The University of British Columbia became the first North American university to offer pole-dancing lessons, a move that caused discussion among members of the AU community.
The class, "Pole Dancing 101," teaches students the art of spinning, dancing and hip swaying, according to The Tyee newspaper's web site, www.thetyee.ca.
Emily Caponetti, president of Democratic Women and Friends at AU, said she sees the majority of objections coming from parents.
"However, if the student response has been good and the classes are held in a contained environment, I think it could be good to explore your body in such a way," she said.
Lucinda Peach, a women's and gender studies professor at AU, said she doesn't think the class seems to be degrading to women.
"The important thing to remember is that these students are doing things on their own agency," she said. "There is a voluntary element to the, students are willingly taking the classes."
According to The Tyee, the classes are offered through the UBC student union's minischool program. The program allows students to pay a small fee to take a six-week, non-credit extracurricular course, much like the classes AU's Jacobs Fitness Center offers.
"The pole dance program edged out other well-established minischool classes such as yoga, guitar and photography to be the most sought after minischool class on campus," The Tyee reported.
According to Tracy Adams, assistant director of fitness at the Department of Recreational Sports and Fitness at AU, she would not add the classes to AU's fitness curriculum.
"Most people who take our exercise classes are college-age women," Adams said. "Pole dancing just seems like it promotes objectification of women and surface sexuality."
Strippers began using the pole as an exotic dance prop in strip clubs during the '70s, according to The Tyee. Because of this connotation, many people view pole dancing as a form of entertainment that is degrading to women.
"I believe there are other ways to get exercise like belly dancing," Adams said. "These classes seem better for older, more mature women who are rediscovering their sexuality."
On the UBC minischool Web page, http://www.ams.ubc.ca/minischool, it describes exotic pole dance classes that promise to help students "learn sultry lap dance techniques to impress that certain someone."
"Lap dancing is a whole other sense," Peach said. "However, pole dancing does have its roots in other cultures and traditions, and it can be a valuable form of physical exercise."
Some AU students said they are not interested in taking unusual classes such as UBC's "Pole Dancing 101."
"I doubt that I would take a class like that," said Megan Kania, a junior in the School of Public Affairs. "That's kind of a strange skill to acquire."
Andrew Roohi, a sophomore in the School of International Service, said he feels the classes are degrading to women yet they are a personal choice.
"I think they might be degrading to women, but in the end it is their choice to take them, and if they want to do it, go for it," he said.
Other students said they feel that offering the classes would ultimately hurt AU.
"I think in the public eye it would hurt AU," said Ashley Wilhelm, a freshman in the School of Communication. "People ignorant to what exactly the course entails might think we're trashy, when in all reality all the school would be doing is trying to make it look sexier to fix those male-to-female ratios."
Andrew Gardner, a freshman in SOC, said he thinks there is nothing wrong with offering the class if people want to take it.
"They should have that option," he said. "It's a choice, and therefore any variety of exercise programs offered is great despite its affiliation with strippers."
According to Tammy Morris, a certified fitness instructor who is teaching the pole dance classes at UBC, she has received no complaints about offering the classes at UBC and says that several American schools interested in offering the classes in the future have recently contacted her, The Tyee article reported.
For interested students, pole dancing classes are offered in the Metro area. Goddess Fitness, located in Potomac, Md., includes pole aerobics classes on Monday evenings. For more information, visit their Web site at www.mdpoledancing.com.
A Pole Lot of Fun, featured on Fox 5 News in Washington, D.C., also offers "pole parties." According to their Web site, the program is "for every woman that has wanted to swing around a pole, express that 'naughty' but fun side and do it in the privacy of a home." The Pole Lot of Fun studio is located in North Stafford, Va. For more information on the program, visit its Web site, www.youcanpoledance.com.
