Magic Mike

     I remember back in the day when Donahue was on...and the Chippendale's would be the guests for the show.  The audience full of women would hoot and holler at the tan muscle men.  It was comical.  Those women were "old".  Here I am a few decades later joining some of my girls for a night at the movies.  Sure there was a plot and a story.  Yes, indeed the characters had substance.  Uh huh....Steven Soderbergh made the movie cool.  But why did 5 chickies who lead very busy lives all make time to go to the movies on a random Tuesday night?  Well...because there were tan muscle men.
      But let me make a few points.  First off...us women have sat through many a stripper scene.  Did you go to see a movie about zebras fighting cancer only to be led astray by Nazi troops?  Guess what?  They will find a way to end up in a strip bar to talk about it.  Maybe you thought you were experiencing a cinematic treasure full of the challenges one might face in life only to find you were once again in a nudie bar.  Boys, we realize that if it is a crime movie, an action packed thriller or a superhero flick we might have to see some curves but it gets to be a bit ridiculous.  As the five of us sat down in a theater (sold out on a Tuesday night btw) we proclaimed that this was to make up for the nine thousand superfluous scenes we had to struggle through. 
     The other major point is this...we girls are silly.  We giggled and covered our eyes through some of the more obvious moments.  We laughed at the UNsexy costumes the boys wore during the dances.  We cringed at the weird angles and dance moves.  It is very different from those scenes when quiet men just stare at a girl on a pole.  We are goofballs who take every moment in life way too seriously and this is the chance to relax. 
     And guess what?  The opening scene had a naked woman...go figure.  The sighs and grunts from an audience who thought this one was for us meant the feeling was there for all.  It is hard being a normal woman in a world that supports eye candy.  I will spare you the lectures about the pressures to be beautiful.  I won't list the ways we are made to feel crappy.   I will tell you that I feel a little shift happening.  When a girl speaks out against a teen magazine, when the top bestsellers give women a new voice and when a movie like this has women cheering...it says something.  It says if karma is a bitch you boys best be worried because she has a lot of making up to do! ;)