Where Are the Women? Wild

WATWwild

Reese Witherspoon messes up her life and then messes up her body on the way to getting right with herself and the world. Fan-feminist-tastic!

BASIC REPRESENTATION SCORE: +25

+25
Is there a female protagonist? [why this matters]

FEMALE AGENCY/POWER/AUTHORITY SCORE: 0

[no significant representation of women in authority]

THE MALE GAZE SCORE: -5

-5
Is there a female character with significant screen time who bares her breasts (but doesn’t appear fully nude)? [why this matters]

GENDER/SEXUALITY SCORE: -5

-5
Is there a female character who is primarily defined by her emotional or biological relationship with a child or children? [why this matters]

WILDCARD SCORE: +14

Is there anything either positive or negative in the film’s representation of women not already accounted for here? (points will vary)

+7
While Reese Witherspoon does appear topless, extremely briefly, in one sex scene, that scene (and others of a sexual nature, including ones in which she is not baring any skin while her male partners do bare some) are very much about her being in control of her sexual agency. Another brief instance of Witherspoon’s toplessness is nonsexual and about showing the impact on her body of her physical labor (bruises, abrasions, etc.). None of these instances are gratuitous or lascivious or about wrenching autonomy away from the character for the viewing pleasure of the audience (as is so typical on film). The nudity here contributes to a depiction demonstrating that a woman’s body is her own to do with as she pleases.
+7
While Laura Dern’s character is defined primarily by her motherhood — of Witherspoon’s character — she exists in the story in order to explore the limitations traditional roles place on women’s lives, and how women can chafe at them. She is also a character who is discovering new ways to break out of those limitations and reclaim her life for herself.

TOTAL SCORE: +29

IS THE FILM’S DIRECTOR FEMALE? No (does not impact scoring)

IS THE FILM’S SCREENWRITER FEMALE? No, though it is based on a book written by a woman (Cheryl Strayed) (does not impact scoring)

BOTTOM LINE: This is a hugely feminist film, with very positive of representation of women — more than one, even! — as people with hopes, dreams, and problems uniquely their own.

Click here for the ranking of 2014’s Oscar-nominated films for female representation.

Click here for the ongoing ranking of 2015’s films for female representation.

NOTE: This is not a “review” of Wild! It is simply an examination of how well or how poorly it represents women. (A movie that represents women well can still be a terrible film; a movie that represents women poorly can still be a great film.) Read my review of Wild.

See the full rating criteria. (Criteria that do not apply to this film have been deleted in this rating for maximum readability.)


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LaSargenta
LaSargenta
Fri, Jan 16, 2015 5:06pm

What about the age difference of Dern and Witherspoon? There’s only NINE years between them. How are they mother and daughter?!

Wouldn’t that be a consideration in the wildcard? (W.r.t. sexist casting about the “appropriate” ago for a woman to be/play.)

MaryAnn Johanson
reply to  LaSargenta
Fri, Jan 16, 2015 7:29pm

Dern portrays the mom from the time the Witherspoon character is a child (and played by a child actor). I think this is acceptable.

But yes, there will be instances where there will be a wildcard note of a woman too young to be playing someone else’s mother.

LaSargenta
LaSargenta
reply to  MaryAnn Johanson
Fri, Jan 16, 2015 7:42pm

Ah. I haven’t seen the movie yet. I didn’t know that. Thank you!

RogerBW
RogerBW
Wed, Jan 21, 2015 12:57pm

Interesting that almost all the points here come from the female protagonist herself rather than from her interactions with people.