I'm Always Serious And Angry, Okay? Eat It.

      "Magic Mike." Remember that? Gosh, that movie was a big fucking deal for a while. I have a lot of mixed emotions about it. Wanna hear them? Cool.
     So, my initial reaction was all like, "Hey! A movie about male strippers! Finally!" I had this reaction because I thought it was kind of neat that men were finally being looked at the way women have been looked at for years and years and years. I thought it was cool that there was a sort of equality in this regard, if that makes sense. After a while, though, I realized that other women weren't really thinking about it like this. They weren't really thinking about it in terms of equality. They liked that there were just naked men up on their TVs, dancing around in front of them that they didn't have to know or talk to or necessarily like at all, for that matter. Women were objectifying men. And I get it, you know? It's hard (pun not intended) to not be into stuff like that when you're a sexual being. But there has to be a line, and I drew the damn line: I didn't ever watch it.
     I felt wrong about it; the whole concept. I didn't know how I could justify looking at those kind of images when objectification of women makes me so uncomfortable. And the fact that so many people were okay with a movie like this pisses me off. First of all, men. Guys. I know that you were uncomfortable with this movie. You were uncomfortable with your girlfriends watching it. You were uncomfortable because Channing Tatum has the body of a god and you "don't" (you do, I just mean in the eyes of a society that hates normal-looking bodies - you're beautiful). Come on, guys. Women have had to deal with scantily clad women with guns in their garter belts, Lara Croft, the obligatory "I-run-around-in-panties" girl in horror movies, etc. Deal with it. It makes me mad that men were uncomfortable with this movie based solely on the fact that they were finally being objectified the way we are CONTINUOUSLY objectified. I'm not saying I agree with this movie in any way, I'm just saying that this happened and you should accept it because we've been accepting shitty soft-core, B-list movies with surgically "improved" labias all up in our faces for long enough. This is pay back. You don't deserve it, but there it is. Sorry about my harsh attitude, but it's the truth, kids.
     Secondly, here's no way in hell this movie ever should have been made. My thirteen-year old sister wanted to watch this movie so badly and I had to explain to her exactly why I wasn't taking her and exactly why she should tell all of her friends not to watch it. A person exploring his/her sexuality is very important, especially in the early teen years, but not through pornography. And that's what this movie is - pornography. I know that a lot of people reading this are gonna be like, "Oh, Jenelle! You're so serious! Just relax!" But I'm not going to fucking "relax". Ever. I disagree with the porn industry more than I can even begin to express and that doesn't change with gender, you know? Why should it? The human body is a sacred thing. I will repeat that over and over, throughout all of my blogs forever, I swear. People should not be seen as objects, no matter what gender. Young girls should be learning about the beauty of male (and female) bodies in rational, loving ways, not through the vicious sweat and violence of stripping and porn, just as young boys should be learning about the magnificence of the bodies of women (and men). We all need to be treated with respect and love.
     The reason I brought this up is because I was scrolling through my cute little Facebook news feed and I saw a picture comparing Channing Tatum to some other dashing fellow, both with their shirts off. The caption said: "'Like' for Channing, comment for [insert other dude's name here]!" And I thought, "Would I be cool with this if there were two beautiful women with their shirts off, being judged by the world of Facebook based solely on how closely their bodies come to society's idea of 'hot'?" No, I would not be cool with it. Because of this, I am not cool with objectification of men. I am not cool with objectification of anyone. All people have personalities, all people are beautiful, in their bodies and minds, and all people deserve respect. In case my point here isn't clear, I HATE OBJECTIFICATION.
     Jen, out.

P.S. My "Person of the Week" post will be coming soon. It has to do with "Girls" (*hushed whispers and excitement in the crowd*). Bye.