Empowerment and the

pole:
A discursive investigation of the
reinvention of pole dancing as a
Tim Kurz
recreational
activity
School of Psychology
University of Exeter

ESRC seminar series:

Representations, power, pleasure
and leisure
November 5th, 2010 Kings College,
London

Why pole dancing as a

research topic?

My collaborators
n

Kally Whitehead

Ngaire Donaghue

The rise of Raunch

n
n
n
n

Post-feminism and associated rise in

sexualisation of women
Porno chic (McNair, 2002) - mainstreaming
Raunch culture (Levy, 2005) prescriptive
Super-sexualizing of the female body (Gill,
2008)
n

yet powerful and playful, as opposed to

passive/victimised object of male gaze

Theorizing Female Agency

in this context?
n

Exchange in European Journal of

Womens Studies (Duits and van
Zoonen, 2006; Gill, 2007)
n
n

Giving voice to womens experience

vs
Precluding the examination of cultural
contexts

Pole dancing: from strip

club staple to mainstream
recreational/exercise
activity?

See Holland
(2010)

Some relevant theoretical

context

Foucault and Sexuality

n

The experience of sexuality, male or

female, not a natural phenomenon
n

actively constructed by people who exist in

a particular historical moment

Understandings of the female by both

men and women are arguably not only a
consequence of patriarchy and the
privileging of the masculine as
normative
n
n

also an ongoing negotiation of power

between both men and women
occurring within the dominant ideology of
patriarchy

A rather contentious
issue

Can/should women, as active participants

in this negotiation, be seen to participate
in their own subjugation

2000

(e.g., Coward, 1993; Griffin, 1989; Peace, 2003; Whelehan, 1995;

albeit in a social environment in which

choices and subjectivities available are highly
constrained by prevailing patriarchal ideologies

Recreational Pole
Dancing:
Feminist
Ideological
On A
the
one hand
n a form of reclaiming,
Dilemma?
by women, of an
n

activity previously bound to the

patriarchal, objectifying, social institution
of the strip club?
Relocation to a female-only environment devoid of the male gaze
n creating a space for challenging
traditional representations of female
sexuality as passive and subservient to
men?

Recreational Pole
Dancing:
On the other hand, however
A dancing
Feminist
Ideological
n pole
as inherently
denigrating
and disempowering to women?
Dilemma?
n connection to patriarchal institutions may
n

render its enactment problematic in any

context, from a feminist perspective?
sealing particular constructions of gender
and sexuality that may ultimately fail to
disrupt power distribution within society at
large?

Our Study
(Whitehead & Kurz, 2009- F&P)
n

How is recreational pole dancing

actually constructed in talk about the
activity
n
n

How do cultural members negotiate the

potential ideological dilemmas?
What are the potential implications of
this for cultural expectations of female
sexuality?

Investigated talk produced by a

variety of different populations
n

all had slightly different relationship

with (or stake in) the activity

Critical Respect?

(Gill, 2007

)
n

Our intention was not to disrespect or ironize our

participants accounts in any way

It is absolutely crucial that a feminist account of the

popularity of G-string, glossy magazines, cosmetic surgery
or any other practice should listen to and treat respectfully
womens accounts of their experiences of such practices
Yet surely this respect does not mean treating those
accounts as if they are the only stories that can be told? The
role of the feminist intellectual must involve more than
listening, and then saying I see. Respectful listening is the
beginning, not the end, of the process and our job is surely
to contextualise these stories, to situate them, to look at
their patterns and variability, to examine their silences and
exclusions, and above all, to locate them in a wider context
(Gill, 2007)

Yes, but how comfortable are

we with this? (Holland, 2010)
A bat-squeak of anxiety?
Do we see participants as unaware of the context?
n unaware of the silences`?
Thus, do we take their words away and have our academic
way with them
Does the existence of other narratives justify us critiquing our
participants narratives for what they omit?
A long-standing conundrum in discursive feminist work
n

