A new (bolder) Bond girl

“Feminism is, at its core, very simple: the belief that men and woman should have equal opportunity for self expression” –Sonja KFoss

During the holidays I (and my brother) pig out on movies: we don’t look at any regular TV programming.
We’ve been going through the spy genre, of which our favourite is Jason Bourne.
Over the years, beginning in the 1960’ s there’ve been many actors portraying James Bond – the iconic and quintessential modern spy, the ultimate ‘ manly’ man with women swooning at his slightest glance.
Each actor or director brought his own interpretation of Bond to the big screen – but it was interesting to see that interpretation evolve against a background of changing gender mores.
The Sean Connery Bond of the 60’s was a cold- hearted, deadly MI6 operative.
And one of his most prominent features was his ‘love ‘em and leave ‘em’ attitude to his ‘Bond girls’. The Bond girls of yore were stunning and, provocatively- dressed eye- candy that Bond discarded after they had served their purpose. These actresses were Bond’s female equivalents in name only. In actuality, they were weak, submissive creatures needing a ‘man’ to make all the decisions for them – in short, they were given all of the characteristics that many people stereotype females as having.
Bond of course, had all of the qualities that used to be believed that only males could have – he was always composed, aggressive, always had good judgement and he could always fend for himself. Women were reduced to being mere objects who could never hope to match Bond’s wit and resourcefulness.
But feminism, which maybe not ironically started in the same 60’s, has left its mark on even Bond. Now, the more recent Bond movies have shown marked differences from the original movies with M, Bond’s boss, now female.
The Bond girls are much more than the shallow ‘damsels in distress’. Bond himself has evolved to actually care about his female counterpart. In “Quantum of Solace” Bond grieves and is actually still seeking revenge for the death of his Bond girl in the previous movie.
Outside of the movies, the Bond franchise has been helping to raise awareness about the current gender inequality with Daniel Craig as James Bond dressing in drag and being challenged by M to think about gender equality.
In Casino Royale, Ava Greene’s role as Vesper showcased women as not just the insipid women helpless before Bond’s charms, but as a strong, intelligent woman who impressed Bond not only with her beauty but also with her wit and control.
There’s definitely been a shift in the way women are being portrayed in movies – not just in the Bond movies, but across the board. But whether this is just being done superficially to pander to feminists or whether it’s the start of honest- to- goodness change in the way females are being perceived depends on the way the everyday female herself sees herself and the way she conducts herself.
If the movies now portray females as strong intelligent women, but in reality females are happy to prance and conform to the male gaze, what have we won? All women need to start seeing themselves as persons, not objects.
We only live once.