Is pole dancing an appropriate activity for young children? Believe it or not, that’s been a hot topic that has been at the center of debate on the internet over the course of the last few years. And most recently, a mother has come under fire after a video of her toddler pole dancing went viral on Facebook.
The video, which you can watch above, was posted on Mediatakeout’s Facebook page on Monday and has been viewed more than 360,000 times since. The 18-second clip features grainy footage of the mother watching her daughter slide from the top of the pole to the bottom of it, and it ends with the mother applauding her once she finishes.
The video has been shared more than 2,000 times, and it also has more than 2,000 comments on it, with many people blasting the mom for allowing the toddler to spend time on the pole.
"This is disgraceful," one commenter wrote. "And the fact they are recording and glamorizing this shows the child this is a way she can get attention."
Others have defended the mother, though, and suggested that the daughter may have just wandered into the room while the mother was using the pole to work out.
"Ok everytime you see a pole doesn’t always mean stripper," another commenter wrote. "There are actual pole dancing classes that don’t involve taking off clothes for money."
For what it’s worth, a woman named Ashley Wright—who started going by the name "The Pole Dancing Mom"—made headlines back in 2015 after a similar video featuring her and her young daughter went viral. She later appeared on the CBS show, The Doctors, and defended herself and the video of her daughter mimicking her moves on the pole.
It’s unclear if that’s what was happening in this latest video. But whatever the case, it has stirred up strong feelings on both sides and generated the kind of reaction we have all come to expect when it comes to kids and pole dancing.