E.g., Whose words are they anyway

2002)

(Wetherall, Gavey & Potts,

Thus
n

The current project confronts ideological dilemmas

on a number levels
n

n
n

Both analytic and reflexive

Reflecting upon a new social phenomenon

Reflecting upon the ways in which such phenomena
are/should be examined by feminist scholars
And, for mereflecting upon the role of being a
male researcher in such a context

Methodology
n

Data Collection (all sessions conducted by Kally)

n

a) Interviews with pole dancing instructors who design and

teach pole dancing classes in Perth, Western Australia
b) Focus groups with women who were regular attendees
of pole dancing classes (at same studio)
c) Interviews with single-occasion female pole dancers
(e.g., Hens Night)
d) Focus groups with members of a university
undergraduate psychology student population (mainly
women)

Participants
n

Our total data corpus thus

consisted of:

11 discussion groups/interviews (40-60

mins each)
A total of 25 participants

20 women, 5 men

Aged from 18-47 years (M = 24.84).

Majority self-identified as being of White

Australian ethnicity

Primarily middle class sample

Method of Analysis
n

A broadly Foucauldian form of Discourse Analysis

(Wetherell, 1998; Willig, 2001)
n Focus on the wider ideological patterns of discourse
n Also incorporating some elements of the more interactional level of
analysis
(ala Wetherell & Potter, 1992; Billig 1991; Weltman & Billig, 2001)

Primarily concerned with identifying the various

discourses that were invoked in accounts of the
activity of recreational pole dancing
n

Subject positions that are implicated in such discourses,

particularly with regards to female sexuality and
gendered power relations

Theoretical Assumptions
n

Derived from a feminist poststructuralist

perspective (Gavey, 1989).
n
n
n

Concerned with the construction of reality and power

through language
Not attempting to make truth claims about social
objects
Not treating accounts as some sort of direct reflection of
reality

Primary concern - the ways in which certain

conceptions of pole dancing and female sexuality
may come to be seen as (particular versions) of
social reality
n implications that these constructions may have
for the social construction of female sexuality
more broadly

Analysis
n

What discourses did participants invoke

in their talk about the activity of pole
dancing?
n

How were notions of empowerment and

degradation/disempowerment invoked,
managed, and justified within the
participants accounts?

3 main discourses:
n
n
n

(1) Fun and fitness

(2) Control of money and choice
(3) Performance and the male gaze

Fun/Fitness as a qualifier
for empowerment
n

Discourse of fun and fitness

n

serves as a rhetorical device to negate,

shut down, or side step potential
accusations of pole dancing being a
degrading activity for women

Fun/Fitness as a qualifier
for empowerment (extract 1)
Alice:

Kally:
Alice:

[U::m](.) well I think if youre doing it for fitness it can be

empowering (.) because its like (.) if youre having fun
doing it and youre getting fit at the same time (.) youre
gunna (.) youre gunna feel good about [yourself]
[Yep]
cos youre like oh Im having fun at this and Im getting fit
at the same time (.) but I dont think its always
empowering for like (.) the women in the clubs because
(0.5) I dont think the men are going to see the women (.)
theyre going to see their bodies they dont see them as a
woman (.) they just see them as something to look at (.)
something pretty to see (h)
Psychology Student Focus
Group 2

Fun and fitness vs

Sexual Objectification
Alice:

Kally:
Alice:

[U::m](.) well I think if youre doing it for fitness it can be

empowering (.) because its like (.) if youre having fun
doing it and youre getting fit at the same time (.) youre
gunna (.) youre gunna feel good about [yourself]
[Yep]
cos youre like oh Im having fun at this and Im getting fit
at the same time (.) but I dont think its always
empowering for like (.) the women in the clubs because
(0.5) I dont think the men are going to see the women (.)
theyre going to see their bodies they dont see them as a
woman (.) they just see them as something to look at (.)
something pretty to see (h)
Psychology Student Focus
Group 2

