Pole dance and fitness is often associated with prostitution and pornography result of which is the fact that it is, as an inappropriate form and sexually explicit stylization of body movements, denied its artistic and sports value. Despite the stigma, which this discipline entails, there was its dynamic development, if not mainstreamization, in the last decade. Recent researches interpret this form of movement/dance as a feminine or feminizing practice. The presented thesis, however, takes issue with their conclusions and attempts to the contrary, to draw attention to the possibility of subversive rearticulation of normative prescriptions of gender relations that are emerging in the context of this phenomenon. The thesis is theoretically grounded in poststructuralist feminist theories that are defined against the essentialist conceptions of gender. All the data were collected using a participant observation method and six in-depth, semi-structured interviews with (co-)owners of the studios specialized in teaching of pole dance/fitness. All my respondents participated in the establishment and institutionalization of the discipline in the Czech Republic and they perceive pole dance/fitness as one of the most important factors of their lives to which they dedicate themselves intensively for a long...

Submitted by Luan Nogueira (luan_zx_@hotmail.com) on 2016-02-22T15:18:23Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Carolina Fernandes Ferreira.pdf: 1875851 bytes, checksum: 1f1d71cc02c1ed8cd0ac34da6a57c56e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Divisão de Documentação/BC Biblioteca Central (ddbc@ufam.edu.br) on 2016-02-22T19:35:20Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Carolina Fernandes Ferreira.pdf: 1875851 bytes, checksum: 1f1d71cc02c1ed8cd0ac34da6a57c56e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Divisão de Documentação/BC Biblioteca Central (ddbc@ufam.edu.br) on 2016-02-22T19:43:33Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Carolina Fernandes Ferreira.pdf: 1875851 bytes, checksum: 1f1d71cc02c1ed8cd0ac34da6a57c56e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-22T19:43:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Carolina Fernandes Ferreira.pdf: 1875851 bytes, checksum: 1f1d71cc02c1ed8cd0ac34da6a57c56e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-11-24 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Physical activity is a trainer for everyday life, promoting sound judgment and situational awareness, enabling reaction in face of environmental changes, and having social relations as a performance mediators. The Pole Dance is a sport that is gaining ground in the media. Therefore, the present study, titled "Re-discovering being-one-self: the existentialism of women pole dance practitioners", is aimed at understanding how pole dance women practitioners mean their existence from the practice of sports. It is a qualitative research, which was developed according to the precepts of the phenomenological method and analysis from the assumptions of the Phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty. Twelve women pole dance practitioners from a studio in the city of Manaus were considered as participants and the data collection was carried out from a guiding question. Through those speeches the following categories of analysis were created: Starting "to pole", Obstacles versus Overcoming , Pre-Concepts, Re-discovering be one-self and "What does pole dance mean for you?". In such analysis, the most diverse experiences were seized on a common practice, in which of them the being-in- the-world of each of these women was verified and how they see themselves and perceive their bodies in interaction with themselves and with the world. It was understood that behind a simple movement, there are countless beings- in- the-world and that the most certain existing fact is individuality / A atividade física é um preparador para a vida cotidiana, promovendo a capacidade de julgamento e percepção da situação, possibilitando reação frente a alterações do ambiente, tendo as relações sociais como mediadores de desempenho. A Pole Dance é uma modalidade esportiva que está ganhando espaço na mídia. Por conseguinte, a presente pesquisa, intitulada “Re-descobrindo ser-si-mesmo: a existencialidade das mulheres praticantes de pole dance”, teve como objetivo compreender como mulheres praticantes de pole dance significam a sua existência a partir da prática da atividade esportiva. É uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa, que se desenvolveu de acordo com os preceitos do método fenomenológico e a análise a partir dos pressupostos da Fenomenologia de Merleau-Ponty. Foram consideradas como participantes doze mulheres praticantes de pole dance de um estúdio na cidade de Manaus e a obtenção dos dados foi realizada a partir de uma questão norteadora. Através dos discursos foram criadas as categorias de análise: Começando a “polear”, Obstáculos versus Superação, Pré-Conceitos, Re-descobrindo ser-si-mesmo e “O que significa pole dance para você?”. Nelas foram apreendidas as mais diversas experiências sobre uma mesma prática, em que se verificou o ser-no-mundo de cada uma dessas mulheres e como elas se veem e percebem o seu corpo na interação com-si-mesmas e com-o-mundo. Compreendeu-se que por trás de um simples movimento, há inúmeros seres-no-mundo e que a individualidade é o fato mais certo que existe

Title: Pole Dance Basics Objectives: This work aims to create a set of exercises suitable for beginners in pole dancing and attempts to unify terminology based on naming used in gymnastics. Methods: To achieve the targets of the work will be used method of qualitative research. Information about pole dancing will be obtained primarily through the internet sources. Czech and internacional publications will be further analyzed for the views of leading experts. To form the final set of exercises will be used comparative and interpretive methods. Regarding a definition of pole dance beginner and his chosen skills will be final criteria obtained through a controlled interview. Results: A set of selected exercises for beginners in the practical part is made by a combination of theoretical knowledge, my personal experience as a pole dance instructor and opinions of respondents obtained through controlled interviews. The final result is not only a set of excercises and its detailed description accompanied by pictorial documentation, but also a unified pole dance terminology inspired by terminology used in gymnastics. Keywords: pole dance, dance, pole

This diploma thesis examines current phenomenon of pole dance/sport. This activity which was originally performed in strip clubs was relatively recently redefined as a fitness activity offered at pole dancing studios initially for women, but now also for men. Despite the efforts to redefined pole dance as a fitness activity in the eyes of the public pole dance is still associated with its erotic roots and (therefore) with women. According to previous research pole dance is seen as a feminine and feminized activity. Men's participation in these activities is, according to studies, associated with the belief that those men are effeminate or homosexual and therefore construct their gender identity in ways which are inconsistent with the social ideas of masculinity. In this thesis I explore the ways in which male pole dancers construct their masculinity within this unique environment. I also explore what participation in the world of pole dance mean to men who take pole dancing classes and/or who teach them as well as the stereotypes placed upon men to act in a certain way to be considered masculine. In this research I also discuss the role of the body on construction of masculinity. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with six Czech male pole dancers over the age of 18 and examined...

