They are just thin metal poles, attached floor to ceiling. That's it. But it's all the rage among women young and old. (Yes, your grandmother may have a stripper pole in her house!)
Reuters recounts a funny story. Robert Trent, who worked as an auto mechanic in San Diego, Calif., installed a stripper pole in his bedroom 10 years ago with the hope of spicing up his marriage. It did that and more. It led to a new business. He now owns and operates PoleDanzer, which makes and sells the poles that range in cost from $340 to $465. "I put a pole in our bedroom for what I call marriage maintenance, and then everybody wanted one," Trent told Reuters. "The girl doesn't have to know how to pole dance to entertain her husband...and if they take classes, then it's really good exercise."
And that is exactly what millions of women are discovering. Classes not only teach you how to pole dance so you can burn calories and tone muscles, but also how to do it safely. (Imagine having to explain to the emergency room doctor that you fell from the top of a stripper pole in your bedroom.) When you learn how to pole dance, it's a serious workout and rivals gymnastics. Advanced pole dancers even know how to spin upside down and hold themselves in many different positions on the pole.
So who is learning how to pole dance? One teacher told Reuters she has taught the technique to about 5,000 women, who have included everyone from porn stars to a Vatican librarian.
--From the Editors at Netscape
