‘My sleeves may be green but my lipstick’s red’: Deconstructing the ‘feminism’ in Six

Abstract

This article questions the critical appraisal of Six as a feminist musical and as a step forward for gender equality within the British theatre industry. When the show is viewed through a feminist lens, it is clear that, far from challenging the meanings of gender in popular culture, Six reproduces them with demeaning stereotypes that conform to the ideals of the male gaze. I conclude that the positive critical reaction to Six owes more to a need within the theatre community to have a successful British musical than to the merits of the show itself, and a wariness on the part of critics in a post-Weinstein era to be seen to question the artistic quality of a female-centric show that women clearly experience as empowering.