Claire Johnston. . .

Claire Johnston's "Women's cinema as counter-cinema" (1973 is one of the earliest articles on feminist film theory and practice. She shows how women have been stereotypes in film since the days n the silent cinema and argues for a cinema that challenges such narrow conventions but which will also be entertaining. In mainstream cinema women is seen as an extension of male vision and Johnston criticises the narrow role she is given in film:

Quote:

"It is probably true to say that despite the enormous emphasis placed on women as spectacle in the cinema, woman as woman is largely absent" (ibid.: 214)

From: 'An introduction to film studies, third edition'