Pole-dancing classes for girls at university? At first, the feminist in me was outraged. But that was the old me talking. Funny how easily one reverts to purse-lipped, muslin curtain-twitching prejudice, unless you give the old brain a jolt once in a while.
Well, mine is 39 years old, placing me squarely in the Lycra-clad, aerobics generation, with Jane Fonda as our risible heroine, and the disco beat our call to arms. How boring and bright we were. And with few exceptions, how earnestly robotic and unsexy were those monotonous hours squandered in the aerobics studio.
Spurred by The First Post's reports from York University, I've just spent the afternoon looking at the website for their pole-dancing club, open to all students. And before you succumb to the prejudice that blinkered me until a few hours ago, |
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Empowered female students are right to copy Moss and Beart by pole dancing, says antonia bland |
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trust me: these are girls having fun, keeping fit, and getting an early start on that holy grail of womanhood - sensual confidence.
How I wish I'd had the chance to stretch and tone and feel sexy like these students are being encouraged to do - and by their peers. How healthy is that? Why should sexiness be the sole province of professionals, be they lap-dancers, pole-dancers or Hollywood actresses playing strippers?
The fact is that Soho culture has spread into the mainstream. Whether we like it or not, it's on the catwalks and in the shop-windows - not just Agent Provocateur, but the once-staid Liberty's - while on the pages of Vogue one marvels at Kate Moss sizzling in PVC. What an absurd Victorian idea to suppose that educated women should not have the freedom to be openly sexy too; to enjoy unbridled sexuality  |
