The book list eminds me of ho I, too, read The Second Sex at 14 and then things were never the same. Of course my mother was a very strong feminist and it just seemed natural that I do whatever she could... not equal to men, I still do not understand that stand....

Apparently she murdered her boyfriend not husband:

Jeanette Strowder, 58, is facing a first-degree murder charge after shooting her boyfriend, Jesse Martin, 54, to death. Strowder and Martin had lived together for two years, and dating for almost 15. All of this came to an end on Tuesday when Jeanette found Jesse's stash of porn. She states that she lost control, got a gun and shot him multiple times, including twice in the head. Jeanette then allegedly smashed the windshields of both Martin's motorcycle and car, and scratched the name of one of the women in the porn onto one of his vehicles. Her bond has been set at $600,000, and her preliminary hearing was set for Oct.22.

The book that first introduced me to feminism was "Reviving Ophelia" by Mary Pipher. I'm so glad I found that one in high school, before I went off to college/Female-Objectification-Land.

Do you have the stupid new Dove adverts in the US? Women in the UK have never been so patronised!

Re: Warner Bros stance on actresses, why not go back to Shakespearean days when women weren't allowed on stage, not even to play female roles? Why not have boys and men dress up like girls and women? That's what I want to see WB do.

The NYT review of "Lake of Fire" makes a point of stating that there are very few women in it, mostly men. On the other hand, there's a Romanian movie called "4 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days," that deals with illegal abortion and female friendship. Slate reviews it here: http://www.slate.com/id/2175307/nav/tap3/
I hope it actually ends up in a theater somewhere near me.

Then again, Robinov's poorly performing Superman Returns was criticized for its girlie-man portrayal of the superhero.

And he can blame that on the female director and writers of Superman Returns, oh wait, no, they were all MALE. Gollygee, I wonder if he's going to blame Bryan Singer's homosexuality on that and then ban all gay directors at WB. I don't think so, seeing as they're trying to negotiate a sequel with him.

I'm happy that Allred pointed out that when white male films fail, no one talks of banning white male films. However, if it's anyone else then that only goes to "prove" that there are "no" audiences for non-white male films. Makes me wanna bang my head against the wall because at some point in my career I'm going to have to deal with WB, whether for film or television. Arrrrgh. Hopefully his ass will have been bounced by then.

Where's the "what can be blamed on women/feminism thread" when you need it?

If we're reminiscing about our favorite feminist consciousness-raising books, I'd have to go with my mom's copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves which I read cover-to-cover in my early teens. I devoured it all: from natural childbirth to lesbian sex to masturbation. I particularly remember loving the personal voices that are woven into every chapter. And you better believe I now have my own copy on the reference shelf!

horrifying story in nyt:

BUKAVU, Congo — Denis Mukwege, a Congolese gynecologist, cannot bear to listen to the stories his patients tell him anymore.

Every day, 10 new women and girls who have been raped show up at his hospital. Many have been so sadistically attacked from the inside out, butchered by bayonets and assaulted with chunks of wood, that their reproductive and digestive systems are beyond repair.

“We don’t know why these rapes are happening, but one thing is clear,� said Dr. Mukwege, who works in South Kivu Province, the epicenter of Congo’s rape epidemic. “They are done to destroy women.�

I've been meaning to ask someone this - but have any of you in California seen a hideous abstinence-only ad? I remember it featured children asking their parents to "talk to them about sex" and then went off on some bullshit about how abstinence will make them better people. I really wish I could remember more details.

I'll admit that Warner Brothers' no-female-lead proposal is a bit of an overreaction to the possibility that Julia Roberts rekindles her movie career, but it's a risk worth taking.

Re: Superman Returns and the "girliness" of Supes

Why is he girly? Because he wears tights? That's goddamn manliness and security, that is. Why is he girly? Because he lets "his" woman shack up with another man, all the while raising his kid? That's consideration for the situation.

Is it because he doesn't use the full extent of his power? That's what Superman is. All the time, every day. He exists in a world of cracked glass, and if he wasn't careful when he was younger he'd kill his mom when he hugged her. Is tiptoeing through the tulips, metaphorically speaking, somehow girly?

Why is being "girly" a bad thing, anyway? Have you seen Mr. Universe contestants? Primped and buffed and oiled and shaved. So very girly. And yet...hailed as manly men.

