This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Ky Tanella. Find them on Instagram at @ky.tanella. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Feminism in the film industry has taken some incredible strides in the last twenty years. From oppression in the 1940s to women-led production companies in the 2020s, it’s no secret that women are an absolute force in the film industry. But, there are still strides to take! With lists online, it can feel pretty overwhelming to start your journey in feminist film, especially when there’s seemingly so much out there! But before I provide you with my impeccable movie taste, I must first take you through the history and turmoil women have faced to get to this point.
A Brief History of Women in Film
In the early 20th century, women were often depicted as a “damsel-in-distress” during the silent film era; they rarely had agency and were often suppressed in their domestic depictions. Feminist film didn’t really start emerging until the mid-1900s, with stars like Katherine Hepburn and Joan Crawford depicting complex women who protested against male authority. Films like All About Eve (1950) and His Girl Friday (1940) were amongst the first films to portray women as three-dimensional characters, but they still ran into some stereotypes. Female characters were usually pursuing a male love interest, often ending in marriage, further pushing the narrative that a woman’s only goal in life is to marry and have children.
Here comes Agnès Varda! Pre-second wave feminism, she was a prominent figure during the French New Wave movement, though she didn’t receive nearly as much praise as her male counterparts. During the 1960s and 70s, mainstream films slowly began shying away from stereotypes, and began showing the oppression that women faced in working-class scenarios.
21st Century Women in Film
In 2010, Kathryn Bigelow made history as the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Director. In the 15 years since, only two more women have taken home this award – Chloé Zhao for Nomadland and Jane Campion for Power of the Dog. Though the Oscars aren’t placed up as high on a pedestal as they used to, it’s still a staggering representation of how often women and people of color are often shortchanged in mainstream Hollywood.
Sadly, even in the modern age, female characters still run into stereotypes. Modern blockbusters (like superhero films) have allowed powerful women to kick ass in the forefront, but their characters still run into a vixen stereotype, or are often over-sexualized. Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow is unfortunately one of the more obvious examples of this, as she would often get put in tight clothing, and get asked what her “diet” was on press tours. Though the Black Widow standalone film was directed by a woman (and had significantly less exploitation), it was not well received, especially by the male percentage of the MCU fanbase.
Indie films have often featured female directors and crew members, with the likes of early Greta Gerwig, Emerald Fennel, Mimi Cave, Emma Seligman, and Carolie Fargeat (to name just a few). Mainstream Hollywood seems to be just recently wrapping their heads around feminist films with the recent popularity of Barbie, The Substance, Anora, and Poor Things.
Women of color have faced stereotypes both on and off the screen for decades. Historically, women of color have often been represented via harmful racial stereotypes, such as the “Mammy,” “Jezebel,” “Welfare Queen,” or the “Dragon Lady.” They’re often exoticized, objectified, or demonized.
Behind the scenes, they often face systemic barriers when seeking funding and distribution for their films, facing pressures from executives to appeal to wider audiences (by making stories less “race-focused”), and often having to work even harder than their white counterparts. Conversations about intersectionality and representation have become increasingly more important; a lack of multi-dimensional roles for women of color limits the needed, nuanced representation for diverse audiences. The mainstream popularity of films like Black Panther, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Get Out, and Coco proves how needed and wanted these stories are.
21st Century Women who are leading the way for diverse mainstream representation include Ava DuVernay, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Chloe Zhao, Lulu Wang, Quinta Brunson, Regina King – I highly recommend checking out their growing body of work.
A Brief Overview of Feminist Film Theory
Oh man, my liberal arts degree is fighting to come out here. But, I’ll keep it brief.
Thankfully, feminist film theory has since evolved to recognize intersectionality and how gender, class, and race are all factors that create challenges for women in film. During second wave feminism, scholars began analyzing films and how they represent female characters, their stereotypes, their impact on genres, their screentime, and how this reinforced sexism. One prevalent theorist was Laura Mulvey, whose influential essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” dove into the early concept of the “male gaze” within cinema. She touches on the consistently voyueristic nature of passive feminine characters, and quotes that women were often seen as the “bearer of meaning, not maker of meaning.” (Please read it, it changed my life).
Gloria Jean Watkins (better known as bell hooks) wrote “The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators”, which expanded on this oppressive gaze through the lens of women of color, and often encouraged black women to “not stand” for stereotypical representation in film. Another influential essay is “Here’s Looking At Her: An Intersectional Analysis of Women, Power, and Feminism in Film”, written by Jean-Anne Sutherland, which dives into the power dynamics between men and women, including women of color. Lastly, because I could touch on essays all day, Mariam Hanson’s “Pleasure, Ambivalence, Identification: Valentino and Female Spectatorship” discusses the female gaze and male erotism as a feminist response to oppression.
