💔 Why Strippers Might Feel Some Type of Way About Pole Dancers Appropriating Their Culture

kittycatally
Jun 6
2 min read

Updated: Jun 12

by Ally Cat

Picture this: you rock up to class with your bestie, Pleasers in hand, ready to werk. She walks over to a pole, drops it low and shouts, “Let's make it rain!”

Sounds like harmless fun, right?

But here’s the rub—if you’re not a sex worker, that vibe might not land the way you think it does. For strippers—the people who literally built this art form—it can feel reductive, dismissive, and even hurtful. Here’s why:

1. It Erases Lived Experience

Stripping isn’t just glitter and heel clacks—it’s work. Real work. It takes skill, endurance, emotional labor, and a whole lot of grit. It also comes with risk, stigma, and hustle most outsiders don’t see.

So when someone outside the industry slips into a “stripper persona” for clout, TikToks, or themed showcase nights, it can feel like their real, often difficult, reality is being turned into a costume. Sexy for you. Stereotyped for them.

2. It Romanticizes Without the Risk

Strippers deal with things many polers never have to: legal grey zones, harassment, surveillance, financial instability, and deep social stigma. Some have to hide their work from family or risk losing jobs, housing—even custody.

When a non-sex-working pole dancer borrows the lingo, aesthetic, or attitude of a stripper, it’s often without the consequences. One gets applause. The other might get denied a lease, fired from a job, or frozen out by their family and friends.

3. It Steals Credit (and Then Sells It Back)

That signature slinky walk, those effortless transitions, the magnetic stage presence? Strippers made that. The original blueprint for pole dance came from the clubs.

But when studios teach “sexy pole” without acknowledging the origin—or worse, claim to be “cleaning up” or “elevating” pole by scrubbing the sex out—it’s not just shady. It’s erasure. Stripping isn’t something to “rise above.” It’s something to respect.

4. It Feels Personal—Because It Is

Stripping is more than just a job for many. It’s about autonomy, power, resistance, survival—and yes, artistry. So when someone throws on a “stripper persona” for a themed showcase or posts “#hoelife” after one body wave, it can feel like someone popped over to your house, put on your best clothes for a party and then ghosted you without giving them back.

So... What Can You Do?

Don’t worry—this isn’t a call to toss your heels or cancel sexy choreo. Pole is sexy. Heels are iconic. Floorwork is a gift.

The difference? Celebrate the style without pretending to live the life. That means giving

credit. Listening to sex workers. Uplifting the voices and experiences of the people who created the art you love.

Sexy isn’t the problem. Disrespect is. So keep slinking, clacking, and hair-whipping—just do it with context, credit, and care. Appreciation? Yes, please. Appropriation? That’s a hard pass.