My Menopause Blog: Pole Dancing

Christmas eve, 1997 got captured in the most brilliant of polaroids. There's me, my man, 2 Thai strippers and a transvestite with a Santa hat on. The backdrop, a bar in Bangkok red light district.

I'm looking white, plain and whipped from a 40 hour travel marathon. My man is laughing his head off.

It was a quite night in the bar, what with every good girl and boy tucked in bed waiting for the jolly, fat guy to show. Contrary to popular tradition, we had opted out of sugar plums dancing in our dreams and had intentionally headed to a country free of Christmas. Sure, cotton balls, did hang from a few palm trees and Santa hats crowned heads of various sex workers, but ho, ho, ho was no, no, no where to be heard.

The strippers, clearly disinterested in everything in sight, grabbed the pole mounted on the stage and did a few moves. Then they sat down with us and chatted in that broken English way that I love. Did we have children? Where were we from? How cold was it in Canada?

I asked them if they liked dancing but our wires got crossed and instead they heard that I wanted to try dancing. Excited they tried their best to urge me to the stage.

Way back in the depths of the 80's I found myself backstage at a Supertramp, Chris deBurge concert in Struttgart Germany. My man of the moment was in Chris's band. As the all day, outdoor, 100,000 attendee, music event unfolded, the stage manager approached me holding a hanger with some scarlet coloured, glittery shreds of material draped over it. Apparently, the stripper who performed live to Chris's tune 'Patricia The Stripper' had not arrived in time. They needed a substitute and I fit the mould.

Pole Dancing was featured on the front page of our local newspaper a couple of weeks ago. Apparently, it's all the rage and is no longer considered too sexy or dirty for the average gal.
Women are erecting poles in their homes, say no more, and dancing their way to health and better sex lives.

Ten and 20 years ago, my self confidence was no where near today's level. So what I'm about to recommend, as a menopause remedy for moodiness, hot flashes, and lack of interest, comes out of this new territory within myself.

Why not give the pole dancing a swing. At the very least, you'll build up your arms. Beyond that, Bangkok beckons.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause