Pole dancing for men is fast gaining adherents in China as a means to shape up and tone the body, rather than exercise any erotic inclinations. Forty pole dancing gyms have sprung up in Beijing alone, wooing male clients who want a different type of workout. Judging from the video on news website Orange, it still looks rather similar to the type of pole dancing most of us North Americans are familiar with, except without the frilly panties or nipple tassels to be seen. One keen little pole dancer is interviewed on camera, and he says, according to his understanding, “Pole dancing does not have seedy origins. It came from American workers. When they weren’t doing anything on the construction site they’d mess about on the bars to music.” I’m afraid that slice of American union history passed me by dear boy. The image of a bunch of teamsters twirling around a pole to music seems more akin to The Village People.
