im doing this assignment for year 12 and i wanted to know public opinions on wether pole dancing or striptease etc. empowers or does not empower women? please include your reasoning and any relevant information.. so far i have come to no conclusion

I am not sure if you would call performing as a sex object is enpowerment. I suppose it depends what you think it enpowers you for. I doubt whether most men would see a woman stripping as any different from a prostitute. Then again their are always exceptions!

Hey, Bek,

Not sure this is the ideal space for your purposes as you're likely to attract a)only those holding extremes of opinion or b)no opinion at all from people who've had similar themes done to death on these threads. Perhaps a random vox pop in your area at, say, a supermarket or venue where opinions are likely to be more representative across the spectrum?

However, for what its worth: - I had a friend who put herself through Uni by stripping (retaining her knickers, however)and whose philosophy was that if people were so silly as to pay large amounts of money to see something they could see for free on a beach on the weekend then who was she to stop them?

Then again, I've known girls who did it because they had no qualifications, the culture in which they had grown up was debased, and it kept the inevitable day when they would take to the streets at bay for a little while longer.

On the whole I don't think it debases women per se as my mates comment above leads me to believe that it actually makes the viewers themselves look daft. Rather, it is the way society at large treats such women which is degrading.

Like you, I have still not actually made up my mind one way or another and tend rather to make individual valuations than taking a general stand.

At the risk of being dismissed as one of the aforementioned extreme opinions, I think pole dancing and strip tease are extremely degrading of women, and not just those who perform in this way but of all women.

Women have fought hard over the years to be taken seriously and to have their opinions valued. It has been a long fight to shake off the shackles that once confined us to the role of pleasing men and being there to make them look good.

Pole dancing and strip tease set women up as sexual objects whose role in life is to gain men's approval. In my opinion this trend is disempowering to all women. I happen to think we're worth a lot more than that.

Oh ffs... you people are insane. (runner &Bronwyn)

Steel....am I detecting a correlation between you anti Christian stance and 'support of pole dancing' ?

here is what you said to me:

@BOAZ: And the ideology of Christianity has been used to torture and butcher millions of people throughout history. Perhaps you think it should be banned on that basis and start a War on Religion.

Now..here.. when Bronwyn and Runner are openly declaring that Pole Dancing degrades women...you come out with your rather terse comment that they are insane....

Most interesting..and just imagine if I'd said to you (on the other thread)

"Steel...the reason you oppose Christ in your life is due to the presense of a 'moral problem' in your heart"

How would you have reacted ?

It's amazing how "opposing the claim of Christ on one's life" is often matched by an equally enthusiastic predeliction for sleaze.
But sleaze is re-badged and re-packaged as 'entertainment'.

Now..I refrained from making this observation until you yourself demonstrated it... so please dont condemn me as 'judgemental'..I'm simply reflecting your own situation from your own words.

You COULD have tried to argue that Pole Dancing is 'fine' and has no ill effects on people.. but you chose to simply make a personal attack on Bronwyn and Runner "ur insane". As they say.. "point weak, play the man"

Pole Dancing empowers...no question about that.. but the people it empowers are those holding the purse strings of exploitation.
The women may convince themselves short term that 'its just a job' but the dignity of their hearts will ultimately be diminished and degraded..no matter what they think at the time.