Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Sexually Aggressive Women

So, tonight I went and saw Black Swan with Natalie Portman. It was dark (as the title suggests) and haunting. It stayed with me after the movie was over. Her performance was outstanding and I think she deserves all kinds of awards.

Before that movie, there were several previews to watch. Another movie called No Strings Attached, also starring Ms. Portman and Ashton Kutcher is a romantic comedy about two friends who decide to have sex and to keep it just sex between them. If the preview is to be believed then the heroine is the one more adamant about not adding love to the occasion.

I couldn’t help but think that so much of that—the idea that women can be sexually aggressive—and that it is such a normal, socially acceptable thing can be traced to the popularity of erotic romance and the sheer volume of it (thank goodness) that is being read on a daily basis.

I started to ask myself if this would have been the case ten years ago. I have no hard data to support this but I think it probably would have been more shocking than it is now.

So let me ask you a question…

Which book or movie did you see for the first time with a sexually aggressive woman? Can you think of it?

4 comments:

Terri H said...

Up until recently, sexually agressive women were usually portrayed as evil and/or crazy, like Glenn Close in "Fatal Attraction". I for one am really glad the tide is finally starting to turn.

Cathy M said...

Another one is Kathleen Turner in Body Heat.

Annie Nicholas said...

9 1/2 weeks.

I didn't grow up here but in Montreal where I a woman's sexuality was and is always encouraged. :) The male strip clubs up there would make your toes curl. Maybe you and Joann should take a trip there with me one day. LOL

J Hali Steele said...

Basic Instinct, but enough about that--I need to discuss and prepare for the 'educational' trip we're taking with Annie!!! *big grin*