Magic Mike – Gender
Representation
Introduction: Magic Mike is a 2012
American-comedy about a group of male strippers who teach a 19-year old and
welcome him into the world of male stripping with the main star being Channing
Tatum. The film is based on Tatum’s real life experience of being a stripper when
he was 18 years old in Tampa, Florida. The film is a perfect example of gender
representations because in some aspects the roles are reversed; it has been
described as an “interesting take on gender roles” so here are those
‘interesting takes’. The target audience being stereotypically women aged 18+
relates to the article of how men are treated in a certain way in the film.
In
the movie, men are presented as sex objects. In the media, this is very common
however more for women than men are which is why this film opens the door and
makes people realize that male objectification has never really existed before
and therefore this movie exposes that. There are several scenes throughout the
movie where the actors/strippers are dancing around half-naked with women screaming
and chucking money at them; this is encouraged in the scene when Dallas (the
leader) gets his dancers pumped up before a show saying, “whos got the cock?
You do. They don’t”. The quote makes the men
feel like they are in control, which contrasts to them being seen as objects. Therefore,
the movie could be seen as polysemic as it encourages male stripping and seeing
them as objects as well as the men still holding power over women. There are
several moments in the film where people may be offended related to gender – when
the viewers are, encourage to laugh when a large woman hurts the dancer’s back
when he picks her up. When Mike (Channing Tatum) has a homophobic reaction when
his sister thinks he is gay or the fact the story is about white men where both
women and men of colour barely exist. Therefore, the film may not be perfect in
terms of those aspects however, it does level out the playing field and the
script is being flipped so that women are not the only characters being
portrayed in a submissive light.
The camera angles
during the dance scenes where each stripper has a set scene, theme and song
that they perform too, the camera often focuses on the dancer’s abs and
buttocks requiring viewers to objectify the male actors. Where else are we
supposed to look? During one particular scene, The Kid (the new `19-year-old)
has a chance to perform and show what he has to offer; however, his shy and
uneasy nature shows a different side to a ‘male stripper’. At first, he is
presented as nervous and unsure of himself because the audience’s eyes are all
on him. The lighting in the scene seems dark and intimate with the
spotlight all on him, which probably adds to his nerves. When describing the
gaze you can relate it to Laura Mulveys male gaze just from a female’s
perspective (female gaze). Therefore, in The Kid’s performance because the gaze
is on him he feels vulnerable and looks away from the camera to show how he is
feeling – this could be seen as a feminine approach. The camera later turns to
the audience who are clapping their hands and encouraging him to take off his
clothes, this makes him gain confidence. He then picks on a girl he met earlier
during his performance and he comes to his male power, as he seems dominant and
in control despite his earlier vulnerability. Therefore, even though the men
are seen, as the sexual objects so are the women with the way they are danced
and grinded on, on stage, in front of an audience. In addition, during The
Kid’s performance the song “Like a Virgin” was appropriately played in the
background.
Men are massively sexualised in the film
(there is no doubt about that) however, they still do not seem to have much
respect for women. Stereotypically, this is not seen as a problem but if we are
talking about what someone should or should not do, this is a prime example.
Near the start of the film when Mike Lane met Adam he took him out to a bar, Mike
is preparing to get his ‘hustle on’ he encourage Adam to go up to these two
girls. At first Adam seems hesitant and says they do not look like they want to
be bothered, Mike then "Look at what she's wearing. She came here to be
bothered," he replies. This infers that depending on what a woman is
wearing depends whether a man should go up to her, which is the complete wrong
idea. Men should not assume to know what a woman wants based solely on what she
is wearing therefore, explaining my point of even though men are treated, as
sexual objects, they still should not think it is acceptable.
Moving on to the
female representations in the film, which are similar to the male
representation in terms of it being polysmeic. In several dance scenes during
the movie, women are seen throwing money at the men; if men are not allowed to
whistle or scream at women why are they allowed to ‘whoop’ and ‘holla’? If
women want men to treat them with respect, surely they should do the same back.
These moments in Hollywood is where it gets very technical and it starts to be
argues why is it one rule for men and a different for women. For example, in
the trailer for Magic Mike we clearly
see sexual double standards as the trailer frames male stripping as a ‘fantasy
life’ – imagine this term being applied to a female stripper Hollywood trailer.
So women can be seen as the objects still because the men are in control of the
women and it comes across as they are being exploited of their money and passed
around for the male sexual pleasure. This film therefore shows women in both
lights being the object as well as treating men like the object.
Stereotypically, women are considered the strippers however this film subverts
the stereotype by giving this role to the men. The women are seen as
submissive, being manipulated and exploited for money but that they need men to
be satisfied. Going back to the trailer, the text
appearing on the screens say Mike has “valued customers” and “has fans” this
could be implied that women need men. In the trailer Dallas (played by Matthew
Mcconaughey) says, “You are the husband they never had” which adds to my
inference of women needed men to fulfil certain needs – including having a
husband. This makes it seem as though time have not changed when women were
domestic whilst the men were the breadwinner showing the film as regressive.
Alternatively, because it shows men in a different light it is progressive, the
film shows the equality of men, and women in sex work as choices individuals
can make for themselves.
To conclude, male
strippers are commonly sexualised in this film and are stereotypically
presented as muscular, dominant and always in control of the women. This is
challenged as men are seen as the sexual objects when usually it is the woman.
Things are starting to change as the world become a more diverse society and
gender roles will become extinct.
