Violent Women in Film: Law, Feminism and Social Change
Mediating Law (Melbourne, November 2002).
Victoria University of Wellington Legal Research Paper No. 53/2022
22 Pages Posted: 4 Feb 2020 Last revised: 19 Jul 2022
Date Written: 2002
Abstract
This article addresses the depiction of violent women in film and questions the feminist analysis of such violence, specifically the view that such depictions are liberating for women. The author discusses film analysis, the role of violence in film generally, and then violence by women in Hollywood films in the 1990s. Particular attention is paid to the rape-revenge narrative, with the author examining the broad themes and messages these films contain, and how they relate to social arguments and trends. This article presents an argument against the adoption of these portrayals as clear feminist victories by asserting that the law portrayed is irrelevant to feminist social change.
Keywords: Women, film, feminism, Hollywood, violence, social change
JEL Classification: Z00
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation