A Southern California woman is being accused of child endangerment after a video of her engaging in an exotic pole dance, with a toddler strapped to her back, went viral.
The woman, Ashley Wright, was under fire earlier this year after she released a similar video on YouTube, as critics took to the site to call her out for her parenting style. In the aforementioned video, Ms. Wright was ridiculed for dancing provocatively on the silver pole in front of her child.
“I’ve been called names like ‘stripper’ and ‘bad parent’ and while I understand, remarks like these are sometimes from people who were taught to shame their bodies,” said Wright.
“People are mostly supportive, though, and say that I’m teaching my daughter how to love herself unconditionally,” explained the pole dancing single mother.
Despite the backlash, Wright continues to defend her right to pole dance, as she insists it represents a strong mother-daughter bond. She adds that her daughter, Shannon, “enjoys it so much” and that it’s completely “normal” to her.
The latest video has been viewed nearly half a million times on YouTube and has received hundreds of comments since it was posted.
Critics weigh-in, via The Daily Mail:
No matter how good of a dancer you are, you WILL mess up and fall, severely injuring or even killing your baby. A VERY unnecessary risk and very foolish [sic].
Yes, because slinging my child around on a pole is a great safe way to enjoy the day. I couldn’t care less about the fact that it’s pole dancing. It’s the fact that you are doing it with your child on your back.
If you slip you could crush her. But since you decided to do this I’m almost certain you weren’t thinking about that but instead thinking about how to get 15 second of fame on the Internet. Parent of the year goes to…
Wright describes herself as an “attachment parent” and confessed to wearing Shannon on a sling, both on and off the pole, while she conducts her everyday business.
Furthermore, Wright breastfeeds and co-sleeps with her toddler at night, and believes pole dancing isn’t reflective of her parenting beliefs. She may lose her dancing partner soon, however, as her daughter continues to grow.
“Shannon isn’t heavy, and although I have years of strength training in order to pole dance while wearing her,” Wright told Yahoo Parenting. “That dance was exhausting.”
To read more of Wright’s tips on parenting click here. (Warning: Graphic images found in link)
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