Audre lorde reminds us that caring for oneself isnt selfish. The bechdel test has inspired others, notably feminist and antiracist critics and fans, to formulate criteria for evaluating works of fiction, in part because of the bechdel tests limitations. Richs essay in the name of feminist film criticism claims that films by women often receive praise for certain elements, while feminist undertones are ignored. Humm begins with an indepth historical survey of contemporary. Ruby rich argues that feminist film theory should shift to look at films in a broader sense.
It refers to any actions, especially organized, that promote changes in society to end patterns that have disadvantaged women. Kathryn stocketts novel revolves around events in 19621963, before the womens liberation movement, before betty friedan and other feminist leaders founded the national organization for women, before the media invented the myth of braburning. This is the first study to apply a broad range of theory to contemporary film. Its rare in this day and age that a film specifically a comingofage film stars two young women and doesnt revolve around a man for future reference, please see the bechdel test. Doanes nuanced and original readings of the femme fatale in cinema illustrate confrontations between feminism, film theory and psychoanalysis. Anna karenina the book examines the life of a woman and how she is constrained by social conventions. The book that made me a feminist books the guardian. Nine out of 10 times, people who are hesitant to label themselves as a feminist dont know the true definition of feminismwhich, to put it simply, is the belief in the equality of men and women. This book brings together carefully selected essays on feminism and film with a view to tracing major developments in theory, criticism, and practices of women and cinema from 1973 to the present. She attempts to escape but is eventually unsuccessful.
It is surprisingly accessible and enjoyable to read. Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social justice for women. Members meet virtually so you can join the discussion from anywhere. Feminist film theory cinema and media studies oxford. Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings. Understanding gender in contemporary popular cinema examines the way that contemporary film reflects todays changing gender roles. Keelings book is an astonishing example of how to do things with film and feminism, including kasi lemmons eves bayou 1997. One of the great strengths of wachmans book is her careful and histor ical discussion of the development of sexual identities for women. A fundamental concept underlying feminism is that women are an oppressed group, a reality that feminism seeks to highlight and fight against. Lola olufemis feminism interrupted seems also to be a book about the excision of nonwhite battles from feminism.
This book brings together carefully selected essays on feminism and film with a view to tracing. The movement of feminism has had a terrific effect on the criticism and theory of films. This book brings together carefully selected essays on feminism and film with a view to tracing major developments in theory, criticism, and practices of women. Booksmart delivers a fresh and relevant take on high school in 2019 and does so with wit, ease, and a whole lot of love. Bbc culture why the silence of the lambs is a feminist. Feminist activists have established a range of feminist businesses, including womens bookstores, feminist credit unions, feminist presses, feminist mailorder catalogs, and feminist restaurants. For all the suffering its women endure at the hands of men, its not hard to see why doris lessing disliked her book. A film may have some feminist elements, some sexist elements, and some elements that are neither, becauseand this is important feminism is not simply the. From the 1700s to the 2010s, literature is studded with spectacular works of fiction, theory, and criticism all revolving around one thing. For the 1984 book by bell hooks, see feminist theory. Feminist theory has been foundational to the establishment and development of film studies as a discipline. Journal of aesthetics and art criticism erens brings together a wide variety of writings and methodologies by u. The book offers a comprehensive overview of the central issues in feminist film criticism with analyses of over twenty popular contemporary films across a range of genres, such as chick flicks, teen pics, hommecoms, horror, action adventure, indie flicks, and women lawyer films. The female character doesnt have to have a happy ending for the book to be feminist.
Booksmarts dialogue is fast, funny and feminist, sometimes to a fault, though a surreal stopmotion animated sequence that imagines the girls. Anyone interested in horror films andor feminist theory must read this book. And yet, she notes, our expectations of feminism, often selfimposed, are unfair. List of books and articles about feminist film theory. With dazzling insight, maggie humm highlights and explains feminist issues and offers a fascinating array of original film analyses. A project brought to a hesitant steven spielberg by producer quincy jones, the film marks spielbergs first female lead. Feminist theory has been at the forefront of critical analysis for more than two decades. That movie made me proud to be a girl and from then on i never let anyone tell me what i couldnt do. Critic and author sophie mayer recommends some indispensable reading on feminist cinema. Here is a complete list of every book that emma watson has ever recommended. Covering a wide range of topics, including oppressive images, woman as fetishized object of desire, female spectatorship, and the cinematic pleasures of black women and lesbian women, feminist film theory is an indispensable reference for scholars and students in the field.