Fun and fitness vs

Sexual Objectification
Alice:

Kally:
Alice:

[U::m](.) well I think if youre doing it for fitness it can be

empowering (.) because its like (.) if youre having fun
doing it and youre getting fit at the same time (.) youre
gunna (.) youre gunna feel good about [yourself]
[Yep]
cos youre like oh Im having fun at this and Im getting fit
at the same time (.) but I dont think its always
empowering for like (.) the women in the clubs because
(0.5) I dont think the men are going to see the women (.)
theyre going to see their bodies they dont see them as a
woman (.) they just see them as something to look at (.)
something pretty to see (h)
Psychology Student Focus
Group 2

Fun/Fitness as a qualifier
for empowerment (extract 2)
Kally:
Helen:
Kally:
Helen:
Kally:
Helen:

So so leading on from that actually (.) what do you think (.) like what
would you say to someone who said to you that pole dancing (.)
not just professionally but learning it like this is degrading to
women?
No way.
No?
Nah (.) no way (.) not degrading at all (.) it's fun. It's something
different and it's a bit of fun and (.) there's nothing wrong with
having a bit of fun (h).
Yeah so (.) okay what about if they said it the other way? What if they
said that it's empowering?
A::h (.) yeah (h) (.) yeah it is (.) it's um (0.5) yeah it's sort of like (.)
it's sort of like artistic sort of thing (.) it's like dancing it's just like
any normal dancing (.) but you (.) there's a pole involved. Its (.) it
takes a lot of skill and (.) confidence and um (.) not everyone can
do it.
One-occasion pole dancer
interview 2

A rhetorically self-sufficient
argument
Kally:
Helen:
Kally:
Helen:
Kally:
Helen:

So so leading on from that actually (.) what do you think (.) like what
would you say to someone who said to you that pole dancing (.)
not just professionally but learning it like this is degrading to
women?
No way.
No?
Nah (.) no way (.) not degrading at all (.) it's fun. It's something
different and it's a bit of fun and (.) there's nothing wrong with
having a bit of fun (h).
Yeah so (.) okay what about if they said it the other way? What if they
said that it's empowering?
A::h (.) yeah (h) (.) yeah it is (.) it's um (0.5) yeah it's sort of like (.)
it's sort of like artistic sort of thing (.) it's like dancing it's just like
any normal dancing (.) but you (.) there's a pole involved. Its (.) it
takes a lot of skill and (.) confidence and um (.) not everyone can
do it.
One-occasion pole dancer
interview 2

Empowering, just like any

normal dancing
Kally:
Helen:
Kally:
Helen:
Kally:
Helen:

So so leading on from that actually (.) what do you think (.) like what
would you say to someone who said to you that pole dancing (.)
not just professionally but learning it like this is degrading to
women?
No way.
No?
Nah (.) no way (.) not degrading at all (.) it's fun. It's something
different and it's a bit of fun and (.) there's nothing wrong with
having a bit of fun (h).
Yeah so (.) okay what about if they said it the other way? What if they
said that it's empowering?
A::h (.) yeah (h) (.) yeah it is (.) it's um (0.5) yeah it's sort of like (.)
it's sort of like artistic sort of thing (.) it's like dancing it's just like
any normal dancing (.) but you (.) there's a pole involved. Its (.) it
takes a lot of skill and (.) confidence and um (.) not everyone can
do it.
One-occasion pole dancer
interview 2

Control of Choice and

Money
Issues of empowerment
and disempowerment
relating to both recreational and professional pole
dancing were often located within a discourse of
control regarding money and choice
Again serves to construct the actual act of pole
dancing as a neutral activity
n implications regarding empowerment moderated,
in this case, by control & choice
exchange
n Control as direction of monetary

Sally:

Kally:
Sally:

Kally:
Angie:
Sally:

