Books on representations of women in film?

[Ilovemystarter]

Can anyone recommend any? I’m thinking about something that describes / analyses the various stereotypical representations of women in film, Final Girls, sex goddesses, sirens, etc, and how they’ve changed over time.

Men, Women and Chainsaws- Gender in the Modern Horror Film by Carol J Clover.

Obviously that’s just horror but she coined the term Final Girl I believe.

Sorry I don't know offhand of any books but I know Geena Davis the actress has spoken a lot about this over the years. . She set up her own Institute of Gender in Media.

Thank you!

What's your previous reading on this subject like, OP?

The study and business of film makes a distinction between stereotypes (bad) and archetypes (good.)

If you search for 'Female Archetypes in Cinema' you are likely to get some leads.

molly Haskell / ann Kaplan / Pauline kael /

laura Mulvey / Griselda pollack

"Tough Gynes" (subtitled "Violent Women in Film as Honorary Men") by Stan Goff. Goff is an ex Delta Force soldier who got a snootful of violent masculinity and wrote books on the topic like "Sex and War." Very thought provoking.

Yikes, I should know this because I did my dissertation around feminist film theory. That was like 30 years ago tho so things have undoubtedly moved on.
Wracking my brains Molly Haskell's From Reverence to Rape the treatment of women in the movies was one I used a lot.
Popcorn Venus was less relevent for me but well known at the time. Laura Mulvey wrote a renowned essay on the subject called Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.
Femmes Fatales by Mary Ann Doan was another and Women's Pictures by Annette Kuhn. Also Women & Film by E Ann Caplan.

Men, Women and Chainsaws was eye opening. Really recommend it