Oh, and Robinoff hates people without penises.

The books that really kick-started my feminism: Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, which gave me a lot of insight into why my affluent housewife mother had been so abusive and depressed while I was growing up; and Can't Buy My Love, by Jean Kilbourne, which completely changed the way I looked at advertising and the media in general, but especially in how they approach women. I reread it every year, and I can't recommend it enough.

Since then, I've fallen in love with bell hooks, Susan Faludi, Katha Pollitt, and Susie Bright.

Oh, forgot to mention Sandra Bem's The Lenses of Gender. And all of the above were read when I was roughly 20 or 21. I wish that I had read more on the experiences of people of color while I was that age; wasted a lot of my early 20s saying well-intentioned but ill-informed and really embarrassing things about race relations. It wasn't until grad school that I finally started to draw the parallels between women-as-deviation-from-the-male-standard and minorities-as-deviations-from -the-white-standard.

My first was Manifesta, unless you count something I read at around 10 called Girls Are People, Too that annoyed all my teachers because I would insist that there was no reason in science class to refer to "men" since it didn't include women.

Does anyone have anything collaborating the no-female-leads article? Cuz I've got people getting all shirty with me because they don't believe anything that's "just" three producers.

I really disliked the movie TRADE. I work for an organization that fights human trafficking, and while I appreciate this filmmaker's desire to "expose" human trafficking, I found this film to be highly problematic. For one thing, the two trafficking victims are a white woman and a young Mexican child. For another, both are kidnapped. I'm not saying the characters or scenario are unrealistic, but I'm very tired of trafficking activism being limited to "acceptable victims," ie innocent white tourists and little children. In addition, the racial implications of "who rescues who" in the movie are very troublesome. Overall, I don't think the film is very eye-opening at all --- it relies on stereotypes that are already very much a part of our knowledge of trafficking as Americans.

RE: "Does anyone have anything collaborating the no-female-leads article?"

I have been searching and am unable to find any corroboration to the allegation. All the articles refer back to Nikki Finke's assertion that three different [unnamed] producers passed on this information to her. Maybe she just made it up because she hates Jeff Robinov or something.

I am interested to know if there are any online sources that keep track of women's roles in movies vs men's. I've been noticing (and being annoyed) more and more when I watch movies just how few substantial women parts there are. It's nothing new, but it's been bothering me a lot lately. I was at least happy that the lone female in The Departed had an actual purpose beyond just being a good-looking fucktoy, but even then I look her up on IMDB and the first comment I see says, "Does anyone else think she's not that good looking?" because of course that's the only thing that matters.

I don't need a "chick flick". Why can't women be in powerful roles in movies?

Why can't women be in powerful roles in movies?

Seriously? What about Resident Evil, BloodRayne, Underworld, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Æon Flux, Flightplan, Blade: Trinity, Catwoman, Kill Bill, Million Dollar Baby, Enough, Charlie's Angels, Ecks vs. Sever, The River Wild, X-Men, Matrix, Terminator 2 & 3, the later Alien movies, The Brave One, Silence of the Lambs (debately), Tomb Raider, Fantastic Four...

I did some more online digging and it appears Nikki Finke isn't particularly fond of Jeff Robinov. She has previously claimed that Warner Bros staff are "suffering at the hands of ugly megalomaniacs" because they have to deal Jeff Robinov and makes reference to "Robinov's evil-doing" and has previously stated that "movie moguls are complete morons." Seems reasonable to take this allegation with a grain of salt.

I too read Manohla Dargis' review of "Lake of Fire" in the NYT a couple of days ago, and had a similar feeling of skepticism about it. In that review, and in most others I've read about the film, its seems that the greatest point of fascination is how Tony Kaye made it - framing it as this great obsessive sacrifice on his part, but with little to no mention of women experts or participants (In one interview I read, he even said that he originally hadn't planned to include the perspective of women patients at all - he ended up doing so in order to better structure the film).

This really irks me. It angers me that a guy can make a film that is being called the "definitive film about abortion," without including the opinions and experiences of women. How is it that men's voices and perspectives so often frame the debate about this issue and decide it's policy?

Since I don't live in New York, I probably won't get to see this film for a while. I'll be eager to hear what people think of it.

"Why can't women be in powerful roles in movies?"

/Elizabeth/!

