The music is blaring, the strobe lights are flashing, and a roomful of sweaty bodies are dancing in cramped quarters; it’s like every typical Eugene house party, but this one features a free show.
If you can find those elusive parties with both a dance floor and a dance pole you may be fortunate enough to see her—the student dancer whom, for the sake of anonymity, I will refer to as “She.” And She would rather call herself a pole dancer because she feels the word “stripper” gives her job title a negative vibe.
“The title ‘dancer’ sounds like a job, the word ‘stripper’ just sounds derogatory, even though that’s what I do. I strip,” She says with a smile.
If you meet her at a house party, you’ll be surprised at her easygoing nature. She’s silly and charismatic and incredibly spontaneous. Close friends were not surprised when she revealed her sophomore year of college that she started working at The Brick House strip club because she has the eccentric personality and courage to work in the industry of stripping.
She started pole dancing because she needed a lot of money and she needed it quickly.
“When I lived in the dorms everything was covered… but once I got out I had bills and rent to pay, and my parents couldn’t help me out so, I got a job,” She says.
Pole dancing has given her that security. She works three times a week (sometimes more) while attending the University of Oregon full-time, and she describes her lifestyle as “comfortable.” All of her bills are paid and she has extra funds to save or spend on herself.
But She loves pole dancing for more than the money; she looks at it as an art.
“Stripping is pole aerobics,” She states, “but no one [at her work] cares about it like that.”
She watches Youtube videos of pole aerobic competitions in her spare time for inspiration–one of her favorite competitors is Jenyne Butterfly. She has participated in two pole aerobic competitions, one in Portland and the other in Seattle. Over the past two summers she has danced in various strip clubs across the nation, showing off her impressive pole dancing skills that often leave students with their jaws wide open.
She admits that her part-time job choice also has its cons.
“I like dancing way more than I like school,” She admits. “Obviously.”
She finds herself less involved and motivated in school than she used to be, which is a common problem all collegiettes share. She also shared that some of her family members didn’t react positively to her current job title, and some still don’t know.
She says that she felt like Clark Kent when she first began pole dancing because she kept her other identity completely secret. Eventually, She started telling her friends, accepting, as she tells it, “People talk and people know. I’m not ashamed, but I’m more than just a pole dancer.”
She will graduate this spring with a degree in Digital Arts. She hopes to travel the world focusing more on her other passion: photography. She confesses that she’d like to pursue dance acrobatics too, and if she can accomplish both it will be such a sweet victory.
– – –
Jessica Ridgway is a senior majoring in magazine journalism with a minor in communications. She’s Alaska-grown and raised, but recently became an Oregonian. In her spare time, if she’s not nestled in with a book, she likes watching movies with French subtitles, spending time with (bothering) her friends, and making gourmet pancakes. After graduation she plans on teaching English in France for one year before working her way up the career ladder writing for a successful magazine in an undetermined future destination. Follow her on Twitter @jcridgway.