"Lookin' for some hot stuff": The Gendered Sounds of Nudity

We talked yesterday about some of the discrepancies between male and female stripping/nudity. In the context of the two films, one of the bigger distinctions I noticed was how the music varies; upbeat disco blares in both the foreground and background of The Full Monty, while more subtle, sentimental music tracks accompany Calendar Girls. Indeed, the music seems to coincide with themes: a middle-aged "girl power" calendar for charity should be accompanied by instrumental tunes, and a struggling group of unemployed steel workers using creative means to support themselves and their families should naturally be accompanied by "Hot Stuff." But, at the same time, I think both films' use of music is deeply ingrained in something else--the power of persuasion, the power to convince the audience that both forms of traditionally unaccepted nudity are okay...and even good. And therein lies the gender stereotyping.

In order to convince an audience that public female nudity is both good and socially empowering in this instance, the filmmakers likely have to incorporate the softer sentimental tunes to evoke the emotional appeal. At times, the instrumental music is upbeat and playful--usually indicating to the audience that the group has achieved some sort of success. (And we see that with the instrumental version of the mild and happy "Sloop John B," for example.) But the music is never scandalous. No one hears "You Can Leave Your Hat On," a tune with suggestive lyrics that concludes The Full Monty.

No, that tune would align the audience with the antagonists of Calendar Girls--the prudish women's club members who initially scorn Helen Mirren's character's idea for the calendar, who believe such a display would be pornographic. As such, my overarching argument regarding the musical choices within Calendar Girls is that, to appeal to a female audience who may be against women's bodies on display (regardless of the charitable intention), other elements of soft sentimentality must be present so that the women maintain their maternal, socially acceptable femininity. Likewise, the disco music in The Full Monty makes the men (who by police and other familial institutions in the film are viewed as negative role models) seem like self-motivated, creative, and comical characters rather than mere strippers. The "Hot Stuff" number in the unemployment line, for example, makes them stand out from the crowd of stressed out job seekers; they are achieving a level of agency that is not only comical...but also stereotypically masculine.