Stripper aerobics comes to the Union

The Campus Women’s Organization was looking for a way to spice up workouts.

The group’s solution: stripper aerobics.

On Tuesday night, the group held “Safe Sex and Stripper Aerobics” at the William Pitt Union as a fun way to join members together for awareness and action.

“We created this event to promote involvement with the REAL Act,” said Lauren Baines, vice-president of the Campus Women’s Organization.

The Responsible Education About Life Act is an effort to ensure responsible sexual health education in schools through political legislation. CWO is working on obtaining signatures in support of the act and hopes to combat the “abstinence-only” method of education that is currently in place in many schools.

The night began with a PowerPoint presentation about the “dos and don’ts” of safe sex and a quick tutorial about prevalent sexually transmitted infections.

“You get the info in high school, but it’s always good to be informed on the latest and greatest news,” sophomore Erin McGaw said.

McGaw is a student in Pitt’s Women’s Studies program and like other members, said she came to the event to participate in something that she had never tried before.

For the second half of the event, about 40 attendees — most of whom were women — watched and danced along to Carmen Electra’s “Aerobic Striptease” DVD. Beginning with a stretch warm-up, Electra led the group through hip rolls, squats, splits and bends.

Within half an hour, the group had learned an entire hip-hop dance routine.

“It was really easygoing, and I met a lot of cool people. Like Carmen said, ‘Sexiness is all about you,’” sophomore Mike Pesce said.

Anne Hays, fitness coordinator of the Department of Health and Physical Activity, said that she couldn’t comment on the health benefits of stripper aerobics, but that aerobic workouts in general are healthy.

“Aerobic activity, in general, provides a dose-response relationship — the more you do it, the more benefits you receive,” Hays said.

She said aerobic workouts have been proven to help with weight management, increased stamina and disease prevention.

CWO plans to host more events like last night’s, such as an event to promote body image in October. Its next big event, which is called Take Back the Night, will be on Oct. 15 and will work to spread awareness against domestic violence.