I witnessed three women (who clearly did not have the patience for the line) duck into the doorway of the building next door. I scurried into the entrance of the building behind them, smiled and stood between them as if I was in on their backdoor operation. Moments later I was following them up a back stairway that seemingly doubled as a storage space for stripper poles. I was clearly following the right people.

According to the school’s website they are “The Original striptease and Pole dancing inspired workout.” The school’s website invites women to “Tone your body, blow your mind; Ignite yourself!” and lets participants know that “It’s your body . . . Own it!” (S Factor, n.d.). The language of empowerment and entitlement allows the organization to position itself as offering a path to personal transformation in addition to dance classes. The women at this event were college-aged women to women who could have already put a few kids through college (no boys allowed at this pole dance school). Some wore casual cocktail party attire, other lingerie type outfits with stripper heels and there were a whole hell of a lot of sexy cops (its was a Halloween party after all). The studio consisted of two floors with multiple rooms containing 4 to 6 stripper poles that went from ceiling to floor. The overall vibe of the event was friendly and open. It was almost like a grown up slumber party but with attendees who chose their outfits from a racier dress up collection.

Since this was a party and not a pole dance workshop the classrooms were converted into party rooms complete with full bar and crudités. In addition to socializing some of the women made impromptu spins around the poles distributed in the rooms. There was a lot of sexual energy circulating but it was unclear as to where or whom it was being directed. It wasn’t until I witnessed more than a few women dancing by themselves up against a wall, eyes closed, head thrown back in simulated or genuine autoerotic ecstasy that my curiosity about the phenomenon peaked. There were no men present and it didn’t seem as if the women where performing for each other in a way that suggested overt homoeroticism.

I wondered, "what are these women doing it for?"

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