At Achieve Pole Studio, we believe that pole dancing is a celebration of strength, artistry and self-expression.
It’s also important to remember: this beautiful art form wouldn’t exist without the strip clubs and the incredible women who pioneered it.
As a pole studio owner, I am deeply grateful to the strippers who paved the way.
The earliest pole studios were built by women who danced in strip clubs, sharing their skills, their creativity, and their spirit. And many current pole studios came from these roots – Achieve Pole Studio included.
When we step into a pole class today – laughing with friends, learning new moves, celebrating our bodies – we are walking a path that was created by them.
And with that, comes a responsibility to show respect.
Here’s what that respect can look like:
🌟 Acknowledging Our History
Understand and appreciate that pole dance has roots in strip clubs and sex work. Pole fitness, pole art, sexy pole – whatever style we choose – all carry threads of this powerful legacy.
🌟 Recognising Privilege
Many of us have the privilege to dance in sexy heels, wear sexy outfits, and embrace sensual movement without fear of stigma or financial survival. Not everyone has that luxury. For working $trippers, dancing is not just empowerment – it’s livelihood, safety, and often survival. Non-working pole dancers get ‘the fame without the shame’ so to speak.
🌟 Listening With Compassion
When sex workers share their experiences – especially around feeling appropriated or disrespected – it’s important to listen. It’s not about shame or policing what women wear. It’s about understanding context, impact, and real-world consequences.
🌟 Celebrating, Not Appropriating
There’s a big difference between celebrating sensual movement and co-opting a culture without understanding its meaning. It’s about honouring the roots, not just adopting the aesthetics.
🌟 Respecting Working Spaces and Culture
When non-stripper pole dancers enter strip clubs – whether for visits or events – it’s vital to remember that this is a workspace, not a playground.
Many working dancers have shared that encounters with “pole fit girls” in clubs can feel uncomfortable and disrespectful.
Some describe feeling that their workspace was treated like a novelty or backdrop, rather than a place where they earn their livelihood and deserve respect.
Others have expressed frustration at the feeling of “cosplay” – where pole enthusiasts wear the outfits, throw the dollars, and play at the culture without understanding the realities, risks, and stigma that working girls live with daily.
While it might be done with excitement or admiration, without awareness, it can come across as appropriating rather than honouring.
True respect means understanding:
✨ A strip club is a professional environment, not a costume party.
✨ Working dancers deserve the same dignity we would expect in any workplace.
✨ Admiration is best shown through listening, gratitude, and genuine respect – not imitation without understanding.
🌟 Holding Space for Everyone
Pole is big enough for everyone – fitness enthusiasts, artists, competitors, hobbyists, strippers.
But part of making our space inclusive means being aware of whose voices have been historically marginalised – and choosing to amplify, not overshadow.
🌟 Listening to the Voices Who Lived It
As many voices within the sex work community have powerfully expressed, pole dancing is inseparable from its origins. There are many powerful voices out there and we all need to listen.
One of my fav voices is AM Davies who (among others) has long advocated for recognising the deep history and artistry that strippers brought to pole. AM has a heap of great insight on topics such as whorephobia, stripping away the stigma, things to say when people ask you if you’re a stripper.
Their insights remind us that pole dancing today is a beautiful fusion – and that honouring its roots keeps our community inclusive, respectful, and strong.
You can find AM Davies on IG @amdavies_ Give them a follow! They’re incredible.
At Achieve, we dance for joy, fitness, empowerment, and community – but we always dance with gratitude too.
Gratitude for the women who went before us. Gratitude for the right to move, to express, to feel powerful.
Let’s continue to climb, spin and dance – not just for ourselves, but in honour of the women who built this industry we love so much.
With love and endless respect,
Andrea xx
Founder Achieve Pole Studio xx
