February 23, 2010
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Pole Dancing in the Olympics
I was just reading an article about the idea of adding pole dancing to the Olympics. The sport has been growing in popularity. Here is the link: Link
Do you think pole dancing should be added to the Olympics?
Comments (115)
Oh man, that’d be awesome.
I mean, a complete disaster and completely ridiculous, but still. Pretty fuckin’ awesome.
Eh, let’s add ballroom dancing first.
Actually I think the guy from the Weather Channel had a good suggestion for a winter sport. Snowshoe Cross Country. I’d do that sport!
kinda i like the kind where they are actually wearing clothes and not stripping
YES!
Let’s not and say we did.
If its the kind like circ de soleil, maybe.
Personally, no, I think we’ve made the Olympics into a joke but we’ve added just about every other game to the olympics, so I’m sure people will say why not?
@GiantUnicorn - LOL I don’t think they’ll be stripping. XD
Sure could add more interests.
absolutely = it can carry the tv coverage into the wee hours
Yeah that works. That stuff can be physically demanding too. o.O
Hm.. what a wonderful sport? <> But it does seem like a good workout. ;D
It’s right up there with curling.
Mmmm nope.
I’m struggling to see how that could be classified as a sport and how competitions would work. Hm.
I’d watch
It might as well be with the number of places just down the hill from the Olympics (Vancouver) where it is a major attraction
No. Pole dancing isn’t a real sport. They might as well add all different branches of dancing while they’re at it…
Now, THAT’S a sport I can behind of. Literally. BOM, CHIKI POW WOW!
Is there a world pole dancing competition organization? If not, it can’t get into the olympics.
Give them some ribbons and a rubber ball and call it rhythmic gymnastics.
As long as it’s not R-rated. What she’s doing in that photo doesn’t really look like bumping and grinding a pole. It just looks like gymnastics, with a pole.
I think the olympics should be permanently shut down.
I really hope they don’t add it…what a joke.
But I do know plenty of women who are learning how to do it because they want to keep their SOs from going to strip clubs to see pole action. It’s a good work out too.
the olympics will be such a joke if pole dancing was added. how is it classified as a sport?
Maybe. If hot firefighters were also included.
no.
i think that there are many more sports that can be added before that one
DO IT
Yes! Have you ever seen the championships? It’s amazing what these women can do. If curling can be in the Olympics, sure why not add pole dancing.
And by pole dancing I mean pole dancing, not stripping.
Yes, yes, yes!
No
That’d be… a little weird.
First, let’s add chess. Then Poker. Maybe after that we’ll consider pole dancing.
@Kestryl - Eh I think if it was regarded from a gymnastic standpoint, it would be amazing. Sexually I don’t think it belongs in the olympics.
@iStephanieMarie - I agree that ballroom dancing would be gorgeous! If they can do it essentially on ice, why not on the dance floor? (ice dancing)
no!
I’d watch that, maybe…
Uh no… then you’d have to add marching band, cheerleading, etc. It’s merely a leisure activity not a sport.
no.
AND lap dancing
No, but I would definitely watch it.
HELL YES!
haha no. We shouldn’t make the Olympics a joke. But, it looks like a fun sexy workout though.
Personally, I don’t see why not. Pole dancing has a trashy, strip-club kind of reputation, but what we’d see in the Olympics wouldn’t be like that. It would probably be more cirque-du-soleil-ish: graceful, clean, and with some pretty impressive physical feats. I think it would be interesting to watch.
Can you say skyrocketing TV ratings?
Pole dancing is a sport? Wasn’t it creatively playing with a pole for entertainment purposes? o_O
But… if it does get in, I nominate mixing drinks (including the fine, dandy performance as well) as an Olympic sport. I’m sure the judges will like this.
Yes! And stripping too! Then I would actually watch them…lol…
…cool!
No. I’m sure it would draw a lot of people to watch the Olympics, but that is not the kind of attention the Olymiad should have, not to mention the message it would send to people simply by recognizing it as an official Olympic sport. It would do far more harm than good, I say.
wow it looks like she self greases her own pole….
what the hell do they use for traction?
We already have pole dancing in the olympics… it’s called gymnastics.
She looks awesome, so a tentative yes.
Eh, maybe if lacrosse was added first.
kids watch the olympics, yes? yeah–ohhh the kids. riiiight. stupid idea
no
If they can do that STUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPID ribbon dance shit, pole dancing should be a go!
In what way does this constitute a sport? A work out, MAYBE. A type of erotic dance, yes. But a SPORT!? No. No. No.
I read the link, and I see what they mean… but I don’t see how the arts should be considered part of the athletics world.
No. That would be making the Olympics into something it is not.
No. It’s not a real sport. Otherwise, if they did, they might as well add other types of dancing as well.
Pole dancing is like a combination of the floor routine and the parallel bars, I suppose, but no, I don’t really think it should be included in the Olympics. The Olympics are about physical prowess not sexuality. On a side note, I totally want to take pole dancing lessons.
Ah no!
No, because it isn’t a sport. It would also make a mockery of the Olympics, as tenuous as its status is right now…
I wouldn’t exactly call tug of war a sport but it was in the olympics for 6 sessions. I say go pole dancing!
Be careful what you wish for, because you may just end up with a group of foreign men rubbing their groins all over the same communal pole on television. I may watch the woman’s sport, if such a thing does become a real sport.
Sex should be a sport as well.
@Lady_Kelacy - a lot of people pole dance for the amazing workout not for the ooh i’m sexy connotations it has when it comes up in conversation. Honestly, it should be considered, as at any given moment, chess could be an olympic sport as its supported by the IOC
@i_am_not_short - I don’t think Chess should be an Olympic sport either.
hhaha. i don’ think things would go well.
