PROMISING YOUNG WOMEN

Here are women, looking at men, looking at women and pointing out the fault lines, toppling notions about desire and consent

- SOLEIL NATHWANI

She was asking for it. She was drunk. Did you see what she was wearing? She’s hysterical. She’s Crazy. She had a meltdown. She’s lying. I don’t believe her.

Every woman is intimately familiar with these comments because they were at directed at her, at a woman she knew, at a female celebrity whose downfall she consumed through viral headlines and not least because she may have uttered them herself. It sounds messy, because it is. Society has told women to dress nicely - but not suggestively, wear heels - but not too high, be confident but not overconfident, tell the truth - but not if it compromises the power structure. While government, corporate and family structures set the still vastly inequitable ‘ground rules’ for women, the stories we tell in the media and on the screen shape the way we see female sexuality, sexual assault and sexual freedom. Although men, whether authors, directors, producers or media moguls, continue to dominate storytelling, a recent focus towards women not just telling, but truly owning, their narratives presents an opportunity for sexual mores to be revisited and revised.

This year’s Oscar nominations broke ground by awarding two women nominations in the Best Director category, against a historical backdrop of a paltry five women nominated over ninety-two years. One of these films, British multi-hyphenate Emerald Fennell’s directorial debut feature, Promising Young Woman, is a spark in the storm of sexual revisionism. Promising Young Woman, which also earned nominations for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Actress for Carey Mulligan, sees Mulligan as Cassie Thomas, a medical school drop-out who seeks to avenge the rape of her best friend. Mulligan’s long overdue second Oscar nomination for the role comes after