Peaky Blinders – Gender
Representation
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Peaky Blinders is
a British drama TV series set in 1920s Birmingham. It aired on BBC 2 on the 13th
of September 2013 and is based on a gangster family (the peaky blinders are a
fictional gang) in England after World War 1. There are four seasons of the
programme and was named one of the most popular shows in 2017; the target
audience for the programme is considered mainstream and a highbrow performance.
In the programme, there is a clear hierarchy with the majority of the males at
the top and the women at the bottom.
In the 1920s, men
subjugated women after the First World War. The programme can be classed as
regressive as it is based on the stereotypes back in Birmingham 1920. Women
were incredibly powerful in the working-class communities. Whilst the men were
away at war, the workplace had been run perfectly well (if not better) by
women. Nevertheless, when the war was over, legislation was passed saying men
must be more preferred over women for jobs. In the Peaky Blinders, this can be
shown in the hierarchy of the household; the women are expected to take care or
the children whilst the men do all the work. In one very pertinent scene, the
season 1 finale, Ada (Tommy’s sister) decides she is going to stand in the
middle of a fight between the Peaky Blinders and their rivals Billy Kimber with
her pram and baby. This scene is very tense as she makes a very potent speech
that left viewers with a lot of respect for her. “You have all got somebody waiting
for me”, “I want you all to look at me”, “that baby ain’t moving anywhere and
neither am I”. These quotes connote a powerful and strong woman, who can stand
in the middle of a gunfight with her baby and give these over powering men a
speech. This shows how the women of the Peaky Blinders may be domesticated but
are very strong and will always stand up for themselves. Elsewhere in the
programme, there are several female roles however, in season 1 there was a
particular woman who caught Tommy’s eye: Grace Burgess. She was a sweet, blonde
haired woman who turned out to be with British Government trying to take down
the Peaky Blinders but instead she fell in love with him as he did her. When she first came to town, she
wanted to work at the bar, which defies the stereotype of women, as it is
highly unacceptable for a woman to do this. Therefore, she subverts the
stereotype showing how women had some kind of control in this era. It is very
easy to label Grace as a liar, cheat and troublemaker but she does whatever she
believes is best for her, which is seen as refreshing for a woman to be selfish
on screen.
Thomas Shelby is a violent gangster, he is
dominant and classed as a womaniser. He uses his prestige and wealth to take
advantage of several situations including women. Tommy is the alpha male and in
charge of the family, he runs the household, he runs the business and he runs
the Peaky Blinders. Even though he is presented as a powerful man’s man, he is
also represented as a vulnerable character at the end of season 2. Chester
Campbell who is part of the government and tries to take him down, captures
Tommy, he starts to make peace with his death. He becomes aggressive that’s he
hates everything and that there is a woman out there that he loves – after he
has been wanting to die for years, he finds a reason not to by falling in love
with Grace only to be back to where he wants to die again. Fortunately, he does
not die and is rescued but the scene is very heart wrenching because he had
come to terms with dying; now he was back at square on. Therefore, this
subverts the stereotype of men in the 1920s because men were supposed to be
seen as strong and masculine and not crying and emotional. It shows how loyal
he is because he will do anything to protect his friends and family even if it
shows his vulnerability. Stereotypically, Tommy is presumed to always have a
woman on his arm but when with Grace he cannot keep up the profile so in season
3, to continue his womanizing lifestyle Grace is shot and a Russian spy takes
her place. This makes it seem as though Tommy follows the gender roles and
representation of the time period however, to his credit, Tommy does not care
if it is a man or woman doing what he needs to be done. Therefore, it is not
surprising that in a family like the Shelby’s, strong, intelligent women would
rise to the top.
Women
like Aunt Polly are strong, intelligent and independent. She is considered the
queen bee, the leader of the pack, the mother hen - she competes with Tommy to
run the household and creates a problem with gender roles because of the power
she has over him. Though he never explicitly says it, Tommy knows his empire
would be nothing without his aunt. Aunt Polly is as tough as nails’, yet
extremely broken (because she had her two children taken away from her when
they were born) – she had a wound that never healed until she found one of her
sons Michael in season 2. When Tommy isn’t around Aunt Polly is always the one
put in charge, in the episode of season 3 episode 4, Linda arrives at the
betting business where all the ladies are working and explains that a lady
steward would be initiating a walk out for women who are paid low income, poor
working conditions and sanitary conveniences. This scene shows that gender
roles were very prominent after the men came back from the war and they were
still treated with no respect. Aunt Polly is not very keen on Linda however;
she says, “Fuck it. Let’s go to the Bull Ring” and all the women walk out. It
is a very powerful scene and they use a long shot camera angle to get the women
walking towards the camera in slow motion. The use of the long shot shows the
different outfits they are wearing which shows their wealth. Esme (the pregnant
one) is wearing quite dull and inexpensive clothing, which compares to Polly
who has a cigarette in her mouth, sunglasses and a marble trench coat. Overall,
Aunt Polly is one of the dominating females of the cast as she has the power to
sway Tommy’s ideas and manipulate him to make sure he does the right thing for
himself and the Shelby family.
To conclude, even
though the cast of the Peaky Blinders programme is predominantly men and based
on sex, drugs and violence, there are a lot of women who disrupt the roles in
‘post-war society’. The women of the programme do their best to make sure they
are heard and the men in the family do their best to support it showing that in
this family environment women were encouraged to do more, rather than to do
nothing.
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