Control of Choice and

Money

I think where you draw the line (.) there is probably where the money is (.)
like (.) if youre being paid to do it then its like (.) you have (.) youre (.)
like youre choice has been taken away and youre the one (.) you know (.
) thats working for it. But if (.) like these ladies ((refers to stimulus
material)) if youre paying for it (.) if youre paying to go there and [do it
]
[Yep]
[and] its like (.) for yourself and if you (.) like if (.) like for a hens night or
something like that where youre paying for it then its (.) the powers kind
of with you (.) its kind of who has the money is the one thats controlling
(.) the (1.0) intent
Yeah yeah [definitely]
[M:m]
[So I think] (.) if (.) if you go into to do it and youre paying money to do it
its like (.) I want this and its ok (.) but if youre getting paid to do it (.)
its kind of like (.) you know (.) thats when its a bit degrading.
Psychology Student Focus
Group 1

Working for it vs Paying

for it
Sally:

Kally:
Sally:

Kally:
Angie:
Sally:

I think where you draw the line (.) there is probably where the money is (.)
like (.) if youre being paid to do it then its like (.) you have (.) youre (.)
like youre choice has been taken away and youre the one (.) you know (.
) thats working for it. But if (.) like these ladies ((refers to stimulus
material)) if youre paying for it (.) if youre paying to go there and [do it
]
[Yep]
[and] its like (.) for yourself and if you (.) like if (.) like for a hens night or
something like that where youre paying for it then its (.) the powers kind
of with you (.) its kind of who has the money is the one thats controlling
(.) the (1.0) intent
Yeah yeah [definitely]
[M:m]
[So I think] (.) if (.) if you go into to do it and youre paying money to do it
its like (.) I want this and its ok (.) but if youre getting paid to do it (.)
its kind of like (.) you know (.) thats when its a bit degrading.
Psychology Student Focus
Group 1

Working for it vs Paying

for it
Sally:

Kally:
Sally:

Kally:
Angie:
Sally:

I think where you draw the line (.) there is probably where the money is (.)
like (.) if youre being paid to do it then its like (.) you have (.) youre (.)
like youre choice has been taken away and youre the one (.) you know (.
) thats working for it. But if (.) like these ladies ((refers to stimulus
material)) if youre paying for it (.) if youre paying to go there and [do it
]
[Yep]
[and] its like (.) for yourself and if you (.) like if (.) like for a hens night or
something like that where youre paying for it then its (.) the powers kind
of with you (.) its kind of who has the money is the one thats controlling
(.) the (1.0) intent
Yeah yeah [definitely]
[M:m]
[So I think] (.) if (.) if you go into to do it and youre paying money to do it
its like (.) I want this and its ok (.) but if youre getting paid to do it (.)
its kind of like (.) you know (.) thats when its a bit degrading.
Psychology Student Focus
Group 1

Working for it vs Paying

for it
Sally:

Kally:
Sally:

Kally:
Angie:
Sally:

I think where you draw the line (.) there is probably where the money is (.)
like (.) if youre being paid to do it then its like (.) you have (.) youre (.)
like youre choice has been taken away and youre the one (.) you know (.
) thats working for it. But if (.) like these ladies ((refers to stimulus
material)) if youre paying for it (.) if youre paying to go there and [do it
]
[Yep]
[and] its like (.) for yourself and if you (.) like if (.) like for a hens night or
something like that where youre paying for it then its (.) the powers kind
of with you (.) its kind of who has the money is the one thats controlling
(.) the (1.0) intent
Yeah yeah [definitely]
[M:m]
[So I think] (.) if (.) if you go into to do it and youre paying money to do it
its like (.) I want this and its ok (.) but if youre getting paid to do it (.)
its kind of like (.) you know (.) thats when its a bit degrading.
Psychology Student Focus
Group 1

Performance and the

Gaze
Pole dancing Male
constructed
as being inherently
performative
n

n
n

but, the nature of a hypothetical audience often

invoked as a signifier of empowerment or
degradation

Pole dancing as rewarding, by virtue of external

appreciation [male gaze] for the performance
However, variability in the nature of of
appreciation on offer in different contexts
n

worked, once again, to construct the otherwise

neutral activity in different ideological lights as a
function of
context

Vs.

