Can pole dancing help the fight for sex workers’ rights?

Siân and Lulu meet the UK’s slinky queen of campaigning for sex workers’ rights while literally grinding on a stick! Pole dance performer, instructor, competition director, proud sex worker and activist Gemma Rose joins the pod to talk de-stigmatising the industry, using pole to educate about workers’ rights and creating a new wave of allies.

Gemma has been sprinkling her distinctive sexy style into pole dancing studios and strip clubs across the UK and internationally with a hot dollop of activism. Her signature workshop and seminar “Why You Should Give A F*ck About Strippers” uses the craft of pole dancing itself to debunk harmful narratives about sex work, inform pole dancers about the reality of the job and celebrate the strippers who pioneered the art of pole.

We talk about the complexities of giving general audiences a truthful, nuanced look at sex workers’ lives, why Gemma founded her own pole dancing competition, and how everyone (inside or outside the pole studio!) can take up the fight for sex workers’ rights.

Find Gemma on Instagram @gemmarosepole and her website: www.gemmarose.co.uk

Gemma’s podcast The 6am Club is available on all major streaming platforms.

Gemma’s stripper-driven pole dance competition PDSM is on Instagram @pdsmuk and website: www.poledancestrippermovement.co.uk

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Pole the Other One! was created by Siân Docksey. This episode was edited by Alice Rosenthal with original music by Amelia Bayler. Find us on Instagram: @poletheotherone