Next Up, A Pole-Dancing Doll
Categories: In The News, Weird But True
Would you buy your daughter a pole-dancing doll? Credit: Gizmodo.com
If anyone was wondering if the world was doomed, here is your confirmation.
The scoop on this new plaything came from Gizmodo's Jesus Diaz, and features a somewhat grainy photo of a doll in a shiny dress hanging on a pole. A giant heart emblazoned with the word "Pole Dance" is at the top. The box promises "Style." "Interesting." "Music." "Flash." "Up and Down." "Go Round and Round." It might've said "Ewww," "Gross," "Criminal"," but in all likelihood the upstanding manufacturers ran out of room.
No mention is made of inserting money anywhere.
In an email message, Diaz told us today: "As far as I can tell, it's a real product. It didn't seem PhotoShopped to me. It feels more like the typical Chinese-made product you can only find in low cost stores."
We were unable to confirm the actual existence of this product. Google searches turn up nothing more than references to the Gizmodo item. So perhaps there is some hope for the planet.
Then again, maybe not.
In case you haven't noticed, pole-dancing has become mainstream. Miley Cyrus' recent performance on the Teen Choice Awards on August 10th generated a lot of controversy.
Then there is the video of Miley's younger sister Noah, who is 9, dancing around a pole with some friends during a Teen Choice Awards pre-show party. Maybe they should re-name it the Teen Bad Choices Awards.
Going back three years, there was an uproar over a real pole-dancing product that some felt was being marketed as a children's toy. In 2006, the Peekaboo Pole Dancing Kit was pulled from the toy section of a British store after a public outcry. The kit included fake money, a garter, instructional DVD and of course, a pole.
Even if the Pole Dance doll turns out to be fake, the real problem is how easy it is to believe that it's real. So when anyone says that the pole that Miley and Noah danced around was not a stripper pole, they're wrong.
It was.
Let's face it, stripping has become mainstream. Does this mean that little girls who catch a glimpse of the Cyrus sisters will grow up and pursue pole-dancing as a profession? Hopefully not. If kids always became what they pretended to be when they were young, we'd be a nation of astronauts, fairy princesses and super heroes.
That said, sexualizing childhood is bad news from the get go. Little girls should not be learning that doing a sexy dance is a way to entertain? (There will be time enough in college to learn such behavior.)
What do you think? Is this pole-dancing doll real?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
Melissa 8-31-2009 @ 3:03PM
It does look pretty real....but it just seems too over the top to be real! I mean, first the breastfeeding doll, which is real, and now a pole dancing doll? I just can't believe someone would go that far....well, then again, maybe I can.
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Kelly 9-01-2009 @ 11:51AM
What, exactly, is bad about a breastfeeding doll? Breastfeeding is natural, healthy, and should be encouraged as mainstream. Comparing it to pole dancing is wrong and offensive.
Rapewaffle 8-31-2009 @ 5:04PM
>Even if the Pole Dance doll turns out to be fake, the real problem is how easy it is to believe that it's real.
Yes, but not for the reason you think. The real problem is that people are hysterical and are willing to buy into hysteria without checking the facts.
>So when anyone says that the pole that Miley and Noah danced around was not a stripper pole, they're wrong.
Given that no actual stripping took place in either instance, the question raises profound epistemological issues. Is it a stripper pole when it's not being used for stripping? Does that particular pole become a stripper pole if a stripper uses it, and does it remain so ever after? Does the stripper-ness of a stripper pole infect all similar poles in the world? Could there, in fact, be stripper-poles in your own house at this very moment, previously innocuous building materials and lamp stems which have *become* stripper poles via this voodoo-like contagion?
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Karen 8-31-2009 @ 6:09PM
I *want* to side with you on this one, but it's kind of hard to agree with anyone's view of sexuality when their username is "Rapewaffle."
Marie 9-01-2009 @ 9:00AM
Rapewaffle?? Resorting to the dictionary for the definition of "pole" isn't going to defy the obvious. It's what you use the "POLE" for that is going to dictate the definition. I don't think the pole in this case was used as building materials or as a lamp post. Get real, instead of trying to produce an analytical summary which in fact has weakened your argument and while your at it, change your name, regardless of the many different meanings it may take on.....
alanchesnee 9-03-2009 @ 3:35PM
"Is it a stripper pole when it's not being used for stripping? Does that particular pole become a stripper pole if a stripper uses it, and does it remain so ever after?"
Good points. It begs the further question: given that historically the radical, extreme conservative religious right has held that black people (actually, any and all non-racially pure white people) were less than human (because of extreme religious opinions written into the theological creationism by those dark-minded creative writers during the Dark Ages) and (some even said) born into criminal behavior genetically somehow, is a black Barbie doll promoting crime because of its very color?
Sarah 9-01-2009 @ 1:29PM
The point is that if the pole was not associated with stripping, there would be no reason for three little girls to be going around and around it over and over again at a party. Maybe a few times, but not as an actual thing to be doing. If they were doing it nonchalantly, that's one thing, but they were mimicking what they saw. That's really scary, considering there are sick people out there who sexualize young children. I don't think the parents of these girls realize the weight of what this is saying. It's heinous.
