As women, we are always told, and sold – what we should like, what we should wear, how we should look, and what ways we should exist. Ultimately, we’re being told the ways we should exist that will make us “lovable” enough… Our culture often rejects and shames important parts of what makes us human, such as our need to express our emotions, sexuality, and our need to give and receive love. Emotions are deemed as weak. 

Men can’t express how they feel out of fear of not being “manly enough,” and women can’t express how they feel without the fear of being labeled hysterical. And, if we do somehow get the courage to share how we feel, we would rather spend that time intellectualizing and pathologizing our emotions than actually feel anything.

If we gave ourselves a chance, maybe we wouldn’t cringe at ourselves as much as we thought we would. Maybe the parts of our bodies and who we are we once thought we could never accept become our favorite parts. Maybe if we gave ourselves a chance, we wouldn’t be as “unlovable” as we had once thought. 

The shame mentality that our culture teaches and encourages is what pole tries to challenge. It shows us that connecting with our emotions and ourselves is our power.