A pole dance studio in Dortmund is causing controversy: Following “inquiries from Muslim customers”, the studio is considering a women-only course – just a few weeks ago, it was sending out completely different messages with its progressive pride flag.
“Everyone is welcome, everyone should feel comfortable!” is the message the dance studio “VI-Dance”, which has branches in Essen, Münster and Dortmund, sent to its customers in an email. That’s why they are now considering offering a “girls-only pole dance course”.
The reason: “Time and again, we receive inquiries from female Muslim customers asking if there are men in the class.” They want to welcome “generally EVERYONE” to the studio, “regardless of gender or religion”, they say in the mailing list email. Anyone interested in taking part in the “girls-only pole dance course” requested by Muslims is welcome to apply to the studio.
At the end of June, the studio posted a video on its Instagram channel to mark the so-called left-wing “Pride Month”, in which women posed in quite original poses on the pole with the so-called progressive pride flag or the rainbow flag – both flags used by left-wing extremists.
The videos show the women with the flag – sometimes upside down in their hands, sometimes stuck between their toes in a vertical split, sometimes as the center of a two-person sculpture rotating around itself, sometimes attached between their armpits and the back of their knees, also between two stretched female bodies. “Be kind to each other, just like the dear mice from Essen,” is the caption under the video.
The reason for the women’s request could have been the fact that – if men were present – they would have to wear headscarves. The subject of the email at least reads “Pole with/without headscarf”.
Our partner portal NiUS asked the studio whether they had given any thought to whether the Muslim female customers were possibly under pressure from their Muslim partners to attend a class without men, and whether such considerations played a role for the studio.
NiUS also asked how they understood the progressive pride flag and rainbow flag, for example as a symbol of tolerance towards the control of women by Islam.
The “VI-Dance” dance studio left the question unanswered.
Islam should be forced out of Europe at the point of a gun.