A movie franchise that has complex, well-written, characters, presents a refreshing view to cinema, sparks important debates, shows growth from one movie to the next and is loved by many.
What is this masterpiece I’m describing, you ask?
The Magic Mike trilogy.
Please hold all eye rolls until the end of this article.
Ever since the first movie came out in June 29th of 2012, Magic Mike has been torn apart and dismembered by critics, scrutinized from the lens of the female gaze, the male gaze, and last but not least, got asked the impossible-to-answer question “Are you feminist enough?”. These critical takes, however, tend to only focus on one thing; the fact that in these movies, men are portrayed as an object of sexual desire. In fact, if the only judgement you have of this trilogy is based on these takes you might think, as I used to, that these movies have no artistic value, and that their entertainment potential lies solely on half naked men getting even more naked, while a theatre full of straight white women cheer.
Yet, 85 percent of the first movie alone is focused on telling stories of struggling characters with real world problems, and furthermore, the dancing that is featured in the movies, especially in the last one, has been celebrated as being genuinely well-choreographed. I want to make it clear that this article isn’t just a defence of this trilogy, but a questioning as to why people are so quick to criticize the very small part of it that flips the narrative on objectification.
The way men are objectified in Magic Mike is completely different to how women have been objectified and are still being objectified to this day. Yes, there’s no denying the fact that there are attractive and idealised bodies of men on display, but these men are likeable, well-developed characters, in fact I’d argue that their main appeal is the way that they oppose any trait that could be described as toxically masculine. They are extremely respectful of women, they’re fully aware of traits that would make them harmful to society as a whole, and their words and actions completely oppose those traits. Essentially, they understand the fundamental truth that no matter how hard their life gets, it should never be an excuse to not be a good person.
Opposing this, when women are sexualised, their bodies are the only thing that matters. When movies like these are celebrated, they’re always met with critics saying that if a movie was made about female stripping, and it targeted audiences of straight men who wanted to look at half naked women for two hours, it would be met with harsh criticism by the same people who love the Magic Mike franchise. One such critic is Aaron Chang, with his article titled “Magic Mike and Feminism’s Double Standard”. The question Chang asks is “Why can women get away with treating men like AAA steaks, or rather, why can’t men do the same?” This article, like many that criticize this franchise, takes one response from a few women, and applies it to the whole of the feminist movement.
Furthermore, critics like Chang entirely miss (or purposely ignore) the point made in defence of this franchise against such criticism. The issue is that as opposed to men, women aren’t just sexualised when they’re doing something outwardly sexual, in this case stripping, it’s something that’s constant. Just look at the endless array of “sexy” Halloween costumes that are advertised for women. Apart from the obvious schoolgirl, policewoman, nun, cat woman, nurses etc etc, in 2018 the lingerie company Yandy released a sexy maiden costume inspired by the HBO show adaptation of Handmaids Tale.
The issue is that while men are only sexualised in movies like Magic Mike, women have to face the fact that they’ll be sexualised every time they choose to become nurses or cheerleaders. Every time they become CEO’s, nuns, students, teachers.
Every time they have to walk home by themselves.
Of course, one could also be against these movies because they are against objectification as a whole, which is an honourable stance to take, an unrealistic one. As long as sex exists, objectification exists. All we can do is even out the playing field.
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