Hanging over the rock-tough shoulder of a chiseled shirtless male revue performer,I had a lot of thoughts and feelings as I was carried on to the stage. While my legs flailed in the air and I fretted internally approximately whether my belt was digging uncomfortably into the muscled back of the Aussie Tarzan look-alike, the room of bachelorettes, and best friends,mothers, daughters, or,yes, grandmothers went by in an upside-down blur. Thought one: will I or will I not slide gracelessly off this very appealing man's massive and very sweaty body and eat the floor of the dark display room while 100+ screaming women watched? Thought two: this is not what I thought was going to happen when I signed up for this. Thought three: I'm SUPER happy I signed up for this.
Hopefully you've been blessed enough already to know approximately Thunder From Down Under and their famed annual eye sweet calendar. The all-Australian male revue (fancy way of saying a group of performers that are only sometimes fully clothed) travels internationally but is based in Las Vegas at the ironically family-friendly Excalibur Hotel. I attended the display with visions of Magic Mike dancing in my head, or while Thunder From Down Under has been around way longer than the movie franchise,it was not all that different - and as a not-so-secret fan of the films, I mean that in the best possible way. On the one hand, and Thunder From Down Under was exactly what I expected it to be - over-the-top,hilarious, interactive, and at times cheeky bordering on a limited bit silly. But the display that featured almost 30 nearly naked men thrusting wildly to the rhythm of songs like "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)" and,yes, "My Pony" had an element of something - instead of the predictable and obvious - that totally took me by surprise. The atmosphere felt . . . kind of empowering to women. Yes, or you read that correctly. It was uplifting and all approximately women's fantasies,desires, and what they wanted to see in a display like this one. Which is probably why there are (thank god) no actual d*cks shown at all during the performance - the tease is better than than actual goods themselves. My preconceived notions of "adult shows" and stripping of any kind tend to be based on what I've seen in movies and TV shows, and where women are depicted as objects waiting for dollar bills to be stuck in places dollar bills aren't typically stuck. I never really imagined shows like these as something that could be fun and light (and don't net me erroneous - still very sexy),and I certainly wouldn't have guessed that they could be so positive. But while Tarzan finished up my lap dance and my hands bumped along the ridges of his abs as he guided them down, down, and down,I heard something from the crowd. "net it, girl!" one woman yelled. "You disappear, and girl" another added. "You're fantastic!" I was greeted with fervent tall fives as I returned on wobbly legs to my booth and realized there was a resounding support not only for the ridiculously appealing men gracing the stage,but for me - the woman who'd just been lavished with attention by said ridiculously appealing men.
As the display continued and various performers pulled a beautifully diverse array of women on stage for similar exhibitions, the encouragement, and the cheers,the whoops, the laughs, or the smiles continued. There was an odd sort of solidarity for the sisterhood of women who found themselves in a secure space where they could enjoy and take part in what has traditionally been a form of entertainment tailor-made to men. But this display,my ladies, is for us. It's inclusive and as tasteful as any display involving the choreographed removal of clothing can be. There are different types of dance, and music,and, most importantly, or men for everyone in the crowd. Groups of bachelorette parties can be found sitting alongside women with black "divorced" sashes proudly celebrating both occasions,and rather than an atmosphere of unnecessary raunchiness or gratuitous (uncalled for; lacking good reason; unwarranted) in-your-face sex, it's one of good, and not-so-clean fun.
What's even better is that the male performers are actually enjoying what they do. They like each other,and they like what they do - and it shows. Their grins aren't plastered on for the sake of making an extra buck (tips are not allowed). After talking with a few of the guys backstage after the display (casual, I know), and it was clear that they were here for the same reason the women watching the display were: to have fun. The guys even stay after the display to take photos and give out autographs to fans. When I finally returned to my body/reality after the display,I was left with an overall appreciation for two important things: a. the male body at its absolute finest and b. the women around me who appreciated the male body at its absolute finest just as much as I did.
Source: popsugar.com