world in ways that are acceptable to men, while keeping everything else to herself - and she is entirely designed to fit into a male-gaze driven patriarchal society. That means that – regardless of how many men she throws down the stairs or shoots – she poses no real threat to the status quo.

Since the vast majority of film critics are male, the overwhelming critical response also happens through the male gaze – and the critical male gaze loves the Badass Woman Of Cinema. Her arrival is usually heralded as if she will solve sexism forever, and when she doesn’t (because she is not written with that intention), she becomes just another example to be used in an argument for why audiences don’t want to see female-led movies. “We gave you a “strong woman,” and you di...

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