Keith J. Mohrhoff 9-01-2009 @ 12:22PM
Saying that it isn't offensive because no actual stripping took place completely discounts the power of symbolism--especially among the young.
It is like saying that wearing or displaying of swastikas isn't offensive because no actual genocide is taking place!
Alysha Bronson 9-01-2009 @ 4:51PM
Rapewaffle 8-31-2009 @ 5:04PM
>Even if the Pole Dance doll turns out to be fake, the real problem is how easy it is to believe that it's real.
Yes, but not for the reason you think. The real problem is that people are hysterical and are willing to buy into hysteria without checking the facts.
>So when anyone says that the pole that Miley and Noah danced around was not a stripper pole, they're wrong.
Given that no actual stripping took place in either instance, the question raises profound epistemological issues. Is it a stripper pole when it's not being used for stripping? Does that particular pole become a stripper pole if a stripper uses it, and does it remain so ever after? Does the stripper-ness of a stripper pole infect all similar poles in the world? Could there, in fact, be stripper-poles in your own house at this very moment, previously innocuous building materials and lamp stems which have *become* stripper poles via this voodoo-like contagion?********************
GENIUS! I couldn't of said it any better!
This whole Miley issue i out of control, You act like she decieded "Man, i want to dance on a pole when i go out tonight!" Your wrong, its her reps, her director, her dance teacher for the show. The way you all act is reasons for why people like Britney Spears is the way she is now! You all should be ashamed and if this scares you dont let your kids watch it! Its your responsibility to watch your kids not the T.V.
Robin 9-01-2009 @ 1:50PM
Thank goodness Socrates and Plato are dead, they would kick your butt! Your attempt at (pop) philosophy just shows how immature you are. Pole dancing is generally related to stripping regardless if the pole dancer is or is not removing their garments!
Because of that generalization and no matter what age or sex the dancer is, there will be an expectation that the pole dancer will ultimately remove their garments.
Stef 9-02-2009 @ 1:03PM
Saying that a stripper pole isn't a stripper pole when it's not being danced or stripped upon is the same thing as saying a NASCAR stock car isn't a race car when it's idle or parked on the track. It is what it is.
Nicole 9-03-2009 @ 3:24PM
Wow! Such a simplistic and ignorant argument. It obviously was to simulate a stripper pole. Is a gun not a gun without bullets? Is a bong not a bong without marijuana!
Red73 8-31-2009 @ 10:08PM
The fact is all adults associate dancing round a pole with stripping. I am pretty sure Miley Cyrus knows that strippers dance round poles. Are young girls going to become strippers because they saw her dancing round a pole, probably not. Are they going to copy her and pretend to be her, more than likely. I recently posted on truuconfessions.com that I am so glad I don't have a daughter so I don't have to deal with this stuff.
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Gardenguy05 9-01-2009 @ 6:23AM
They may not become strippers but they'll have a better chance at becoming either sluts or getting raped thanks to all the garbage kids see on t.v. I have to constantly remind my 11y/o step-daughter how dangerous the world REALLY is.
Janet Waters 9-01-2009 @ 10:33AM
You may not have a daughter to worry about for now. But if you have a son....these are the type of girls that he will have to choose from. It won't be long before he may have a daughter....just think what the next generation is going to be selling!!
anniek 9-01-2009 @ 1:55PM
I'm not too sure that Cyrus does know that strippers dancing around poles is an actual bad thing. Lately, she's been trying to be an adult when she's still a sixteen year old child. The fact that her parents sat there, watching her 'innocently' dancing on a show everyone knew was going to be on TV and then defend it, that calls to question what the children actually do know. They're a difference between what you know your child is doing and letting your internationally known child do it on TV. It's called raising a better role model, especially since she does have a little sister. And if they don't want to view her as a role model, then yank her off mainstream.
mrs.sigler 9-02-2009 @ 1:02PM
Even if you have sons you have to worry about it becaue the young women that they will eventually date are growing up in an oversexualized culture. I look at my precious three year old daughter and five year old son and just hope upon hope that my husband and I are getting at least part of it right!
Gardenguy05 9-01-2009 @ 6:19AM
Does anyone remember Sodam and Gamora?!?!?!?
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rkeith306 9-01-2009 @ 6:28AM
christian wackos
the cirus family claim to be christian - miley has a half brother 3 months older than her - her christian mother doesn't allow billy to be a part the boys life - but she does allow her daughter to dance with a poll
Gardenguy05 9-01-2009 @ 6:40AM
Being christian has only a small part in it. The fact that people deny their spouses from seeing their kids and yet letting their daughters, ages 15 and younger, run around copying these supposed idols dressed and acting like sluts is retarded. Those who let their young daughters dress and act this way can expect a half decent chance of their daughters being raped and or killed. Miley Cirus and her friends are trash.