Ashlie Hardway Viewpoint: ‘Fit’ To Be Tried

by ABC-7 Anchor/Reporter Ashlie Hardway

If you were watching ABC-7 after the NBA finals (6/4), you probably saw a story I did on Fit Pole. It’s a workout studio on Lee Trevino that specializes in fitness using tall metal poles commonly seen in strip clubs. The studio’s owner insists her business is about getting customers in shape and increasing their self-esteem. Even though the business looks like a training ground for strippers, she says it’s the farthest thing from that.

Let me preface this by saying – if you saw the story and hated it, then nothing I could ever say will change your mind. If you loved it – again, nothing will change your mind. This explanation is for those who are wondering what we were thinking.

Pole fitness is an actual sport with an actual association (www.polefitnessassociation.com). In fact, the association is petitioning for acceptance in the 2012 Olympics. As I can attest after trying it out for about 10 minutes, it does require an enormous amount of strength to pull off. Unlike exotic dancing, Fit Pole customers leave their clothes on. At adult clubs, dancers do use a pole but they remove their clothing. However, customers also wear the sky-high shoes often seen in strip clubs.

We showed the customers working out, their shoes, and their moves. To put it lightly, our story wasn’t loved by all – but honestly, few ever are. People who wrote in were upset at our choice of story, stating it was inappropriate and too much for TV. I beg to differ.

The whole reason for doing the story was to differentiate between adult entertainment and a fitness class. That’s the whole point of the business and the association; to delineate between explicit and exercise. As I expected, some people were not able to make that delineation; some simply thought the story was about sex and wrote it off as a “too hot for TV” story promoting questionable behavior. I’ll be the first to admit, it’s hard to look at a woman in shorts, a tank top and high shoes swinging on a pole without passing judgment, but that’s why reporters tell stories and don’t just show pictures.

If you paid attention to the story, you would have noticed I profiled a mother-daughter team who are taking the class together. The daughter, Crystal, is 18. Leticia from the Lower Valley wrote into ABC-7 Listens and stated she and her 15-year-old daughter were “outraged” that Crystal and her mother would choose such a way to spend their time together. I think what people often forget is that what works for one person (or family) isn’t going to work for everyone. While Leticia suggested going to a play or an educational event, that isn’t what Rosemary and her daughter decided to do. If that’s what they want to do, they have that right as free citizens.

I’m not going to say whether I think the class is a good idea or not; it’s not my job. But some have criticized my decision to try it out, saying I feed into the “dumb blonde” stereotype or that I shouldn’t have gotten involved with the story. Let me first point out that I was the only blonde in the class (and I am not even signed up to take it). Second, as reporters we often “try” something out for the sake of the story so we have a better idea what our interviewees are going through.

I have to say, I have done a lot of stories. I have knocked on doors of victims’ families, chased down suspected criminals and questioned politicians about their behavior, but I can honestly say trying out this class for just a few minutes was one of the more difficult things I’ve had to do. I was a bit squeamish at first – would I look silly? Would I hurt my credibility? In the end, I determined if these women could do it week after week, I could give it a shot. And to be honest, it IS a pretty good workout!

To criticize me for trying it is rather unfair; after all, do we criticize reporters who stand in the rain during a weather story, or reporters who test different foods or reporters who test out tazers/4-wheelers/etc. for a story?

My mother is staying with me to watch my daughter while my husband and I are at work. When I got home after the story aired, I asked her what she thought about it. She admitted it was a bit surprising to see her daughter on a pole. I asked her if she wasn’t my mother, what she would think about the reporter and the story. She said she would think the reporter was just doing her job. Mind you, my mother is just like any other viewer; she doesn’t watch intently and take notes. She just watches. Sometimes she misses details or misinterprets things. She doesn’t notice things somebody “in the business” does, which is why I love asking her for her opinion.

Does taking a class using a pole mean these women are strippers? No; no more than it means a gun owner is going to go on a killing spree. Do I think this is a hard-hitting piece of journalistic excellence destined to serve as a model for undergraduates? Absolutely not. It was merely a story showcasing a new form of exercise that is already very popular in the Borderland, and seeing the new trend through the eyes of two women from different generations.