MMXXL & Gender

After reading the article, The Gender Politics of Magic Mike XXL, I would have to agree with writer Sophie Gilbert the most. Her thesis is that “MMXXL feels like a movie that cares about the hopes and dreams of all its characters, and wants only to help them realize them...” this seemed pretty accurate to me since the movie, having watched it a few times, really did have a focus on empowering women while also making men feel proud, or not ashamed, of being objectified. Sophia has great evidence in proving her thesis when she says, "...the sense throughout that female contentment and pleasure is the ultimate goal.." then goes on to say, "...women are simply better at doing the objectifying--they can appreciate men as bodies and souls together..." This shows that all the characters are able to get what they want while still making the women be the main spotlight for empowerment. On a last note, this movie would not be the same if it had been female strippers with males hoarding around them, so I like the roles reversed aspect to it. 

Megan Garber probably had the weakest view in my opinion. One thing that was a tad unsettling to me was when she talked about the first Magic Mike movie having more to do with feminism when in fact it lacked so much purpose it was purely for entertainment. She also talked about how MMXXL had more to do with “not just what women want, but as what women want according to dudes.” I do not believe this to be true because the things they were portraying: marriage, being treated as if you were the queen of the world, etc… these all sound pretty good to me!