Here’s looking at her: an intersectional analysis of women, power and feminism in film

While feminist film scholars have considered what makes a film feminist, we explore this question from a feminist sociological perspective with an emphasis on power and women in film. We take an intersectional approach to explore gender, race, ethnicity and social class in films about women. We draw from Amy Allen’s conception of power as the interrelated triad of domination (power-over), empowerment/resistance (power-to), and solidarity (power-with). We then apply Sutherland’s elaboration on those forms of power in terms of how they are depicted in film. Results reveal that most feminist films revolve around stories about power-to; women finding the courage to individually confront and challenge existing norms. Power-to films are predominantly tales of white, middle class women. Women of color are most likely to be featured in power-over films. Very few can be considered power-with films that demonstrate solidarity among women. We conclude that more women and men with feminist values behind the camera is a necessary, but not sufficient, requirement to change cultural representations of women and power in film.