And the Oscar for best Feminist Movie goes too...
The Oscar nominations this year have identified a very clear problem with the Academy: a lack of diversity.
This not only includes race, but female film-makers.
74 of the 271 people invited to join the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences this year were women.
So let's look at male and female filmmakers who have not only explored issues for women, but also created stories that inspire.
A selection of 20 feminist movies:
A View To Kill
A View To Kill is revolutionary in female villains. A female villain is usually an evil old hag, a conniving bitch or an evil slut. But in this Bond caper, Grace Jones plays May Day: chief henchman of Zorin's evil operation. She is not only stunning but she also possesses superhuman strength. Masculinity and femininity are blended beautifully in this character. Even if she is evil we love her.
Image Source: basmentrejects.com
Frozen
"Let it go, let it go. Can't take Disney's patriarchal views towards women anymooooooore" Elsa is a damsel in distress but in the end, she isn't saved by a man, she's saved by her sister. The kingdom is saved through the love of sisters not princes.
Image source: Disney
Precious
Precious is a young woman abused by her mother, raped by her father, poor, illiterate, overweight who goes on through life unloved and unnoticed. But when Precious becomes inspired by her new teacher, Blu Rain, Precious finally learns to read and write and we see her open to love, to literacy and to self worth. This filmed opened up discucussion on African American woman.
Image source: pghcitypaper.com
Hairspray
Hairspray not only got us dancing, it got us thinking about unrealistic beauty standards. For the first time in a long time a beautiful large women had the lead role in a movie. Tracy Turnblad defies society’s norms so that she can dance on a popular television show. She not only fights for the rights of women, she fights for race and anyone who is different and dances for social, political, and intellectual rights for everyone. A true teen role model.
Image source: fanpop.org
Yentyl
Streisand plays Yentl, a Jewish girl in Poland who decides to dress and live like a man so that she can receive an education in Talmudic after her father dies. But there's a complication, she falls in love! *gasp* Yentl has a choice of life as a housewife with the man she loves or freedom. She choose's freedom in the glorious USA of course! No man is worth the denial of your right to live free and equal.
Image Source: Sky
Erin Brockovich
Erin Brockovich was a rare blockbuster success considerring it starred a mother. It is based on the true story of Erin Brockovich and her struggles to raise a family and gain respect within her male dominated workplace, as well as try to discover her destiny. This film brought up questions about women in the workplace and how women should not be made to feel guilty is she chooses career as well as family.
Image Source: Sky
The Accused
In this film starring Jodie Foster, Foster plays Sarah, a woman who is gang-raped in a local bar by three men. Sarah struggles trying to press charges against the three men for rape as her trustworthiness is questioned by the fact she has a promiscuous past and on the night of the rape she had drank a lot of alcohol. The movie deals with very real and relevant issue's of female rape cases in court. The film is sadly still as relevant as ever.
Image source: Digitalspy.com
Dance, Girl, Dance
Dance, Girl, Dance is about a group of ambitious and competitive dancers, starring Lucille Ball and Maureen O’Hara. For the time it was one of the only movies with a female protagonist (a lesbian one at that!) The film is full of strong-willed female characters and they wonderfully shocked audiences in the 1940's with their female empowerment and jazzy song numbers and dances. Also the director of the film was Dorothy Arzner, the first woman to direct a talkie and she was the first woman to join the Director’s Guild of America.
Image Source: Prettygoodfilms.com
7 Women
When people mention the name John Ford, You think of manly, grunt filled Westerns. But John Ford actually made one of the greatest feminist films of all time. 7 Woman is set in a remote. Christian, all woman missionary post in rural China, in 1935. A much-needed doctor arrives, but the woman are all shocked to discover that Dr. Cartwright, played by Anne Bancroft is a woman who smokes, wears trousers and despises religion. The group of woman are then are threatened by a male Mongolian bandit. This is a very progressive film and one that even without the feminist message, is a simply great movie. Proving to Hollywood you can make a great action movie with all women, and none of those women have to be sexualised.
Image Source: shangols.canalblog
Hunger Games
It is a wonderful thing that girls have Katniss Everdeen as a role model. Yes, she can fight better than any man, but Katniss is also not portrayed in a sexualized way, proving girls do not feel the need to dress sexually to attract men and her character is nurturing as well as tough. The ultimate teen romance moment of all time is when Peeta proclaims his love for Katniss on TV and Katniss does not “awww”, instead she slams him up against a wall and puts him in a chokehold.
Image Source: Fox
Difret
You probably have not heard of this film, but you should have. The film is about a 14 year old teenager from Ethiopia, who kills her abductor and through this brave story the film challenges Ethiopia's tradition of kidnapping girls and forcing them into marriage. The importance of the feminist message is clear. These kinds of events happen every single day all around the world. But young women in countries like Ethiopia need their voices heard.
Image source: Indiewire
I would like to end this article with the best feminist movie song of all time:
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