A very, very quick note

about the issue of
normative heterosexuality
here.

Kally:

Performance and the

Male Gaze (extract 1)

Rachael:
Sara:
Naomi:
Michelle:
Kally:
Michelle:
Sara:
Michelle:
Rachael:
Michelle:
Rachael:
Michelle:
Rachael:

Kally:
Sara:

Ok (.) cool (.) so do you (.) do you guys think that performing for a stranger would be
significantly different from performing for someone you love? Or care about?
[Yep]
[Yeah]
[Yeah]
[Yeah]
Yeah? So whys that?
Um (.) I dunno (.) I think theres [a certain]
[If its] with a stranger (.) you would (.) youd see it more as a joke
theres a disconnection there? (.) like (.) yeah when its with someone you love (.) you
know (.) youre kind of (.) doing it for them (.) kind of
Oh well its emotional
Yeah (.) theres an emotional connection [there]
[its more] than just a body? whereas if its a stranger (.) theyre in a position where (.
) they dont know [you?]
[Yeah]
they can easily objectify you and just go this is a body (.) this is (0.5) cool (.) tits in
my face whatever (.) whereas (.) when its someone you love (.) theyre gunna
see you as wow (.) she cares about me this much that shes willing to do this and
(.) oh my god (.) look at her confidence theyll see the other factors as well (?)
Yep (.) [so]
[Yeah they] know the person behind the [body]
Pole Dancing Pupils Focus
Group

Kally:
Rachael:
Sara:
Naomi:
Michelle:
Kally:
Michelle:
Sara:
Michelle:
Rachael:
Michelle:
Rachael:
Michelle:
Rachael:

Kally:
Sara:

Loving Gaze vs
Objectifying Gaze

Ok (.) cool (.) so do you (.) do you guys think that performing for a stranger would be
significantly different from performing for someone you love? Or care about?
[Yep]
[Yeah]
[Yeah]
[Yeah]
Yeah? So whys that?
Um (.) I dunno (.) I think theres [a certain]
[If its] with a stranger (.) you would (.) youd see it more as a joke
theres a disconnection there? (.) like (.) yeah when its with someone you love (.) you
know (.) youre kind of (.) doing it for them (.) kind of
Oh well its emotional
Yeah (.) theres an emotional connection [there]
[its more] than just a body? whereas if its a stranger (.) theyre in a position where (.
) they dont know [you?]
[Yeah]
they can easily objectify you and just go this is a body (.) this is (0.5) cool (.) tits in
my face whatever (.) whereas (.) when its someone you love (.) theyre gunna
see you as wow (.) she cares about me this much that shes willing to do this and
(.) oh my god (.) look at her confidence theyll see the other factors as well (?)
Yep (.) [so]
[Yeah they] know the person behind the [body]
Pole Dancing Pupils Focus

Kally:
Rachael:
Sara:
Naomi:
Michelle:
Kally:
Michelle:
Sara:
Michelle:
Rachael:
Michelle:
Rachael:
Michelle:
Rachael:

Kally:
Sara:

Loving Gaze vs
Objectifying Gaze

Ok (.) cool (.) so do you (.) do you guys think that performing for a stranger would be
significantly different from performing for someone you love? Or care about?
[Yep]
[Yeah]
[Yeah]
[Yeah]
Yeah? So whys that?
Um (.) I dunno (.) I think theres [a certain]
[If its] with a stranger (.) you would (.) youd see it more as a joke
theres a disconnection there? (.) like (.) yeah when its with someone you love (.) you
know (.) youre kind of (.) doing it for them (.) kind of
Oh well its emotional
Yeah (.) theres an emotional connection [there]
[its more] than just a body? whereas if its a stranger (.) theyre in a position where (.
) they dont know [you?]
[Yeah]
they can easily objectify you and just go this is a body (.) this is (0.5) cool (.) tits in
my face whatever (.) whereas (.) when its someone you love (.) theyre gunna
see you as wow (.) she cares about me this much that shes willing to do this and
(.) oh my god (.) look at her confidence theyll see the other factors as well (?)
Yep (.) [so]
[Yeah they] know the person behind the [body]
Pole Dancing Pupils Focus

