My Favorite Feminist Films
How do I define a "feminist" film?
Feminism is a political movement and ideology which makes it a problematic word to apply in cultural criticism, but to quote Thomas Hardy: "It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs." Unfortunately, we don't have alternative adjectives to describe art that...
Without more specific language, I'll use the word "feminist" as shorthand for the definitions I've listed above. Some of the films below pass the Bechdel test, others don't, but I felt - upon watching the movies - that they all had something valid and important to say about the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.
Feminism is a political movement and ideology which makes it a problematic word to apply in cultural criticism, but to quote Thomas Hardy: "It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs." Unfortunately, we don't have alternative adjectives to describe art that...
- subverts ubiquitous gender stereotypes
- explores female sexuality and it's accompanying gaze
- studies the singularity of young women's coming-of-age stories
- denies any sympathizing indulgence or commiseration in toxic masculinity, rape culture and/or sexist objectification of the female body
- draws strikingly complex portraits of historic or contemporary womanhood
- insists on the inherent individualism of women's choices
- reveals the deeply embedded oppression in patriarchal systems
- emphasizes with women, regardless of their class, religion, ethnicity, gender expression, disability, age or sexual preference
Without more specific language, I'll use the word "feminist" as shorthand for the definitions I've listed above. Some of the films below pass the Bechdel test, others don't, but I felt - upon watching the movies - that they all had something valid and important to say about the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.
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