Feminism in Films

Feminism portrayed in Films Female characters in films have become greater and held a bigger role in the most recent years. It has not always been like this however, and we still have a lot that needs to change regarding feminism in the cinema. In the past, women played submissive and much smaller roles compared to the roles of men. More recently though, films have depicted the changing ideas regarding feminism present in society. Christy Williams discusses feminism portrayed in Ever After: A Cinderella Story. She states how many other Cinderella's “...need the help of birds (Grimms and Disney), mice (Disney), or fairies (Perrault and Disney) to accomplish chores and prove themselves worthy of respect and love, Danielle (Drew Barrymore) wins the affection and esteem of her prince (Dougray Scott) by being -smart, caring, strong, and assertive. She does not rely on the prince to save her or on others to solve her problems” (Williams 99). Although this is often assumed about how a woman should be treated and respected, films often show women as inherently helpless and incapable. The fact that Cinderella is depicted as an individual strong woman, shows the feminist aspects of the film.

Feminism in Film History: There are a lot of gaps and inequality regarding feminism in film history. Feminism has been “excluded from consideration altogether, or… [regulated] to the specialized realm of gender criticism” In Mayne’s article, “Feminist Film Theory and Criticism” she describes the stereotypes shown in films that oppress women: ‘"In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female… The determining male gaze projects its phantasy onto the female figure…” (82). This example further describes the extent to which women are seen and depicted as lesser than men in films. Patrice Petro discusses the analyzing that scholars have performed, and the lack of research discovered. “Why then have feminist scholars who experienced feminist film theory belatedly chosen to focus their attention on early cinema? What is the imperative today for understanding its codes and conventions and place within an international, indeed globalized, media system?” (Petro 1273). These questions lead one to believe that the film system is extremely unequal and biased in the representations of women and feminism.

Feminist Filmmakers Women directing, producing, and writing has now been identified in 22 countries. In addition, women have attempted to make companies in the international film industry. Furthermore, Gains discusses the “misattributed” presence of both women directors and male directors of films. (Gaines 113). Although some of these statistics seem to provide positive evidence regarding women in cinema, the lack of information shows how feminism is not present enough in films.

Feminist Film Theory Feminist film theory is more widespread than other film theories, however there are a lot of different opinions regarding it. “Consider, for instance, German feminist Heide Schliipmann's account of the historical situation: Feminist film theory, however, like most film theories, has a tendency to be ahistorical. The emergence of feminist film history in the 1970s owed little to theoretical interest and much to political film reception. This gave rise to a contradiction: whereas feminist film theorists scrupulously analyzed the systematic oppression of the female subject in film, contributions to film history celebrated the strengths of women as directors and cutters, the subversiveness of actresses and the wealth of experience of an older generation of female spectators” (Gaines 114). In addition,“ feminist film theorists have challenged the dichotomy between the classical cinema and alternatives to it, have most insistently confronted the problem of "dualistic opposition" central to feminist criticism, and have thus offered new strategies for rethinking the components of cinematic pleasure” (Mayne 4).

Mayne discusses many questions around the feminist film theory. She says, “... Are such moments of closure totally successful, particularly when the "ideal spectator" of the cinematic apparatus is no longer assumed to be such a coherent entity? Second, is the position of a feminist film critic necessarily identical to, or even analogous to, the female spectator? And finally, are discussions of female spectatorship symptoms of creeping essentialism, of a desire to resurrect patriarchal definitions of femininity in the name of feminist alternatives” (Mayne 5). These quotes provide examples as to how film in history is being questioned.

Hollywood Cinema In Hollywood cinema, there are often multiple protagonists- most of which are not based around feminist ideas or characters. Scholar, Judith Maybe describes hollywood cinema as “One dimensional and absolute in its denial of female spectatorship has come from explorations of films that do not fit neatly into the parameters of the hegemony of the male look” (Mayne 5). This describes how there is a lack of female ideas and roles in films.

In conclusion, the lack of positive evidence regarding women in films shows the extent to which feminism needs a greater presence in the media; specifically, film.

Works Cited Gaines, Jane M. “Film History and the Two Presents of Feminist Film Theory.” Cinema Journal, vol. 44, no. 1, 2004, pp. 113–119. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3661177. Mayne, Judith. “Feminist Film Theory and Criticism.” Signs, vol. 11, no. 1, 1985, pp. 81–100. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3174288. Mayne, Judith. “Feminist Film Theory and Women at the Movies.” Profession, 1987, pp. 14–19. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25595398. Petro, Patrice. “Reflections on Feminist Film Studies, Early and Late.” Signs, vol. 30, no. 1, 2004, pp. 1272–1278. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/421881. Williams, Christy, and Jack Zipes. “The Shoe Still Fits: Ever After and the Pursuit of a Feminist Cinderella.” Fairy Tale Films: Visions of Ambiguity, edited by Pauline Greenhill and Sidney Eve Matrix, University Press of Colorado, 2010, pp. 99–115. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt4cgn37.10.