The heterosexual
relationship as antidote
for objectification

Kally:

Rachael:
Sara:
Naomi:
Michelle:
Kally:
Michelle:
Sara:
Michelle:
Rachael:
Michelle:
Rachael:
Michelle:
Rachael:

Kally:
Sara:

Ok (.) cool (.) so do you (.) do you guys think that performing for a stranger would be
significantly different from performing for someone you love? Or care about?
[Yep]
[Yeah]
[Yeah]
[Yeah]
Yeah? So whys that?
Um (.) I dunno (.) I think theres [a certain]
[If its] with a stranger (.) you would (.) youd see it more as a joke
theres a disconnection there? (.) like (.) yeah when its with someone you love (.) you
know (.) youre kind of (.) doing it for them (.) kind of
Oh well its emotional
Yeah (.) theres an emotional connection [there]
[its more] than just a body? whereas if its a stranger (.) theyre in a position where (.
) they dont know [you?]
[Yeah]
they can easily objectify you and just go this is a body (.) this is (0.5) cool (.) tits in
my face whatever (.) whereas (.) when its someone you love (.) theyre gunna
see you as wow (.) she cares about me this much that shes willing to do this and
(.) oh my god (.) look at her confidence theyll see the other factors as well
Yep (.) [so]
[Yeah they] know the person behind the [body]
Pole Dancing Pupils Focus

Bree:

Kally:
Bree:

Performance and the

Male Gaze (extract 2)

Um I just see it (.) just thought that it was kind of cool that you can
kind of use (.) um strength and your body to do something that
looks totally amazing (.) which guys think is totally hot so (.) as
opposed to (.) you know walking around in a pair (.) like (.) of
like you know sexy underwear (.) you can say hey check out
what I can do so its something you can (.) you've actually
worked hard at (.) its something that you've (.) you know put a
lot of time and effort into cos it wasnt easy (.) um to have a skill
that is kind of like yeah (.) look at (.) I'm fit (.) lost weight and I
can turn you on (h)
(laughter)
(h) so yeah (.) thats kinda why I think it was kinda liberating.

One-occasion pole dancer

interview 2

Active vs Passive Female

Sexuality
Bree:

Kally:
Bree:

Um I just see it (.) just thought that it was kind of cool that you can
kind of use (.) um strength and your body to do something that
looks totally amazing (.) which guys think is totally hot so (.) as
opposed to (.) you know walking around in a pair (.) like (.) of
like you know sexy underwear (.) you can say hey check out
what I can do so its something you can (.) you've actually
worked hard at (.) its something that you've (.) you know put a
lot of time and effort into cos it wasnt easy (.) um to have a skill
that is kind of like yeah (.) look at (.) I'm fit (.) lost weight and I
can turn you on (h)
(laughter)
(h) so yeah (.) thats kinda why I think it was kinda liberating.

One-occasion pole dancer

interview 2

Active vs Passive Female

Sexuality
Bree:

Kally:
Bree:

Um I just see it (.) just thought that it was kind of cool that you can
kind of use (.) um strength and your body to do something that
looks totally amazing (.) which guys think is totally hot so (.) as
opposed to (.) you know walking around in a pair (.) like (.) of
like you know sexy underwear (.) you can say hey check out
what I can do so its something you can (.) you've actually
worked hard at (.) its something that you've (.) you know put a
lot of time and effort into cos it wasnt easy (.) um to have a skill
that is kind of like yeah (.) look at (.) I'm fit (.) lost weight and I
can turn you on (h)
(laughter)
(h) so yeah (.) thats kinda why I think it was kinda liberating.

