New project: Pole dance, women's ageing, clothing and sensuality

A couple of months ago, I followed my gut and my curiosity, and I submitted an idea to a fashion conference to talk about a project I wanted to do. They accepted it (hooray!) which was excellent because it meant I had to begin my project, and not just sit and think about it (something I can excel at...)! My project is about ‘older’* women who do pole dance/pole fit, ageing, sensuality and clothing, and it is AMAZING. I’d noticed these strong, bold, sexy and sensual older women in my classes (I’ve been doing pole for about 18 months, hands down one of the best things I’ve ever done), and I wanted to know more about how pole played a role in their experience of ageing, how they feel in their bodies and the clothes they choose to wear.

My intention is to share my learnings so far at the Fashion, Costume and Visual Cultures conference in Croatia in July, and then to begin a road trip of bothering as many people as I can with my insights and ideas - because from what I’ve learnt so far, there are a lot of opportunities to improve the way we experience ageing (because we are all ageing!), and how health, fashion and fitness businesses can play their role in changing the social norms around it.

Interestingly, I’ve never had such an easy time trying to recruit for a project - sometimes it’s like pulling teeth, but this time it was a dream. I had over 30 people respond within 24 hours, and that was just via Instagram. Everyone I spoke to is delighted I’m researching it and thanks me for ‘thinking of us’, which made me weep a little (I have wept a lot at this project already, all tears of joy and awe). So far, I’m in conversation with about 20 incredible women (and one persuasive guy who I accepted because he was so interesting) and I’m learning so much. As I go along, I’ll share more!  

*The word 'older' caused me some considerable anxiety - what is old? How do I define it? What do I ask? In the end, I asked people to self-define themselves as ‘older’, and I gave prompts (i.e., physical symptoms, comparison, has older kids or grandchildren) and I had people from ages 38 to 67 get in touch. Somewhat shockingly, the 38-year-old was because other people had told her she was ‘old to be doing pole', which blew my mind. From the conversations I've had and the research I've done previously, I really believe there is so much work to be done here, if we want to live in a healthy society.

More updates coming soon!