Recently in Ocean City, Md., a pole dancer set up a portable pole on the boardwalk and began dancing for tips.

Legally, there is nothing the city can do to stop her.

I hope it stays that way.

Beachgoers were outraged when Chelsea Plymale, 27, performed these standard pole tricks.
An overwhelming amount of people called her “slutty” or said pole dancing is for “trailer park dwelling skanks,” as shown in the comments section of an article at TheBlaze.com

Joe Kroart, owner of an art print shop on the boardwalk, said that the huge crowd Plymale pulled in disturbed the flow of foot traffic.

Basically, he is complaining about Plymale bringing in potential business. It is not unrealistic to say that some of those in the crowd might get an urge to check out his gallery.

“Do we want this occurring at every street end? Would you want to take your family to a resort that had pole dancers all over the boardwalk? We are talking about respect for human dignity and decency,” Kroart also said. How about respect for human choice?

The boardwalk is a designated area for street performers and for freedom of speech, according to Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan. Without First Amendment rights, the human race would not evolve. We need places like the boardwalk that allow people to express themselves.

I noticed news outlets magnifying her job as a stripper, but she was not at all nude. She wore a full-coverage bikini one day, and shorts with a sports bra the other day. If that was the big problem for people, well, welcome to the beach. Oh, the blatant irony.

She was not exaggerating sexual appeal by gyrating or twerking, but if the government makes it illegal for her to pole dance, then twerking might as well be illegal, too — you know, to keep that “family friendly” atmosphere as city spokeswoman Jessica Waters said.

Do not get out of control, though, Ocean City officials. We had better permit 10 seconds of twerking, with a minimum of 30 minutes in between each twerk to allow for the accidental, sporadic butt shake.

As ridiculous as that sounds, people blowing up situations like these could lead to overly-strict regulations that do more harm than good. Shielding children from pole dancers will teach girls that they should be ashamed to show off their bodies. To me, that is much more offensive. It is also dangerous to the self-esteem of young girls everywhere. If parents want their girls to dress in parkas their entire lives, good luck.

What is the real concern. Is it the pole? Do people think that is supposed to be some sort of innuendo? Using that logic, people equipped with the sickest minds would have dilemmas over it.

Gymnasts use poles.

The difference is they have horizontal ones.

Both gymnastics and pole dancing require strength and finesse. As a culture, Americans accept gymnasts while, at the same time, people ridicule and judge pole dancers. Let us begin rethinking these values and open our eyes to the hypocrisy.

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