(P)oppas

On a Korean male stripper show and changing beauty norms

FOR a large part of the recent past, Caucasian men have mostly occupied the space reserved for sexual fantasies (think The Chippendales and Magic Mike). Judging by The Man Alive Choice show late last December at the City of Dreams Manila, perhaps that sentiment is changing.

The Man Alive Choice is a body show starring 10 men, the concept imported from South Korea. They were in the Philippines from Dec. 27 to 28, performing at the Grand Ballroom of the aforementioned resort. The 10 men (whose Instagram handles were thoughtfully provided on the program) were muscular, but had boyishly, definitely East Asian looks that tend to subvert the image of the man body shows like these tend to emphasize (think Joe Manganiello from Magic Mike).

No photos or videos were allowed to be taken on the evening of Dec. 27, even in the VIP and SVIP sections where BusinessWorld was seated (tickets cost P10,000 for our section; SVIP Cost P15,000, which came with a dinner. There were cheaper tickets). We noted quite an audience mix: younger effeminate men in their early 20s, polished women in their 30s, and meek-looking aunts in their 50s and up (we note that this is also the demographic we tend to hear talking about K-dramas and K-pop). While dragging along husbands or sons (which led to interesting comments from the gentleman behind me seated with his wife), the aunts weren’t so meek when the Man Alive Choice boys approached them. We also note that this is The Man Alive’s first sojourn outside South Korea, and their first all-gender show (they have an exclusively female audience in Seoul; more on that later).

THE SHOW
The men came out on the stage through parting LED screens, wearing elegant dinner jackets (without shirts underneath), much to the crowd’s excitement. We also note they are a wonderful advertisement for K-beauty — these men literally glowed. After the pop-sounding opening number, they lipsynced The Man Alive theme, with several parts of it with Korean lyrics.

This was followed by a trance-y electronic number with flashing white lights. The guys came out in white evening jackets this time, each draped with a black sash pinned with brooches. The guys left the stage and approached the audience, taking their jackets off, and one even kissed an aunt on the cheek. They then changed into gladiator outfits with leather skirts and bondage harnesses, while lipsyncing pirate chants.

With a quick costume change, one of the guys came out, while dragging one of the titas onstage. He stripped off his business-coded pinstripe outfit, revealing a leather harness underneath it. Another dancer appeared, dressed in leather briefs, to be dominated by the guy (formerly) in the pinstripe suit. The fellow in the leather briefs ripped the pinstripe pants off the first guy, showing that both of them were in S&M gear. The audience cheered — surprisingly, even the men with their wives were also enthusiastic. 

Next, two guys in camouflage pants tease a blond inside a rotating cage, later joined by an officer in leather. The manacled prisoner ran to the audience and motioned for release, but surprisingly, the manacles turned into a leash, which his captors used to control him (to this, the aunts in the audience shouted “Wow!” while the dad behind me said, “Is that it?” in Filipino). The aunts cheered for the blond when he clapped the officer in the cage — but the cheers were even louder when they feinted a kiss.

After the dangerous and thrilling cage segment, they cleaned up their act a little when they brought out four of the boys in preppy blazers, lip-syncing to a wholesome-sounding, bouncy K-pop song. Most of the guys left the stage, leaving just one behind, who then stripped off his preppy look, slowly showing off his underwear (the waistband of which was printed with the show’s name). Two others join him in just towels, then the trio runs off the stage to the audience, offering a touch and a grind (one tita enthusiastically raised her hands for a turn). After a song change, they stayed offstage with audience members, the hands of ladies in sundresses laying on their chests. Meanwhile, more Man Alive guys appeared onstage, this time to give a lap dance to a girl picked from the audience.

Another woman was chosen to go onstage, to the tune of Ginuwine’s “Pony” (by now a classic male stripper song). Given a lap dance, she was joined by four more men. The poor lady onstage expressed some surprise, but a host asked for more ladies to go up the stage, one for every extra man, provided they weren’t wearing skirts or shorts.

The show’s climax was announced: a wedding scene, where a lucky audience member drawn from a raffle went onstage, to be “married” to one of the Man Alive men, dressed in white. The rest of the group, in red suspenders and jumpsuits, guided the pair to a leather hammock. On the hammock, the “groom” bucked and grinded on his “bride,” then took off his pants, revealing slick vinyl underwear.

For their final number, they took another audience member onstage, where the men, wearing tactical-style action-star gear “fought” over her in an urban rescue fantasy. They ripped their pants off to reveal that they were all wearing matching Man Alive underwear, then they leaped offstage to show them off.

The men each gave a dance number where they came out one by one wearing just jeans, then bade the audience goodbye. However, the host announced that the men would come out for an encore if the audience screamed loud enough (and they did). The men danced to “One Night Only” from Dreamgirls, wearing denim jackets. They danced all the way to the very back of the room, the one time they allowed cameras during the show. The whole show lasted exactly an hour.

MIXED COMPANY
Reg Rodriguez, marketing head of Rabbithole Entertainment Production, said that they first encountered the show in Seoul and Jeju. She explains why it was such a big deal for the Philippine production to be The Man Alive Choice’s first all-gender audience show.

“Apparently, in Korea, it’s super-traditional. It’s really to protect the (LGBTQ+) audience. They’re very conservative, that there’s still a stigma in watching these kinds of shows,” she told BusinessWorld in an interview.

As an example, a report from Amnesty International (“South Korea: Serving in silence: LGBTI people in South Korea’s military”) cites that while same-sex sexual activity is legal between civilians, Article 92-6 of the Military Criminal Act punishes sexual activity between men in military service with up to two years in prison (note the kiss in the military-style skit mentioned earlier). The report cited accounts of gender-based discrimination and harassment within and beyond the ranks (such as a lack of recognition for same-sex couples under the law, and a lack of protection for discrimination based on gender identity).

“Here in the Philippines, I feel like we’re more progressive,” she said. “That’s why they’re also open to hold an all-gender show.”

It is interesting to note that the Philippines’ own SOGIE (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression) Equality Bill that would give similar protection against gender-based discrimination is yet to be passed into law — putting us on equal footing with South Korea on that regard.

On the subversion of usually Western beauty standards in the show, Ms. Rodriguez pointed out that “The Philippines has been under a K-fever, with K-pop, K-drama; K-food, even,” saying, “What’s also interesting to note is that when we talk about beauty standards, we’ve shifted from a more Western gaze to a more Eastern gaze. We’re really embracing it, because we’ve been exposed, and were seeing them, and we’re getting to know them more.”

She also emphasized that aside from appearance, there’s a difference between the Western man shows we’ve been used to, and this bit from Korea. “That’s what makes Man Alive different. They bring a charming Korean twist — you can’t find it in Western shows.” — Joseph L. Garcia