Bond Girls and Representations of Women

I don't know why I watch James Bond movies. The car chases are too unrealistic, the actions scenes don't interest me much, and the representation of women within them leaves me incredibly frustrated. Like many other films and media, the 007 franchise often offers viewers representations of women who are helpless and inserted into the story mostly to serve as a love interest for the hero.

Some of the Bond girls

The James Bond film franchise, which began in the 1960s and still continues, provide several examples of women being portrayed as objects of romantic, or more often, sexual desire for the hero; as well as an example of the limited portrayal of women in film. In each of the twenty-four 007 films, there is at least one ‘Bond girl’, or romantic interest for the main character. Representations of these characters range from femme fatale to damsel in distress, often with several such characters per films. The Bond girl characters are often seen wearing little clothing and conform to beauty standards, representing them as desirable because of their bodies. It is not unusual for one of them to be kidnapped, showcasing another common representation of women: damsel in distress. This is a representation that has been used throughout time and is especially common in fairy tales.

These representations are common throughout many types of media. Action movies, fairy tales, and adventure books among other types of media use these tropes again and again and again. All too often, women are represented within these narrow parameters and other aspects of their stories aren't developed. A study by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film found that in the 100 top-grossing films of 2016, female characters were 21% less likely than male characters to be shown to have work-related goals, and 21% more likely to have goals related to their personal life. In short, they found that women were represented as more likely to be pursuing relationships than careers. 

When it comes to my thoughts on the topic of representation of women over time, I'm often annoyed by representations of women. A lot of the women I see represented in film, and to some extent in other texts, are like those shown in the James Bond series. I'm also aware that throughout time, many representations of women have been similar, and that this is likely linked to the belief that a woman's domain is the home and the kitchen. However, I would like to see women portrayed in more diverse ways, and especially in leadership positions. I know that such representations have been becoming more common recently, and I'd be interested to learn if there has been any point in time when this has also been the case, whether in Western culture or not.