Content Warning: discussions of abortion and sexual assault
It is obvious to me that women’s autonomy is being threatened in our society, as rights are being taken away and access to health services restricted. Bodily autonomy is the ability to make one’s own choices surrounding their body, and women’s bodily autonomy in particular is a hot commodity. It seems that women’s bodies are constantly under control, and this occurrence is represented thoroughly in film — from either the women in the film, or, more often so, the men on and behind the camera.
One of the most popular movies in discussions about women’s autonomy is the 2009 Jennifer’s Body. The film follows a popular high school girl named Jennifer Check, played by Megan Fox, who is kidnapped by a male band that needs a virginal sacrifice so they can make a deal with the devil for their bands’ success. However, this goes awry, as Jennifer lies about being a virgin. Her sacrifice then ends in her becoming a succubus, a man-eating demon.
The band’s sacrifice and the ultimate possession of Jennifer is largely interpreted as a metaphor for sexual assault, as the band’s assault of her included framing that created sexual undertones in conjunction with the desire for a virgin. Essentially, Jennifer’s body is no longer hers; her autonomy was taken from her by the band and, in turn, the succubus. The title of the film itself, Jennifer’s Body, reflects how her own body has become a vessel for something other than herself.
In a similar sense, the 1968 film Rosemary’s Baby, starring Mia Farrow, depicts the lack of bodily autonomy of the main character, Rosemary. Rosemary and her husband Guy move into a strange new apartment building with equally strange neighbors. Newly married and wanting a baby, the couple is struggling as Guy’s acting career is heading nowhere.
Rosemary has a dream one night of being sexually assaulted by a demonic presence and wakes up with scratches all over her body. Guy then claims he had sex with her while she was asleep. Their neighbors, the elderly couple Roman and Minnie, also become increasingly interested in her once she becomes pregnant- and Rosemary is left isolated once Guy’s career takes off.
As Rosemary delves deeper into pregnancy and paranoia, she can’t shake the feeling that the baby growing inside her is something sinister. And it’s when Rosemary gives birth to her child that she discovers the elderly couple is part of a group of satanists who Guy made a deal with to have Rosemary impregnated with Satan’s baby (which would then make him a successful actor). She tries to deny the infant, but her maternal instincts come in as she cradles the supposed antichrist in the final shot.
From the beginning, Rosemary’s body is not hers. It is something to be auctioned off for her husband’s and the cult’s own interests. She is constantly gaslit about how she listens to her body during her pregnancy, and her choice in the act itself is stripped away. Movies like this show cinema’s history of taking away women’s bodily autonomy.
However, cinema is not completely devoid of women’s autonomy. An underrated film, in my opinion, is the 2007 Romania movie called 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. It follows a young woman who is pregnant in a communist Romania as she and her best friend seek an illegal abortion for her. It is an extremely heavy film that grips you from beginning to end, and I think, if you can handle it, it’s an important watch. It shows how painful abortions are, physically and emotionally, and the lengths and sacrifices women must go through when denied control over their own bodies.
Even a sci-fi film like Alien illustrates the loss of bodily autonomy. While the alien creature’s initial birth scene comes from a male crew member of the spaceship, it plays up the gore and invasive nature of something you don’t want that is growing inside of you. It’s almost as if they are showing an understanding of how horrifying it can be to give birth with no control of one’s body!
All in all, I believe it important to increase our media literacy and look into how women’s autonomy- or the lack thereof- exist in our everyday films of choice.