Female Fitness – Perfect Spot for Chauvinism

We’re still coming round from sock that was caused by the news which hit us last year, in November, about possibility of pole dancing becoming an Olympic sport. They even changed its name from “pole dancing” to “pole fitness” to distinguish it from erotic dancing in night clubs where semi-naked women strip in front of leering men. The popularity of these fitness clubs skyrocketed over the last decade, and more than 500 pole dancing/fitness studios sprung up across the country. The pole fitness instructors say there are women from age 14 to 72 that test their body strength, stamina and flexibility on pole. They say this “sport” provides a physical challenge that keeps both mind and body engaged.

Only few feminists found this demeaning and disrespectful toward women, while all the rest accepted it with joy and enthusiasm. If there weren’t for the Patty Bellasalma of the California National Organization for Women who dismissed pole dancing’s popularity as “symptomatic of a consumer-driven society that constantly reduces women and men into objects”, the question whether pole dancing should be treated as seedy show or Olympic sport, the answer would almost unanimously be – Olympic sport. I find this rather disturbing. It is clear to me why men are so supportive and why they would like to see this new discipline in the Olympic games, but I can’t figure out why women are so eager to hope on pole.

Even more bizarre I find the statement which most of the new pole dancers/fitness fans agree with. Most of the women that practice this new type of fitness say that they feel “more confident” and that sliding up and down cold metal rod “boosts their self-esteem”. This is quite a riddle to me. How could putting yourself in that position and playing the role of a whore under pretext that you’re “spicing up your sex life, while getting a rock hard abs”, make you feel good about yourself?

These are the results that some pro pole dancing/fitness sites promise.

And here are all graphically explained all zones and groups of muscles that are engaged while practicing this new exotic fitness routine.

Whether we like it or not, pole dancing is becoming more and more popular every day and as time passes they are even more determined in becoming one of the officially recognized sports in the Olympics. Here goes a short video from a 2010 Championship organized by the US Pole Federation (yes, it’s a real organization!) with some of the best moments, highlights of the evening, where the most vigor contestants presented their skills. It looks quite impressive, I have to admit.

And just when I was about to cool down about this whole pole dancing craze and except it as everything else, with a “it’s not my cup of tea” excuse, the chauvinists found new ways of making fun of female exercise and fitness training when declaring house cleaning as a form of  aerobic that is excellent for losing calories for the women who constantly complain about not having enough time to go the  gym because of all the house work. This way they will kill two birds with one stone – they’ll shape up and lose some wight at the same time as  their former sloppy house turns into the shinny castle of cleanliness.

They even came up with a chart that shows how many calories you spend for each activity. Apparently, scrubbing floors on hands and knees has really high rates, it is only left behind by snow shoveling and moving large household items. The figures somewhat vary, but basically, the house cleaning calories loss looks something like this:

• Washing dinner dishes – 30 calories
• Raking leaves, washing your car, mowing the lawn – 100 calories
• Ironing clothes – 130 calories
• Vacuuming – 150 calories
• Rearranging furniture – 250 calories
• Sweeping – 240 calories
• Packing/Unpacking – 220 calories
• Scrubbing floors on hands and knees – 325 calories
• Cleaning, light (dusting, wiping down counters, picking up clothes) – 100 calories
• Cleaning, general (washing dishes, doing laundry) – 200 calories
• Cleaning house, heavy effort (vacuuming, hanging laundry, repetitive bending over) – 260 calories
• Child care – 205 calories
• Shoveling snow – 415 calories
• Raking lawn – 235 calories
• Mowing lawn – 325 calories
• Moving large household item – 400 calories
• Cooking – 150 calories
• Grocery shopping – 90 calories

Well, galls, here’s a short song to raise your cleaning morale:
“One, two, three, four; Pick up a mop and clean the floor;
five, six, seven, eight; house cleaning and exercise are the perfect mate!”

Apparently, sports and fitness aren’t really for women, so according to these chauvinist ideas (it should be emphasized that most of these ideas came from women, not men!) the best thing for ladies to do, if they wish to shape up and stay fit, is to start doing chores and tiding up their houses, instead of spending vast amounts of money on aerobic classes, or, if they insist on taking up some fitness classes, that should be pole dancing, or belly dancing, or anything it that manner, that can turn out to be quite useful in the bed. Because the most important thing in woman’s life is to be a good housewife, and to keep her partner’s sexual appetites satisfied. Clara Zetkin would be so proud of women today!