Someone Actually Read This!

This was my first piece put on the school's online magazine Coquinaonline.com. During the multiple times I was selflessly promoting my article to my sister, I realized that there was a comment at the end. I couldn't help but blurt out, "SOMEBODY ACTUALLY READ MY ARTICLE! AND LIKED IT!"

Hope you like it enough to leave a comment too!

Should Pole Dancing be an Olympic Sport?

Pole dancing, the forbidden dance found in dingy bars, stripper clubs and rapper’s living rooms, has made its way into fitness clubs, dance studios and suburban homes.
And a British fitness instructor would like to see pole dancers compete in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Her petition states:

After a great deal of feedback from the pole dance community, many of us have decided that it’s about time pole fitness is recognized as a competitive sport, and what better way for recognition than to be part of the 2010 Olympics held in London.

K.T. Coates, director of a company called Vertical Dance, created the petition, located at www.petitiononline.com.

The petition says pole dancing is a sport for both men and women and it doesn’t take a lot of money to compete – unlike such sports as horseback riding and sailing.

The petition compares pole dancing to the horizontal bar and rhythmic gymnastics and says it takes just as much physical skill and strength to master.
But why the Olympics?

“It’s the highest accolade you can get and therefore why aim any lower?” asked Coates, who says she has been involved in sports since she was young and has dreamed of competing in the Olympics for years.

Coates concedes that she doesn’t expect pole dancing to actually make it into the Olympics.

“People think I am trying to get pole dancing in to the Olympics, but I am not silly,” Coates said. “I know with its sexual connotations this will never happen.”

But she said she hopes her efforts will help pole dancing gain greater social acceptance, particularly since many people see it as taboo outside of nudie bars.

“It needs to be re-branded the vertical bar and not pole dancing, as essentially it will be more rhythmic gymnastic based rather than anything erotic or sensual,” Coates said.

Some of the petition signers are enthusiastic supporters. A signer identified as Susan Hilferty wrote:

“I agree Pole Fitness is highly demanding in dance as well as gymnastics. It should be recognized and people need to educate themselves on this subject instead of staying judgmental and ignorant on this art form.”

Someone identified as Bryan DeMicheli wrote:

“I hereby volunteer my services to be a judge for this event. You don’t need to pay me.”

The petition has created a buzz on some social media websites. There are 11 groups and three pages dedicated to the petition on Facebook. Twitter is full of Tweets for and against pole dancing in the Olympics, and bloggers are busy following the story.

“There is no doubt it takes a lot of skill to do that shiz, but it needs to overcome its stigma,” said Perez Hilton, author of PerezHilton.com. “Maybe they need to call it something else because it’s technically gymnastics!”

The petition had 4,230 signatures as of March 15, but that isn’t enough to make pole dancing an Olympic event. The International Olympic Committee would have to recognize pole dancing as a sport and that’s an uphill battle. Upscale games like squash and cricket haven’t made the cut and baseball and softball have recently been removed from the list of Olympic sports.

But Coates says she’s not giving up her quest to bring respectability to what she calls “vertical dance.”

“Five years ago people laughed at me for trying to get people to take up pole for fitness and look at the thousands of schools there are now, so I overcame those critics. I can certainly overcome a few more.”