Article #252811

I disliked my first encounter with pole, but two years later my experience with the sport has made me appreciate my body and my self-determination

• Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email

When my friend Bea took up pole dancing she enthusiastically tried to convert everyone she knew to it – a common trope, I’d later find out. As a childhood gymnast and dancefloor enthusiast, I was scouted as a potential recruit, so along with my sister, in 2023 we joined her for a class.

The class was packed and the studio felt overly commercialised. The friction of the metal pole against my skin was straight-up painful and spinning around made me so dizzy I had to sit down to reorientate myself several times.

Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning