Dancing around poles

Is my latest interest. A friend and I are going for pole-dancing lessons at a local studio. The space is women-only, the music is cheesy in the extreme, the attire is hideous and the classes are fun. Part of the reason the classes are fun is that the instructors are brilliant. Mostly middle-aged women with greying hair and lots of this and that and these and those... well over the accepted levels of fat and cellulite and absolute joys to behold! This is becoming quite a theme in my choice of dance classes, somehow makes me feel a lot more comfortable and even a bit safer because they are there.

First time in my life I've worn hot pants. Why do people consider them attractive? I consider them one of the more major fashion disasters (along with Capri pants and push up bras). The fewer the clothes on your legs the easier it is to grip the bar though. And hanging on to the damn thing is pretty damn challenging as it is! Oh and I had my personal crisis of whether to shave my legs to go to class or not. Dithered endlessly. I struggle so much to fit in being brown skinned it seems silly to put myself on the line even further. Then again, no matter what I do, I'm going to stand out... so I may as well stand out for the right reasons. Hairy legged, pierced and unfashionably loud. Fortunately for me, I can dance... so that privileges me somewhat in a dance class.

Oh as for fat... I've decided: being fat is like being brown... there isn't really anything you can do to live it down. Everywhere I go I see people making jokes about 'tubby' people. Anyone who is not stick thin is made to feel unwelcome in just about any social setting: going clubbing, attending a dance class, walking down the street, trying to get in a car. Slight tangent... but the wellington cable car now has little gateways that you have to pass through. They are about 35 inches wide at their extreme and so anyone with a waist 34" or over will have to twist to get through. This is justified as being the norm. This makes me spitting mad.

Gaaah.