“The Strong Female Lead: Disempowerment as Liberation” (2023-2024)
When I was in 8th Grade, I owned a shirt that boldly and proudly stated, in bright red block-letters, “STRONG FEMALE LEAD.” If you would’ve asked 8th grade Sofia the meaning of her shirt, she would not have been able to articulate it thoroughly, and most definitely would not have been able to do so by using examples from TV or film. She would’ve most likely described the ‘strong female lead’ trope by using real people: her mother, her grandmother, her best friend, Fiona Apple.
As I have found myself getting older and thinking more critically about the art I consume, I find myself coming back to the idea of this strong female lead, and questioning its usefulness as a mere trope that exists amongst the infinitely complex, multifaceted women that exist in real life. This essay I have written is the one I wish I could’ve given my 8th grade self to read. I think it would have helped explain things a lot better.
My essay was brought to life through the culmination of Agnes Varda’s film Cléo from 5 to 7, and Laura Mulvey’s essay entitled “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” I wanted to use Mulvey’s language as a basis to explain this truth to readers: that film structure inherently adheres to male pleasure and works against genuine female empowerment. I used Cléo from 5 to 7 as my point of analysis because Varda seems to brilliantly understand the limitations of the male-oriented system she is operating in. Because of this, she creates a film well-regarded as feminist, despite having a main character who isn’t your typical strong female lead—a character who is strong not in spite of her femininity, but because of the way she harnesses it.
This essay was daunting to write. I wanted to accurately put words to a very ambiguous feeling. Femininity is undefinable. What being a woman means to me may be, and most likely is, completely different for the next person. But when this essay really started to make sense to me was when I allowed myself the permission to lean on the brilliant ideas of Agnes Varda, Laura Mulvey, and Brit Marling. Their genius was my backbone. When I realized I trusted them, I trusted myself enough to enter the cultural conversation being had.
Sofia Goorno is a rising sophomore at the Tisch School of the Arts, pursuing an undergraduate degree in drama and a minor in creative writing at the College of Arts and Sciences. Born and raised in Acton, Massachusetts, Sofia has always enjoyed artistic pursuits from drawing and journaling to piano-playing and singing. She feels passionate about using her individual voice as a means to express her criticisms, observations, and curiosities about art. Her essay creates an articulate dialogue between two of her most favorite topics of discussion: filmmaking and feminist theory.