Feminist Film Theorists

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                           Feminist Film Theorists

            The feminist film theory has issued the drive for a significant number of dramatic developments within movie studies since its start in the 1970s (Chesley, 2017). Feminist film theory nearly developed to be the convention of film theory, and such was its impact in the domain of movies (Smith, 1999). Its influence commenced being encountered in movie production with some independent as well as avant-garde and a significant quantity of mainstream movies relating theory to practice (Smith, 1999). Amid the overall cultural reaction against feminism starting from the 1980s, there emerged, in film studies, a response against the feminist film theory (as certainly against the entire film theory) as a result of its abstract concepts and complex language (Chesley, 2017). This essay demonstrates the groundbreaking philosophies of some of the leading theorists: Teresa de Lauretis, Laura Mulvey, and Barbara Creed, whose work is well-versed with an intense commitment to both feminism and films. This essay will assist in the comprehension of the importance of these theorists, who have wholesomely made distinguishing influences on feminist film theory, revealing why representing the female’s body is a feminist issue as well as why feminist issues are still essential in movies. The paper will begin with a demonstration of some of the works of the critical theorists concerning the representation of women’s bodies in films, which will be followed by an illustration of the significance of using ladies' bodies in film concepts to reveal the reason why these exhibitions have become a feminist issue.

            The Representations of Women’s Body by                                   the Key Cultural Theorists

            While the representation of women’s bodies can be traced much earlier (markedly, Wollstonecraft Mary’s Vindication of the 1792 Women’s Rights), the suffragette drive of the period between the 19th and 20th century is regarded as feminism’s inaugural wave (Butzel, 1989). The feminism film concept is nevertheless a creation of the second wave of feminism that was introduced in the early 1960s (Butzel, 1989). Having the catchphrase “the individual is political,” the second wave not only brought attention to the domains of women’s encounters previously reflected as non-political but also uncovered the concealed power systems at work, which comprised their bodily appearance, fashion, language use, reproduction as well as family and home (Butzel, 1989). The objective of the second wave was to change the totality of women’s status and not exclusively a single feature, different from the hitherto suffragette movement, which only concentrated on the campaign for women’s participation in voting that left other domains of women’s lives unbothered (Butzel, 1989). The works of Laura Mulvey, Teresa de Lauretis, and Barbara Creed represent the second-wave movement and are illustrated in the section below.

                                                                  Laura Mulvey

            Even though roughly more than four decades have passed since 1975, Laura Mulvey’s revolutionary composition titled “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” a considerable number of its insights are currently applicable to movie production (Jelača, 2016, p. 12). The representation of women’s bodies as a spectacle to be examined permeates visual culture (Jelača, 2016). In such exhibitions, “the women’s body is depicted exclusively concerning sexuality, an entity of desire, as a foil for, or in terms of, men” (Jelača, 2016, p. 14). The 1975 Laura Mulvey composition demonstrated the impression of this tendency within the mainstream narrative film, which disputably possesses the most far-fetched influences (Jelača, 2016). Laura contended that mainstream movies are created for male contemplation, outfitting the male pleasures and fantasies (Jelača, 2016). Revealing the fetishistic as well as the voyeuristic reactions of male spectators to bodily portraits of ladies, Laura’s essay was the first endeavor to deliberate the relationship between the screen and the spectators within feminist terms (Jelača, 2016).

            Composed in an intentionally polemical essence and suffused with the drive of Britain’s Women’s Freedom Movement, Laura’s excerpt positioned the feminist agenda at the core of film-theoretical discussions, provoking critics to respond to her determinedly (Jelača, 2016). The essay generated such a massive reaction that it must have indeed been ranked among the most confrontational educational excerpts ever composed (Jelača, 2016). During the time of its composition, champions of feminist film theory within Britain were rapidly surpassing their counterparts within the United States as well as absorbing the inducement of the semiotic and psychoanalytic theory from the region (Jelača, 2016). The British Journal Screen published Laura’s 1975 essay, ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” which established itself as a vital platform of intellectual exchange amid the French and British film concepts (Jelača, 2016, pp. 17).

                                                                       Teresa de Lauretis

            Born and educated in Italy, Teresa de Lauretis immigrated to the United States, where she composed her work titled, ‘The Technology of Gender,” which is renowned for its painstaking critique of the psychoanalytic patterns that overlook feminist movie-conceptual debates (Butzel, 1989). Even though not anti-psychoanalytic, Teresa de Lauretis demonstrates an alternative conceptual founding for her theory of gender technology that attempts to stretch further than the existing psychoanalytically informed feminist concepts that seemed unable to address the disparity of women’s encounters with respect to class, sexuality, and race (Smelik, 1998). Teresa de Lauretis's composition concerning lesbian desire furthermore represents the debate amid queer theory and feminists that (in the aftermath of Laura Mulvey’s provocative excerpt) established its own dialogue regarding sexuality and gender, the contemplation as well as visual pleasure, comparatively as the dispute of the developed feminist opinions (Smelik, 1998).

                                                                          Barbara Creed

            Besides, Barbara Creed (The Australian Feminism film theorist), whose connections are to the Australian Women’s Movement, works in a psychoanalytic context stemming from both Kristeva Julia (the semiotic theorist) as well as Sigmond Freud (Chaudhuri, 2006). Barbara Creed has protracted feminist views to numerous constituents of the postmodern culture; for instance, she has specifically established an exceedingly influential exploration of the patriarchal notion within the horror genre that thrives with visions of women’s bodies as the “immoral feminine” (Chaudhuri, 2006, p. 455).