Feminist Cinema
Finally! I get to utilize my Film & Television minor! Please forgive me if I forget any movies, I’m going to go through a few that were essential for feminism in the 20th century, and a few 21st-century movies that are changing the game!
The 40s-60s have much more to offer than a few films! Cat People (1942), although it may hit on some stereotypes, is one of the few films that gave a woman agency over herself in the form of… well, a cat lady. All About Eve (1950), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962), Daisies (1966), and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) were all landmarks in feminist cinema, most being directed by women or featuring non-stereotyped feminine leads.
The 70s and 80s had lots to offer in terms of intersectionality and female-led crews. Films like Foxy Brown (1974) and The Color Purple (1985) began to put black-led stories at the forefront in powerful roles. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quay du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) is considered one of the greatest films of all time, it’s a very long film about the repetitive daily existence of a troubled housewife. Nine to Five (1980) brought light to sexism in the workplace, Working Girls (1986) provided a sympathetic look into the lives of sex workers, and Desert Hearts (1985) features the first non-sensationalized lesbian leading couple. Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) was even written, directed, and produced by a woman, which was an amazing stride for the 80s!
The 90s brought Daughters of the Dust (1991), The Watermelon Woman (1996), and Set it Off (1996) brought black directors to the forefront to tell black-led stories, rich with culture. Clueless (1995) and The First Wives Club (1996) drew on comedic elements of pop culture and the feminine experience, having female characters break out of certain gendered stereotypes. Furthermore, in the 2000s, satire in feminist films became very popular, in films such as Ginger Snaps (2000), Teeth (2007), and Jennifer’s Body (2009), which added monstrous elements to things such as menstruation and assault. However, there were sincere films that paved the way for mommy-issue films, like Real Women Have Curves (2002). 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) is a feminist sleeper that comes from the Romanian new wave – it touches on abortion in the 1980s in Romania, which at the time, was punishable by death.
The 2010s started touching even more on the horror elements of womanhood. Films like American Mary (2012), A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014), and Revenge (2017) are all blood-soaked revenge(ish) films that satirize certain parts of womanhood. Though, there were so many meditative movies that also touched on the harder parts of the female experiences; films like Frances Ha (2012), Ruby Sparks (2012), Lady Bird (2017), Roma (2018), and The Farewell (2019) all touch on family dynamics, or coming to terms with yourself amogsts the pressures of a male-dominated world. Though within completely different genres, these films are essential to the feminist genre; some tend to show a more romantic side of womanhood, while others are more… horrifically metaphorical.
And lastly, the 2020s saw an even more prevalent rise in mainstream satires like Zola (2020), Promising Young Woman (2020), Barbie (2023), Bottoms (2023), and The Substance (2024) that push the constraints of genre. Most of them take less of a metaphorical route and have an in-your-face approach to their feminist messaging, which unfortunately, often receives a certain amount of backlash (from men). The Woman King (2022) and Polite Society (2023) pushed women of color to the forefront in more action-centric roles, minus the men-led sexualization (yay!). With the relevance of the #MeToo movement, films like She Said (2022) and Women Talking (2022) outwardly discussed the abuse that certain groups of women were facing at the hands of men. It’s never fun to talk about, but post Roe v. Wade overturn, Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020) touches on the experience of a woman crossing state lines to get abortion access.
Clearly, feminist films have taken great strides to be where they are now. I’m so extremely happy that a film like The Substance was even taken into a mainstream audience, but though it was nominated for Oscars, it barely received any. Women-led stories still have a long way to go, but the future of women in film is looking bright. Brighter than ever.
Women in Film Organizations
Alliance of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ) – founded in 2006 and made up of dozens of female movie critics, writers, and journalists, creates articles and gives out awards that support women in film!
New York Women in Film & Television – a nonprofit organization founded in 1977 that lobbies for women’s rights and achievements within the film industry
Women in Film – honoring Dorothy Arzner, the first female member of the Directors Guild of America. An extremely large organization that offers networking opportunities, classes, scholarships, resources and internships!
Geena Davis Institute of Gender in Media – researching “gender prevalence in family entertainment” over the past three decades, and has a list of its “key findings,” which have been extremely important to general bias research.
Studio D – the first ever publicly funded all-women film production studio, mostly helmed by indie international female directors.
Women Make Movies (WMM) – another non-profit that supports the production and distribution of indie films by/about women, especially women of color, lesbians, and women with disabilities. Originally aimed to teach/train women in the art of filmmaking, but quickly became a direct response to the male-dominated industry by giving voices to female filmmakers.
Wow, I’ve certainly (once again) thrown a lot of information at you. This is something I love to talk about, can you tell? I hope I’ve given you some good recommendations, and your Letterboxd list is growing with feminist films! And, I hope you feel a little more impassioned about feminist media! Go seek out women-made films!!
What are your favorite feminist films? Let us know in the comments down below!
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