I really enjoyed the first one, and the second one "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" comes out this Friday!

alaric,

I have to complain about some of the movies you mentioned, like for example: Charlie's Angels, Tomb Raider, and Kill Bill.

In all of those (maybe some of the others, b/c I haven't seen them all) it's hard to tell whether it is the women or their breasts that get the leading roles...

Nina, in Kill Bill, as a lover of breasts, including my own, I have to tell you... I honestly don't think Uma Thurman's breasts had anything to do with that role. Honestly. The others, though, yeah, probably.

Hard as it will be to avoid WB movies as a film nut, I have to say, I know no other way to send the message to WB execs that their sexist attitudes are not at all okay.

As per the boyfriend thing... wow. I also can't imagine it was just over porn. Not that I speak for all women, or anything, but I have no problem at all with porn (or the idea of it, the content is another story) and even the women I know who find it utterly offensive in every form aren't moved to so much as disapprove of anyone who possesses or partakes of it. Their probably taking the usual and easy "let's sensationalise the hell out of this" route.

The Beauty Myth was the book that got me into feminism. I grew up in a single parent headed household with a mother who was in a lot of ways a very strong role model for us. She encouraged us to pursue our passioons, and to explore less traditional 'female' areas, like history, math and science. For all her strengths, though, my mother had a lot of insecurities relating to her body and food. Dieting was commonplace in my house, and there were more Jane Fonda Total Workout tapes than kids videos.

As I hit puberty, it became apparent that I had inherited my mother's body image issues. When I got my first period, I felt so ashamed and didn't tell a sole. I dieted and starved myself in the belief that I would be more lovable if I was thinner. Around this time, I found the Beauty Myth in my school library and it revolutionised the way I felt about my self, my body and the culture of beauty in general.

Although when I read it these days I am a little more critical, it really was an eye opener to my self loathing teenage self, and I think has really contributed to the positive self image I (usually) inhabit in my adulthood.

Here you go Alaric:

A Walk To Remember, Angel Eyes, Bridget Jones's Diary, Crossroads, Dirty Dancing, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Down To You, Enough, First Wives Club, Forces Of Nature, Heartbreakers, John Tucker Must Die, Legally Blonde 1 & 2, Maid In Manhattan, Miss Congeniality, Muriel's Wedding, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Never Been Kissed, Picture Perfect, Practical Magic, Pretty Woman, Romy And Michele's High School Reunion, Sweet Home Alabama, Sweetest Thing, Ten Things I Hate About You, Two Weeks Notice, Wedding Planner

"Not that I speak for all women, or anything, but I have no problem at all with porn (or the idea of it, the content is another story) and even the women I know who find it utterly offensive in every form aren't moved to so much as disapprove of anyone who possesses or partakes of it. "

Well I also can't speak for this particular case, but I can say I know women (generally older women, including my mom) who not only disapprove of porn, but strongly disapprove of other people watching it as well.

Sgt. York and Cola,
I guess I should clarify, I realize there are certain redeeming qualities to all those movies (or at least I realize all those female leads are powerful in a way). I personally am just also rubbed wrong when a female character who might be strong in certain ways is also portrayed as very girly-girly or very sexualized. If you looked for movies where there were very strong female characters who were not highly-girly or wearing super sexualized outfits most of the time, your movie list would be a lot shorter. And I'm not saying movie actors and actresses should have no sexual appeal -obviously most successful male actors are very good looking -but the male actors generally aren't expected to fight the bad guys wearing high-heels and miniskirts, which I think is significant...

"Erin Brokovich" and "Dangerous Beauty" are some of my other fave adult movies with female leads...

Imagine if Norbit or Big Momma's House had done poorly and a studio had said "we are no longer doing movies with Black leads." The shit storm that would have thundered upon them would have been apocalyptic.

Thanks but I'll take "Kill Bill" over just about any other action movie any day. So suck it, Warner Brothers. I'll be boycotting.

OK, so my boycott may weaken whenever a Harry Potter film is released, but I'll do my best.

David Batstone, a leader in the fight against human trafficking, spoke at my college a few weeks ago. His stories about women sold for sex and the situations they are forced to live in are disturbing. I'm glad TRADE will be able to open a few more eyes to what's going on.

