Here’s why you should probably let your daughters pole dance

Pole dancing is a form of artistic expression that has gained a pretty sultry reputation for being actively linked to the unsavory activities of adult entertainment clubs. However, new research says the practice can actually boost female well-being. 

Dance has long been understood to be one of the human race’s most powerful forms of self-expression and emotional release but it was only recently that the practice began to be seen as something that could be used therapeutically for some people.

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Chief among the dance styles that have been neglected by scientists has been pole dancing, a form of dance that most individuals would associate more with a gentlemen's club rather than a type of dance that can heal both the mind and body. 

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Pole dancing and its potential healing properties piqued the interest of a group of researchers who recently published a new study in the journal BMC Psychology that outlined the big health benefits women who practice pole dancing get from doing it. 

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“Its unique blend of physical exertion and expressive movements intrigued researchers, leading them to explore its potential psychological benefits,” wrote PsyPost’s Eric Dolan, who noted the study focused on well-being and sexual self-conception. 

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Fifty participants over the age of 18 were recruited by the researchers via social media and through fitness studios. Each participant only had very limited experience with pole dancing and they were divided into two groups for the study. 

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One group of women enjoyed two sixty-minute polar dancing-specific training as well as a number of ancillary fitness exercises over an eight-week period while the other group was told they were waitlisted during the same time period. 

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The program was tailored to each participant so that they could actively participate in all aspects of the pole dancing training sessions and the findings at the end of the exercise were nothing short of groundbreaking for the researchers. 

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Researchers discovered that the women who spent eight weeks training in pole dancing reported increased mental well-being when compared to the women who had been on the waitlist to attend pole dancing classes. 

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Women who pole danced had their well-being measured through the use of the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale and several women reported that they were thinking more clearly and were more optimistic about their futures. 

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“Compared to waitlists, the pole dance group showed an increase in mental well-being and improvements in sexual self-efficacy, sexual anxiety, sexual self-esteem, and body appreciation,” the study’s authors wrote in their research paper.

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When it came to feelings about their sexual self-conception, the women who spent time pole dancing showed big improvements, especially in the realm of feeling more sexually capable and less sexually anxious than they had been. 

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However, the benefits of pole dancing did not extend to every area of mental and sexual health. No significant changes in self-esteem, self-motivation, or sexual consciousness were found by the study according to PsyPost’s reporting. 

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Jalda Lena Pfeiffer of MSB Medical School Berlin led the study and said in a statement that was quoted by PsyPost that pole dancing has become extremely popular in the last decade and has unique characteristics that make it a powerful therapeutic.

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“One unique characteristic that distinguishes pole dance from other physical activities is the empowering and sexually liberating notion,” Pfeiffer explained, noting that the dance challenges societal norms and constructs of female sexuality. 

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Pfeiffer and the study’s other authors concluded that pole dancing may have very broad psychological effects on mental well-being and sexual self-conception, adding it should be used to help those suffering from sexual anxiety, self-esteem, and self-efficacy issues. 

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