“‘Am I Sexy Yet?’: Contextualizing the Movement of Exotic Dance and Its Effects on Female Dancers’ Self-image and Sexual Expression” looks at exotic dancing in three contexts––a pole fitness studio, a strip club, and a college dance concert––and how the movement is experienced by the dancers in each space. It questions how the movement changes meaning for the dancers, audience, and mainstream culture based on the context and location, even with similar content. Specifically, it analyzes how the experiences of the dancers affect their self confidence, sexuality, and sexual expression. Then, it applies Audre Lorde's “Uses of the Erotic” to their experiences to show how this movement can be looked at through a different lens as deeper, more freeing, and more transgressive than it is usually thought to be.

[pt] Nesta pesquisa, tenho por objetivo criar inteligibilidades acerca da prática do pole dance, a partir da investigação dos discursos narrativos produzidos por mulheres da comunidade desta dança-esporte. Situado na área da Linguística Aplicada Contemporânea (MOITA LOPES, 2006; FABRÍCIO 2006), o estudo dedica-se à interpretação dos sentidos criados em narrativas orais (LABOV, 1972; BASTOS, 2005) contadas por pole dancers, a fim de entender a emergência de estigmas (GOFFMAN, [1963] 2004) e a construção de identidades (MOITA LOPES, 2002, HALL, 2005) voltados às praticantes e à própria atividade. A arquitetura teórica fundamenta-se em uma visão socioconstrucionista de narrativas (BASTOS; BIAR, 2015) e de identidades (MOITA LOPES, 2001) para a análise da prática discursiva avaliativa (LINDE, 1997; THOMPSON; ALBA-JUEZ, 2014) que traz à tona estigmas e ressignificações sobre o pole dance. O estudo tem a sua metodologia alinhada ao paradigma qualitativo de pesquisa (DENZIN; LINCOLN, 2006), com o corpus gerado por meio de entrevistas realizadas com alunas e professoras do estúdio de pole dance do qual faço parte, na zona sul do Rio de Janeiro. A análise microdiscursiva é baseada no Sistema de Avaliatividade (MARTIN, 2001; MARTIN; WHITE, 2005), integrante da Linguística Sistêmico-Funcional (HALLIDAY, 1994; EGGINS, 2004), para a observação das instâncias léxicogramaticais avaliativas que contribuíram para construção discursiva de estigmas e de identidades nas narrativas compartilhadas. As análises sugerem que as participantes se (re)construíram identitariamente na relação com suas vivências no pole dance, refletindo sobre questões de preconceito e do fazer do pole dance em si. As pole dancers pareceram reconhecer e reprovar a estigmatização que as rotulam negativamente e que confere descrédito a elas e à atividade que praticam, gerando contradiscursos de resistência e de ressignificação do pole dance. Nesse sentido, em geral, as dançarinas-atletas construíram o pole dance positivamente enquanto prática transformadora que proporciona às suas praticantes autoconhecimento, libertação, superação, despertar de forças, empoderamento e muitos outros aprendizados. / [en] This research aims to create intelligibilities about the pole dancing pratice through the investigation of narrative discourses produced by women from this dance-sport community. Situated in the area of Contemporary Applied Linguistics (MOITA LOPES, 2006; FABRÍCIO 2006), the study is dedicated to the interpretation of meanings created in oral narratives (LABOV, 1972; BASTOS, 2005) told by pole dancers, in order to understand the emergence of stigmas (GOFFMAN, [1963] 2004) and the construction of identities (MOITA LOPES, 2002, HALL, 2005) related to the practitioners and the activity itself. The theoretical architecture is based on a socio-constructionist perspective of narratives (BASTOS; BIAR, 2015) and identities (MOITA LOPES, 2001) for the analysis of the evaluative discursive practice (LINDE, 1997; THOMPSON; ALBA-JUEZ, 2014) which brings up stigmas and resignifications of the pole dancing practice. The methodology is aligned with the qualitative research paradigm (DENZIN; LINCOLN, 2006) and the corpus was generated through interviews with learners and teachers from the pole dance studio where I practice pole dancing, located in the south zone of Rio de Janeiro. The microdiscursive analysis is based on the Appraisal System (MARTIN, 2001; MARTIN; WHITE, 2005), part of the Sistemic-Functional Linguistics theory (HALLIDAY, 1994; EGGINS, 2004), for the observation of evaluative lexicogrammatical instances which contributed to the discursive construction of stigmas and identities in the narratives shared. The analysis suggests that participants (re)constructed their identities in relation to their pole dancing experiences, reflecting upon prejudice issues and the pole dancing practice itself. The pole dancers seemed to recognize and disapprove the stigmatization that negatively labels them and discredits the activity they practice, generating counter-discourses of resistance and resignification of pole dancing. Thus, in general, the dancers-athletes constructed pole dancing positively as a transformative practice which provides them with self-awareness, liberation, resilience, awakening of strengths, empowerment and many other learnings.