The twentyseven essays represent some of the most influential work on hollywood. The main focus involving psychoanalysis has made a narrow framework for the analysis of subjects, pleasure and desire, while other feminist accounts, of. Essays chosen discuss and debate specific films which make the book ideal as a teaching aid. As well as a wideranging introduction which sets the selection of essays in context, readers will find examples of socialrole, psychoanalytic, structuralist, poststructuralist, gay and lesbian, postmodern and postcolonial feminist film criticism, prefaced by introductory notes and including further readings. The film won the best picture oscar 25 years ago and looks ahead of its time with its depiction of clarice starling, writes nicholas barber. This book brings together carefully selected essays on feminism and film with a view to tracing major developments in theory, criticism, and practices of women and cinema from 1973 to the present day. By marrying the explanation of a film theory with the interpretation of a film, the volumes provide discrete examples of how film theory can serve as the basis for textual analysis. Witches, midwives, and nurses, first published by the feminist press in 1973, is an essential book about the corruption of the medical establishment and its historic roots in witch hunters. This book brings together carefully selected essays on feminism and film with a view to tracing major developments in theory, criticism, and practices.
The help is set in mississippi during the early 1960s, when the groundswell of feminism s second wave was still building. Feminism refers to a diverse variety of beliefs, ideas, movements, and agendas for action. There are many feminists who criticize the feminist film theory as being too abstract, totalizing, jargonprone and nonexperiential. Rich goes on to say that because of this feminist theory needs to focus on how film by women are being received. Humm begins with an indepth historical survey of contemporary feminist theory. This anthology makes it abundantly clear that feminist film criticism is flourishing and has developed dramatically since its inception in the early 1970s. In interviews conducted by fivethirtyeight, women in the film and television industry proposed many other tests that included more women, better stories, women behind the scenes, and more diversity. Feminist film theory and cleo from 5 to 7 offers a concise introduction to feminist film theory in jargonfree language and shows how this theory can be deployed to interpret agnes vardas critically acclaimed 1962 film cleo from 5 to 7. Brings together, for the first time, essays on feminism and film that trace developments in this field from 1973 to the present day. The movie and book break down gender politics in relationships.
This, really, is the thrust of lewiss book that people are complicated and so is feminist achievement. This book brings together carefully selected essays on feminism and film with a view to tracing major developments in theory, criticism, and. So this coming year i will be flexing my mind muscles by reading up on all things empowerment, with these seven new feminist nonfiction books. Lower level undergrads without a cursory knowledge of feminist critiques of psychoanalysis might benefit from buying elizabeth wrighta feminism and psychoanalysis. This would be classified as a social criticism novel. These businesses flourished as part of the second and thirdwaves of feminism in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Although it often gets reduced to key theoreticalprimarily psychoanalyticanalyses of spectatorship from the 1970s and 1980s, it has always been and continues to be a dynamic area with many objects of focus and diverse methodological practices.
Feminist film theory criticizes classical cinema for its stereotyped representation of women. Feminism and film oxford readings in feminism 9780198782346. It aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. Feminism and film is the first book to apply such a broad range of theory to contemporary film. Its aim is to adequately represent female subjectivity and female desire on the silver screen. Pdf sue thornham feminist film theory a reader book fi. Feminist film theory, generally is about theoretical film criticism that arises from feminist politics and theories governed by the second wave feminism rooted from sociological theories concentrated on the how the public scrutinizes how women delivers the attitudes, scenarios, and characters given to them to portray in a particular film in a. The story of gone girl pits a feminist psychopath against a misogynist jerk.
Whether youre looking to brush up on the early days of the movement, be inspired by modernday feminist heroes. It examines womens and mens social roles, experiences. List of books and articles about feminist film theory online. Feminism is a complex set of ideologies and theories, that at its core seeks to achieve equal social, political, and economic rights for women and men. Sue thornham feminist film theory a reader book fi. Booksmart is the feminist high school movie weve been. Humm begins with an indepth historical survey of contemporary feminist. But two books i read in my teens, middlemarch by george eliot and the female eunuch, had a large impact on how i. Whoopi goldberg brings alice walkers pulitzer prizewinning feminist novel to life as celie, a southern woman who suffered abuse over decades.
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