The documentary I watched this week was a rollercoaster from start to finish. But not in the usual way. And that was because this documentary didn’t really have ups and downs like a rollercoaster might but instead it was more like a backpacking trip across long and challenging terrain, with obstacles, hills, and valleys along the way. There were mountain top moments and valleys filled with shadows and doubts. And it all started with a pole.
When most people think of pole dancing, they think of strippers and gentlemen’s clubs. While this perception isn’t untrue, there is so much more to the world of pole dancing that is unveiled in this documentary. I was among the people who only knew it as a stripper thing so when I watched this film about the studios that exist and are changing the perception around pole dancing and the power it has in women’s lives, I was fascinated.
The documentary followed the story of a group of women who signed up to participate in a six month program at the S factor studio, which teaches pole dancing and promotes empowerment of women. The narrative also touched on the competitive side of pole dancing, featuring a studio in San Francisco with world pole dancing champions and those who just want to learn for themselves.
As the program developed and the film went on, the S factor women’s stories were woven together and so much of their pain and suffering came to the surface. The majority of them had been sexually assaulted or abused. They were there on a journey of reclaiming their bodies and sexuality. And the immense heartache and agony that many of them were in was so apparent in their dancing. The founder of the S factor, Sheila, pushed the women to share their trauma with the group and then learn to release their pain through the moves they had been taught on the pole. “I teach women to move into the fullest integrity of their feminine,” said Sheila.
It was a beautiful thing to see the transformation that the women went through in the sequence of their lessons over the six month period. The power behind the visible difference between how they were at the beginning versus the end was moving to the point of tears and so inspiring. While watching, I felt such a connection to the pain in the insecurities that the women expressed about themselves and their bodies. One of the particular quotes that resonated with me was when one of the women named Erin, who was a teacher at S factor, said “Why does being a voluptuous woman, or even a slim woman with cellulite, why is that a thing that cannot be loved and beautiful?”
I think everyone at one time or another, especially women, struggle deeply with accepting their appearance, let alone celebrating it. In watching these womens’ journey to embracing themselves fully physically, I felt pushed to try and see myself the same way that they were being taught to see themselves: as beautiful, sensual, and entirely whole all by themselves.
Amy, a pole competitor who owns her own studio in San Fransisco, said it well: “Part of the reason I love pole dancing is because it’s subversive…this is what I love and this is what makes me feel alive… Instead of living in the larger worlds, I just decided to create my own. The worlds where we all come together as misfits. People who have been ostracized, and sexually shamed, and let’s dance our hearts out.”
The Beat @APU 