No one in their right mind should let it!
If you call this a sport, then I guess that technically makes me a sponsor, right?
I say go for it. That picture looks pretty sweet… maybe it’d be more like the acrobats in the circus.
I’d be interested in that.
No, just no.
Do you win the Gold by collecting the most $1 bills?
Seeing as I’ve seen pole dancing routines just as impressive and acrobatic as the things I’ve seen on the rings, uneven bars, or balance beams, I think it’d be cool.
@funny_guydude - What about the Japanese? Do they throw out Yen? Or the Irish throw Euros? We’ll need an Olympic Monetary Exchange…
nah. that thing is long enough already.
Sure. I have great respect for pole dancers because they must be very fit.
How would they judge it? Its even more subjective than some of the extremely subjective sports.
I’ll join as a professional tipper.
I have practice.
YES!
Pole dancing can be done very artistically and it does like it takes a lot of strength and skill to be able to do it. I think it can be a good and competitive sport quite easily.
I kinda do. only because I can see the physical strength you need to have to do some of those awesome tricks.
its like a vertical balance beam
no
Yup, I consider it a sport.
Hahhahahahhaahaha the Olympics would suddenly have a lot more viewers. That’s all I’ll say.
i feel there may be too much sexual connotation associated with this “sport”.
Maybe if they dressed as…conservatively as she is in the picture. And with out the but grinding and slayed leg drops. I think the lifts and the control are very impressive but, this sport has such a negative public opinion I don’t know if it would really be well supported.
yes! it isn’t just “erotic;” it is as physically demanding as a sport. my friend has been trying to teach me.
they do some crazy shit in pole dancing-i think people would really be surprised.
i would like to see all the people saying it’s a joke even get on a pole. yeah, they fucking couldn’t.
i think it could qualify. not like, gross sleazy strip club pole dancing; but competitive pole dancing. it does exist.
No, why?
In all honesty, I don’t think it should be added.
Even though a lot of people don’t realise just how strong you have to be to do some of that stuff, it’s just not really a competitive sport.
I admire the people that can really pole dance, but I don’t feel it should be an olympic sport.
This has already been said, but I’ll say it again. It would make a lot of people see the olympics as a joke.
yes why not.
So…. can you get medal points for getting the most dollar bills?
I think I’d rather see baseball/softball back in way before this.
I know it takes an athlete to accomplish what they do. With some strict rules why not?
I’d watch
Hell yeah. It takes a LOT of work and strength, but I think they should get rid of the stripping.
I’d watch.
Oh yes, would be interesting to see which countries were leading! lol
wow hookers galore… but i mean if it can be done in a tasteful way….? i dont know if that’s possible.
Finally, I’d have the motivation to watch the Olympics.
It is not a sport.
no
No, only because of it’s origin. Let’s keep the games as clean as possible.
Hmmm. I’m trying to keep a straight face. This all but begs the question of break-dancing–or high-wire juggling and trapeze in gymnatics. true, the thing with the little ribbons on the pole is an Olympic competition.
YES, I love Felix, it would be totally AWESOME.
Just because it takes a lot of skill and strength, doesn’t mean it should. There are tons of other things out there that take a lot more skill that aren’t in the Olympics.
I’m kind of chuckling at this…where to begin?
Pole dancing began, a long time ago, in seedy strip-joints. Over a period of time, probably thanks to a combination between Cirque du Soleil and that Demi Moore flick, it gained ground in popularity.
Somewhere, it went from being crass to having quite a degree of class.
Down the road, guys gave a questionable “gift” of a “stripper pole” to their girlfriends, with some unspoken agreement that they would refrain from attending said seedy strip-joints…only for said girlfriends to not only see the household car in the parking lot, but to also turn the pole into a blunt weapon…but I digress…
It takes a high degree of a combination of athletic ability, sense of balance, strength, and agility to perform mid-air, self-supported acrobatics, while attached to a pole and holding a lofted position.
I sincerely doubt that the performer pictured in this article performs a bump-and-grind to a tune with a punctuated bass line.
Is it respectable as a sport, itself? Shaun White took the sport of snowboarding to Olympic standards, so why not? Even my mother [lifetime Olympics watcher] was chatting on about his half-pipe maneuvers.
Do I bother to watch the Olympics?
Nah…most days, I don’t even bother to watch television…so my $0.02 doesn’t really apply here…
@NightCometh - I hope you’re not implying that Curlings no a sport. It’s skillful, physically demanding and it’s been around a lot longer than tennis, volleyball, American Football…..
it be awesome
no
It’s not a sport! This is what strippers do to excite drunks with their anatomy. Do we really want to see young girls from all over the world do a Miley Cyrus on TV in front of our kids… and reward it with Olympic medals?
No. It’s a terrible idea.
I can’t help but think that someone who doesn’t think it should be added might be ignorant of the physical strength, balance and endurance that it takes to properly do a lot of things on that pole, such as what the woman in that picture is doing, or perhaps they just think its slutty since the only time you really see pole dancing the majority of the time is in a strip club where strippers are using them, making them associated with smutty and slutty activity. Pole dancing itself is not slutty or smutty, its just the venue in which it is done or the reason for which a person is doing it that decides whether its inappropriate.
I don’t see a problem with adding it to the Olympics, but I would find it boring to watch. I prefer watching sports like gymnastics, running or ice skating during the Summer or Winter Games, as it just looks more interesting. But, make no mistake…anyone doing what that woman in the picture is doing is freaking in shape…better than in shape. A lot of people who are at their ideal weight and fitness can’t even do that. :p
here is a joke I saw about pole dancing in the Olympics and demonstrative sports, http://ponderingstuff.com/2011/06/12/pole-dancing-olympics/