For more information on human trafficking check out http://www.notforsalecampaign.org

Again, we don't know that Jeff Robinov actually said that and it appears the person making the allegation doesn't particularly like him.

About Superman Returns and the dormat portrayal of the superhero one has to acknowledge the fact that the movie targeted women as the primary audience. The director Bryan Singer stated, "This is my first chick flick. There's plenty of stuff for the boys, but in the past I've made movies that boys have to drag their girlfriends to. This one shows my friends that I have a romantic side."

Getting back on the subject of books, my mom bought me "Reviving Ophelia" when I was 13, and all of a sudden my hellish adolescence made sense to me.

But the book that really started my feminist streak was "Girls Gone Mild."

OK, so it wasn't so much the book itself as that I found it so overgeneralized and patronizing (not to mention sketchily sourced) that I promply read "Sisterhood Interrupted" to clear my mind. That was my first real awakening to the history of feminism beyond the fact that there were waves and that there was a myth about burning bras.

I read "The Handmaid's Tale" at age 13.

Cola, yeah, I definitely don't think it was just the porn that set her off, but there are plenty of women who find porn so offensive, that it's beyond not okay if their significant others are watching it. My brother and plenty of my guy friends watch porn, but my boyfriend does not. I got lucky that it never interested him in the first place, but since discovering a frighteningly large collection possessed by an ex-boyfriend, and the very visceral reaction I didn't realize it would provoke in me (b/c I knew he watched some porn, and always thought I was okay with that), it's been a rule for me. It's porn or me. And no hard feelings if you want to keep your porn, it just means we'd be better off friends, and not dating. Of course, I wouldn't ever get violent over it. That woman had to be seriously unstable to begin with.

"We've got lots of hearsay and conjecture... those are kinds of evidence."

As much as I can appreciate lists of movies with women in them as main characters, if I asked for a list of movies with men as main characters who did something that drove the plot, the lists would be massive.

These lists are exceptions, not rules.

Plus, the only one listed (other than the not-yet-released Elizabeth II: More Historical Inaccuracy)that's come out in the last year is "The Brave One", I think. (I don't go to a lot of movies anymore, and I'm in Australia, so my timing may be a bit off.)

Having a woman in the lead doesn't make a good movie anymore than having a male in the lead makes a bad movie, but it would be really nice if I could go to the theatre and see a few more movies that have women doing something.

I don't care if Elizabeth has historical inaccuracies, I don't know English history well enough to recognize them, and I thought the character in the first one was awesome. So there... (or something, silly I'm defending a movie I haven't seen yet, huh?)

(Btw, what historical inaccuracies are you referring to? There are always multiple versions of a history, but I'd be genuinly curious to know about major inaccuracies...)

Liz,

YES. I saw that commercial two days ago while eating breakfast and about spit out my cereal. What a load of shit.

History Sporks takes on Elizabeth.

If the movie hadn't been pretending to be based on historic stuff, I'd be fine with it. As a movie, it's interesting, and the costuming is outstanding. Liking the movie isn't a problem! It's people who say, without irony, that they "understand" British history because they've seen Elizabeth and Braveheart that bother me.

Sgt. York, I was only trying to list movies where there was a powerful female lead or major supporting role. Like as in action movies or thrillers. So Bridge Jones, not so much.

Here are some more, though:

Bad Girls (1994 cowgirl movie), Point of No Return/La Femme Nakita, The Quick & The Dead, Blue Steel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, V.I. Warshowsky, Serial Mom, G.I. Jane, Tank Girl, Bounty Hunters, Domino, the Long Kiss Goodnight....

I personally am just also rubbed wrong when a female character who might be strong in certain ways is also portrayed as very girly-girly or very sexualized. If you looked for movies where there were very strong female characters who were not highly-girly or wearing super sexualized outfits most of the time, your movie list would be a lot shorter.

Really? I don't really think it would be that much shorter. Maybe remove Tomb Raider, although it's been awhile since I saw that movie. And actually, what is wrong with being a powerful girly-girl? Like the Charley's Angels? It is a sharp contrast from the tough, ripped, and arguably unfeminine Linda Hamilton-style powerful women.

I don't remember seeing much in the way of breasts in Kill Bill. Definitely in Tomb Raider, sure ... if that bothers you, I recommend a double-dose of Casino Royale and the shot of a ripped Daniel Craig emerging from the water.