University of Liverpool

Graduate Student, Communication and Media

Thesis Title: 'Naughty Noughties? Depictions of female sexuality and the body politic in contemporary British cinema'.

About

Awaiting viva.

My thesis takes a cultural materialist stance in its focus on representations of female sexuality and sexual behaviour in a sample of 101 female-centred British films released during 2000-2009. My approach draws specifically on Dollimore and Sinfield’s (1994) four categories of cultural materialism—I am interested in the historical context in which the films were released (broadly defined as the noughties), whilst my theoretical focus on the female body politic is inspired by Judith Butler’s poststructuralist critiques of gender. My political commitment is feminism, whilst I use textual analysis to examine a range of films. My purpose is thus to explore depictions of female sexuality and sexual behaviour in noughties British cinema in relation to the period’s wider dominant discourses and associated ideals.

I conclude that overall, despite the popular reference to the period of 2000-2009 as the ‘naughty noughties’, the extent to which this phrase applies to the depiction of female sexuality in British films of the decade is questionable. The implications of hedonism in this description are apparent in some films, particularly those representing postfeminist sensibilities. However, wherever representations of female sexuality and the body politic verge on what might be considered as taboo or ‘naughty’, females are frequently subjugated by rape, or chastised and restrained by characters representing hegemonic ideals of acceptable female sexuality that are seemingly narrow and limited. Therefore, my research highlights that the overall depiction of female sexuality in British films of the period is normative rather than naughty.

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