One-occasion pole dancer

interview 2

Female still positioned as

the erotic object
Bree:

Kally:
Bree:

Um I just see it (.) just thought that it was kind of cool that you can
kind of use (.) um strength and your body to do something that
looks totally amazing (.) which guys think is totally hot so (.) as
opposed to (.) you know walking around in a pair (.) like (.) of
like you know sexy underwear (.) you can say hey check out
what I can do so its something you can (.) you've actually
worked hard at (.) its something that you've (.) you know put a
lot of time and effort into cos it wasnt easy (.) um to have a skill
that is kind of like yeah (.) look at (.) I'm fit (.) lost weight and I
can turn you on (h)
(laughter)
(h) so yeah (.) thats kinda why I think it was kinda liberating.

One-occasion pole dancer

interview 2

Three-part list construction

of female sexual liberation
Bree:

Kally:
Bree:

Um I just see it (.) just thought that it was kind of cool that you can
kind of use (.) um strength and your body to do something that
looks totally amazing (.) which guys think is totally hot so (.) as
opposed to (.) you know walking around in a pair (.) like (.) of
like you know sexy underwear (.) you can say hey check out
what I can do so its something you can (.) you've actually
worked hard at (.) its something that you've (.) you know put a
lot of time and effort into cos it wasnt easy (.) um to have a skill
that is kind of like yeah (.) look at (.) I'm fit (.) lost weight and I
can turn you on (h)
(laughter)
(h) so yeah (.) thats kinda why I think it was kinda liberating.

One-occasion pole dancer

interview 2

Conclusions: Constructions
of Female Agency
n

Fun/fitness discourse discursively located the

choice to take up recreational pole dancing as
empowering through the attainment of fun
and fitness
Directly contrasted with professional pole
dancing where choice and empowerment are
implicitly constructed as missing, by virtue of
the experience of sexual objectification
n
n

serves as a rhetorical device utilized to head off

potential criticism
positions those who would question recreational
pole dancing as being somewhat ridiculous,
outdated, and as someone who would deny
women the right to have fun

Conclusions: Constructions
of Female Agency
n

Control of money and choice discourse

n

constructed agency as being specifically

moderated by money, which was constructed as
providing women with consumerist power

Again, juxtaposed with professional pole

dancing
n

constructed as disempowering by virtue of the

professional dancer being required to be
objectified and sell herself to make money, rather
than expend it on items that she wants

Conclusions: Constructions
of Female Agency
n

Performance and the male gaze discourse

constructed the female subject as empowered
when she was able to exercise choice as to when
to position herself as the erotic object
The recreational pole dancer constructed as
empowered due to the discursive redefinition of
the male gaze of loved ones as appreciative,
rather than objectifying
Additionally, pole dancing was constructed as
liberating on account of its ability to facilitate a
womans obtainment of control over body size and
shape and, thus, conform to societal expectations
of desirable femininity

Dilemma resolved? Not

really!
n

Recreational pole dancing as an empowering

individual activity that affords women the
opportunity to exercise a form of choice and
control and resist hegemonic notions of female
sexuality as passive and modest?
Or must one consider that activities experienced
as liberating on an individual level may often
secure societal-level oppression in covert ways?
(Dentith, 2004)
n

Thus, might recreational pole dancing reinforce societal

notions of both female and male sexuality as a result of
encouraging women to construct themselves as erotic
objects?

Complicating the debate

n

Our intention was not to take some

kind of stand either way
n

but to complicate the debate by

critically examining discourse around
the phenomena

Certainly not MY place to take a

stand!

Where to next?
n

How do pole dancing studios market

themselves in the public domain?
n

Discursive analysis of studio websites

(Donaghue, Kurz & Whitehead, in prep)

What do men make of pole

dancing/raunch culture?
n

Focus groups with groups of young men

Thanks for your

attention
t.r.kurz@exeter.ac.uk