INQUISITION NEWS: Pole Dancing Classes for Toddlers: The Ick Line Has Officially Been Crossed

Pole Dancing Classes for Toddlers: The Ick Line Has Officially Been Crossed

by meredith carroll

Pole dancing for toddlers? Really?
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Yesterday I wrote about makeover salons for toddlers and how I thought they weren’t so bad as long as they’re frequented with only fun in mind and not because moms think their daughters should look like mini-versions of themselves (or beauty queens) as a matter of course.

Now comes word that there actually exist pole dancing classes for kids as young as three. Makes pedicures for 2-year-olds look like child’s play, no?

A studio in England, Make Me Fabulous, charges just £5 an hour for little girls to learn the sleazy art of pole dancing in a class called Little Spinners, with an instructor insisting it helps keep them fit and boosts their self-esteem.

I’m all for movement and dance class for little girls. When my daughter turned 2 last summer, she started a class where she “dances” to hip hop songs (while wearing a tutu and ballet slippers, natch). She loves the music and being with the other kids. It’s the first class I haven’t had to participate in with her and the discipline and repetition each week have been super fun for her, and fun for me to watch.

How anyone could offer pole dancing to girls almost that young is beyond me. Talk about the increased sexualization of kids.

The lessons take place in a room adorned with pink feather boas and sparking mirrors. The studio advertises pole dancing as “sexy, relaxing and invigorating.” Kids ages 3-7 do exercises like holding their legs in a V-shape while sliding down a pole.

Exercise for young girls is critical, of course, but teaching them to be sex objects before they’re in kindergarten should be criminal. Hopefully some government agency will swoop in — pronto — and put the kibosh on this. It’s one thing for little girls to use their imagination and dress up and play; it’s a whole other thing to teach them the sick art of being sex kittens while they have no idea what they’re doing.

A class instructor defended the practice, saying it originated from a traditional Indian sport called Malkhamb, in which participants performed around a wooden pole.