              Why Representation of Women’s Body is                                      a Feminist Issue

            As a movement, feminism (in this context, meaning the representation of women’s bodies within the film domain) constitutes a multiplicity of approaches and sections. It is undoubtedly a feminine matter because it generally endeavors to explore and transform the power systems of patriarchal communities (these are communities in which men govern and male value dominate over those of their women counterparts) (Sherafat, 2013). Feminist theories, in their depiction of women’s bodies, as aforementioned in this essay, consider women’s values and ranks in society as their principal concern. However, their exploration of power links is frequently pertinent to and involves other exploited, oppressed, and subordinated groups (Sherafat, 2013). This neither means, contrary to a majority of the views, that feminism is not merely and exclusively about women nor is it just against their male colleagues (Sherafat, 2013). 

            True to the watchword, “the individual is political,” a substantial number of the second-wave movement’s crusades concentrated on women as well as matters of feminine appearance (Sherafat, 2013). Other than placing women’s right to regulate reproduction as well as motherhood on the agenda, the second wave revealed the use of women’s bodies in promotions, adverts, and beauty tournaments (Sherafat, 2013). This feature of feminism, along with the famous misrepresentation of ladies furiously burning their bras (under any circumstance a misconception), is frequently ridiculed currently, in the concept that these female issues are inconsequential, including by ladies who adore maintaining their looks and claim that they do so out of individual desire or due to their own free will (Sherafat, 2013). The beauty adverts and women’s magazines also represent the language of self-control and self-emancipation (become who you desire to become since you are worth it); even so, the culture of feminine appearance that they advertise is unattainable for a significant number of ladies (Sherafat, 2013). Cultured via a consistent reliance on luxurious beauty merchandise, these unobtainable moral values as of now do not only aim at the wealthy Western ladies: in the present international consumerist market, ladies in various regions of the globe are becoming fostered to fulfill these similar Western cultures (Sherafat, 2013).

            Inexorably, the medical and legal issues of women in the second wave’s political movements cascaded into the field of representation (Humm, 1997). As Laura Mulvey contends, “Ladies struggle to acquire rights over their bodies could not be separated from queries of the image” (Jelača, 2016, p. 21). Together with Teresa de Lauretis's The Technology of Gender as well as Barbara Creeds's The Monstrous Feminine, Laura Mulvey’s Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema is one of the most influential feminist works created during the second wave movement (Humm, 1997). These works comprise of a list of films delving into the issues of women’s difficulties-a first depiction that movies could be a vital platform for feminist dialogue (Mayne, 1987). Within Britain, Laura joined the London Women’s Movie Team, which was founded in 1971 and was dedicated to producing movies by ladies (Mayne, 1987). This team further assisted in the introduction of the first feminist movie documentary named Women and Film, which was established by the California-based group (Mayne, 1987). In swift succession emerged the first compositions such as 1974 Haskell Molly’s From Reverence to Rape, 1973 Rosen Marjorie’s Popcorn Venus, and 1974, Mellen Joan’s Women and their Sexuality (Johnston, 1973). All United States based, Haskell, Mellen, and Joan fit into a part of feminist criticism which has become recognized as the “depictions of ladies matters” that considers a sociological tactic to excerpts: associating the women characters to the antique cultures, depicting the manner in which they create stereotypes as well as whether or not they provide constructive roles representations for their women spectators (Johnston, 1973, pp. 22).

                                       Conclusion

            In light of the above discussion, it is indisputable that the representation of women’s bodies has been a feminist issue as depicted by some feminist film theorist’s works such as Laura Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” Teresa de Lauretis’ “The Technology of Gender,” and Barbara Creed’s “the Monstrous Feminine.” Besides, the essay has well illustrated the fact that as a movement, feminism, which in this context denotes the exemplification of women’s bodies within the film realm, is indeed a feminine issue as it attempts to discover and transform the power systems of patriarchal communities which are societies in which men govern. The male values overlook those of their women counterparts. Feminism, which is also regarded as the second wave in this paper, is believed to have exposed the exploitation of females’ bodies in promotions and beauty contests. As indicated above, this is a component of feminism, together with the great perversion of females feverishly burning their bras, is regularly scorned presently in the perception that these female issues are inconsequential, including by women who adore maintaining their gazes and claim that they do so because of their individual desire. Lastly, other influential feminist theorists are the United States-based Haskell, Mellen, and Joan, who all fit into a measure of feminist criticism that has become acknowledged as the representations of feminine issues that take account of a sociological approach to excerpts: linking the female characters to the traditional cultures, describing the ways via which they generate stereotypes and if or not they deliver productive role representations for their women audiences.

                                                                                    References

Butzel, M. (1989). The Acoustic Mirror: The Female Voice in Psychoanalysis and Cinema, 2(1), 51-95.

Chaudhuri, S. (2006). Feminist Film Theorists: Laura Mulvey, Kaja Silverman, Teresa de Lauretis, Barbara Creed. Routledge, 3(1), 451-495.

Chesley, E. J. (2017). Female Auteurs and Their Perceptions of Gender, Sexuality, and National Identity, 2(1), 21-45.

Humm, M. (1997). Feminism and film. Indiana University Press, 1(3), 51-57.

Jelača, D. (2016). Book review: Women’s Cinema, World Cinema: Projecting Contemporary Feminisms, 1(3), 11-25.

Johnston, C. (1973). Women’s cinema as counter-cinema (pp. 22-33). na.

Mayne, J. (1987). Feminist film theory and women at the movies. Profession, 14-19.

Sherafat, S. (2013). The representation of women's political and social identity in Hollywood Bollywood and Iranian Cinema after 1990 a comparative study, 2(4), 519-535.

Smelik, A. (1998). And the mirror cracked: feminist cinema and film theory. Springer, 1(2), 19-35.

Smith, S. (1999). “The Image of Women in Film: Sonae Suggestions for Future Research'. Feminist film theory: A reader, 4.