It can be difficult to see the peculiarity of toe-point superiority if it’s all you have ever known. Imagine if ballet's positional legacy was, instead, applied to our arms. What if we all derived our sense of perfection and sex appeal from locked elbows and perfectly sculpted scoop-shaped hands?
(Please take a moment to move around like that and assess how it feels.)
It may be hard to fathom that people would choose to move with such rigidity, but dance styles are distinguishable by what parts of us are allowed to move— and in what ways. Localized immobilization of body parts for the sake of asserting power or beauty is hardly unique to dance or ballet (look at the brass collars of the Padaung tribe of Southeast Asia and foot binding traditions of China).
Since being a 'successful' pole dancer (most often) still means fitting what the general pole dance audience believes is beautiful, I do hope the pole audience at-large can begin expanding their awareness so that a much-wider variety of bodies and purposeful movement choices are viewed as not just acceptable, but worthy of praise and reverence.
While this isn't a new message by any means (to those who’ve already put in work to change this, thank you), I hope that what I've shared lends something valuable to the effort.
Moving forward, I’d like teachers and leaders to stop making harmful, judgemental statements about people who aren’t ‘pointing their toes’ or don’t have bodies or body parts that fit their ideal. There is no need to use oppressive language to make oneself the authority. I want pole teachers to realize they can pasionatley teach people how to pursue straight-legged, pointed-toe lines and, with respect to safety, offer people the agency to choose how they wish to use their feet and the rest of their bodies.
As I hope this article has illuminated, the roots of toe-point *supremacy* are entwined with roots of white supremacy and patriarchal assertions about the roles and values of women. Everyone in pole dance can still point their toes and love it. We can still pursue new levels of artistry and expression. We can still teach with safety in mind. But, let’s soften our stance on any single way being ‘right’ and work together to keep oppressive trappings out of our places of pole dance.
If this letter has triggered sensations of defensiveness in you, consider pausing. If your body is telling you that I have attacked your dance, your history, or your beliefs, you are likely feeling heat, tension, and constriction in your body. Notice it.
If you feel that this article is doing something ‘dangerous’ or divisive, you may feel jittery and anxious. Witness it.
Ask yourself how might it feel in the body of someone who is perpetually harmed by white body and white cultural supremacy, day after day. How would it feel, in your body, if you came to pole hoping to find community and acceptance, and instead were told that you don’t belong? How would it feel in your body if you lived in a society that reminds you, constantly, that you are not acceptable to that society? Then, when you are ready, I invite you to read this letter again. If possible, read without focusing on your own experience. Consider what it may offer to those who don’t fit the body ideals we are most familiar with.
Maybe you noticed, this letter is not really about toe-’pointing’, after all. It’s about the necessity of questioning our beliefs and looking into our roles in oppressive systems. I believe it is healthy to question the foundation of things we love. The questioning will either fortify the relationship or it will promote growth in a different direction.
Moving forward, since pole competition judges have to assign numerical values to people’s performances, and much of that value is derived from loosely-defined ‘technique’, I believe there are ways for competitions to be clearer about what they wish to prize. If the highest values will only be awarded to balletic forms, that should be explicitly said. Different competitions provide the opportunity to value different things in movement.
Lastly, as individuals, I'd like us not to feel the dark haze of shame when we choose to let the twenty-one joints of our feet move according to their structure—and our feelings. As members of a young and rapidly changing industry defined by non-conformists of all kinds, I believe that we can learn to be more conscious of the way we shape ourselves and one another.
Thank you for reading.
With love,
Marlo
