PDCAST: Pole-Dancing for Preschoolers

09.04.18

A private preschool in Shenzen, China just made international news for hiring a pole-dancer to sexualize welcome its 3-6-year-old students on the first day of school. With a bare midriff, black leather hot pants, and platform shoes, a young woman is seen bumping and grinding around a pole up on a stage, swinging her long ponytail in the kind of performance one would expect to see only in strip clubs and Hollywood movies. Posters advertising a pole-dancing school adorned the walls of the courtyard where the undulating performance took place. Principal Lai Rong—a woman—rationalized her decision by claiming that she wanted to “lighten up the atmosphere.” Has she ever heard of therapy pets, ventriloquists, or magicians?