Bit OT because I can't find the feminist films thread from a while back but I want to mention this.
I watched Tootsie for the first time in years yesterday and I was surprised to find one of its major messages is feminism.
The most striking thing is a scene where Dustin Hoffman masquerading as an actress, Dorothy Michaels, reluctantly invites her lecherous co-star to her flat. Dorothy only does it because the co-star is making a racket and annoying her neighbours and she feels sorry for him because he's a figure of ridicule on the film set.
Once inside he leaps on her despite her protests and it's only broken up by Dorothy's male flatmate Geoff coming in. Co-star immediately leaves apologising for trespassing on Geoff's territory. Geoff then teases Dorothy, who he obviously knows is his friend Michael, along the lines of: 'why did you invite him here if you didn't want anything to happen?'
The thing that stunned me is that Dorothy/Michael snaps that 'rape' is never funny.
Up to that point the scene was played for laughs, like all reluctant woman/sex pest scenes in comedies are. And everything that goes before is exactly how most rapes happen: the woman is guilted into being alone with the man, she tries to handle it politely, even her friends ask what on earth she expected.
With the rest of it: Dorothy constantly ad-libs during filming to dodge set-ups that will allow her co-star to grope her or allow him to assault other actresses.
Her ad-libs also present her character, a hospital administrator, as a strong responsible and caring person rather than the menopausal wimp her producers want her to be.
She changes lines that should have her advising a victim of DV to seek counselling to telling the woman to call the police and kick her husband out and shames the female producer into agreeing that's the responsible advice to give. The actress playing the beaten woman is the one who kicks up the biggest fuss about Dorothy changing the lines.
Dorothy insists the director calls her by her proper name like he does the men instead of Tootsie, Toots, Baby etc. She tries to get the other actresses to do the same and advises his girlfriend to leave him.
Even though the director hates her she becomes such a popular character with the millions of women who watch the show that he can't sack her.
They also chuck in bits about workers' rights and the general treatment of women by men.
It doesn't pass the Bechdel Test because the only conversations between women are with a real woman and a man in drag. And they only ever talk about men. But the passing the BT isn't a guarantee of feminism though it's a good starting point.
And it's sexist in the idea that only a man can truly help women but there's far more good than bad in it.