Who We Are

Jezebel Studio is a queer (pole) dance space based in Brussels. Our focus is on movement, performance, physical awareness, and community. We aim to create an inclusive and safer space for queer people and people from marginalized identities to move, train, perform, gather and discover sensuality, gender and performance in a non-judgemental and destigmatised environment. 

We in no way distance ourselves from the origins of pole and erotic dance. On the contrary, we acknowledge, honour, and thank strippers and sex workers who created and continue to shape this art form. At the same time, Jezebel Studio is not a strip club and coming to the studio and attending classes doesn’t make you a stripper either. Not to confuse this with movements such as #notastripper, which we don’t stand by.

Clarifying Terms

The Jezebel teachers are - among other things - artists, creating performances centered around pole dance, erotic performance, and experimental club formats. While these performances may include erotic or sensual elements, this is not the same as working in a strip club. This distinction matters.

• A stripper works in a strip club.

• An erotic/sensual performer performs erotic or sensual acts on stage (in cabaret, theatre, queer events, nightlife spaces, etc.), but is not necessarily a stripper.

• A sex worker is an umbrella term that includes strippers and many other professions within the sex industry.

There are overlapping aesthetics - nudity, sensuality, the act of undressing - but the working conditions, risks, and material realities mostly are very different.

Being transparent as a studio also means stating clearly: the founders and current managers are erotic performers and some have or are engaged in sex work. But currently, when posting this, they are not active as strippers in a strip club. Some teachers at Jezebel Studio are active in sex work and/or stripping. These lived experiences and knowledges matter and are important to the studio's class offers, pedagogy and ethics. 

However, every teacher has the right to privacy. No one is required to disclose their work history or identity for the sake of hype, credibility, or representation. You might project assumptions onto your teachers - please be aware that you do not know someone’s personal history unless they choose to share it. The same thing counts for fellow students.

How to avoid glamourizing SW and stripping?

In certain cultural scenes, stripping is framed as “cool,” “empowering,” or “trendy,” especially through social media and queer nightlife aesthetics. At the same time, queer communities are reshaping erotic performance spaces once dominated by the cisheterosexual male gaze. New, hybrid formats are emerging, and this evolution is worth celebrating. 

This shift should not romanticize or obscure the realities of people working in traditional strip clubs. For many - particularly in Europe - strip club labor involves economic precarity, social stigma, border politics, unsafe conditions, harassment, racism, transphobia, fatphobia, and strict rules around silence and discretion. 

Queer and alternative spaces may aim for better consent practices, fairer pay, and inclusivity. Yet harassment and discrimination still occur there as well. However, the material conditions remain different from those in traditional clubs.

When stripping aesthetics are adopted without acknowledging these realities, it can create a glamorized narrative that erases ongoing struggles. This dynamic is sometimes called “whorebaiting”: appropriating sex work labels or aesthetics for visibility or profit without sharing the associated risks. Taking the appealing aspects of stripper culture while distancing oneself from the stigma faced by sex workers mirrors cultural appropriation - benefiting some while leaving others exposed. 

What Does Allyship Look Like?

If you are a student, pole dancer, or aspiring performer, here are some starting points:

Education
Learn about the history of pole dance. Follow and listen to strippers and sex workers. Attend talks and read beyond social media captions.

Material support
Donate to sex worker organizations if you can. Attend events led by sex workers. Share their work. Show up at demonstrations. 

Positionality
If you are not a stripper, do not label yourself as one for aesthetics or ambiguity. If you perform erotic work, reflect on how you position it publicly. 

Reflection
Ask yourself: Who benefits from my performance, branding, or use of a certain language? Who might be erased?

Challenge projections
Pole dancing or attending erotic events does not automatically equal solidarity. Allyship requires ongoing self-critique and action.

Demonization
While celebrating the aforementioned new hybrid formats, it’s also important to not demonize the reality of strippers & sexworkers who rely on the male gaze and capitalist industries to work and survive.Comments such as “I am so happy there are no cishet man here.” during these hybrid formats are understandable and come from a need for safer spaces but can also be harmful to sexworkers who created the codes you might be looking at, and thus inducing erasure of their work.

Our Commitment

As Jezebel Studio, we commit to:

• Acknowledging and honoring the roots of pole dance in stripper culture.

• Being transparent about who we are and who we are not.

• Continuing internal discussions about representation and responsibility.

• Centering allyship within the frame of our studio and teacher team.

We continue to learn. We invite you to learn with us.

With care,
The Jezebel Studio Team