Running Head: WOMEN IN STAR WARS 1

Star Wars: The Feminist Awakens

Micaela Lueders

Linfield College
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The driving force of most popular movies is an even more popular hero. Star Wars is one

of the most widely successful movie franchises in history, as it spans over 40 years, eight movies

and multiple television shows. It is celebrated by fans across the world. An entire Star Wars land

is currently being built in Disneyland. However, this franchise has its flaws. A major problem

within the original movies is the reliance on gender stereotypes among the main characters. The

men were the fighters and the pilots whereas the women were smart but nevertheless still

damsels. These typecast limited the men and women of the Star Wars universe to gender roles,

which disregards the variations within a character. However, this destructive and limiting pattern

changed with Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The Force Awakens featured a female protagonist,

Rey, who defied stereotypical gender roles. The fact the movie even had a female hero

spearheading the new movies was a surprise. The introduction of Rey in Star Wars: The Force

Awakens undermined previously established gender stereotypes and broaden the representations

of women in movies.

It is important to recognize the progression Star Wars achieved within its more than 40

years. These films originally featured a powerful female lead in the role of Princess Leia. In

Episodes IV-VI, Leia was quick, fiery and a leader. Leia spearheaded the movement for more

powerful women in movies, as she was praised for her brains and leadership capabilities. She

saved the entire universe at one point. However, as the movie series progressed, Leia’s story

evolved to be solely about her love of one of the male protagonists, Han Solo. Her knowledge

and skill were abandoned once she fell in love with Solo. This, unfortunately, is not a secular

occasion in the Star Wars franchise. In Episodes I-III, Padme was the next female protagonist.

She was a queen, a senator and a fighter. She was targeted for assassination attempts because

people feared her influence. However, her story quickly followed Leia’s once Padme fell in love
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with Anakin Skywalker. Once she married Skywalker, Padme stepped down as a leader and

fighter. Her story quickly disregarded her aspirations for change to focus on supporting her

husband. These are the two main females within the Star Wars franchise, and it is important to

acknowledge that these are powerful roles for women. However, these characters could have

surpassed the gender stereotypes placed upon them later on in the series.

Even though these representations are not perfect, they are not uncommon plotlines for

women. As Haskell (1975) states, “In no more than one out of a thousand movies was a woman

allowed to sacrifice love for career rather than the other way around” (p. 5). In all media, it is not

unusual for women characters’ plots center around emotional conflict. In television shows, the

female roles tended to be created around a masculine framework, focusing on male gaze,

relationships or emotional dilemmas (Jong, 2009, p. 377). These women were strong within their

own rights, but the narratives presented to them lacked feminist change and ideology that mirrors

reality.

The character of Rey appears to be a direct reaction to the problems surrounding Leia and

Padme. Firstly, she is the protagonist of The Force Awakens, as the whole movie focuses on her

journey. She is depicted as the hero and never as the damsel. In fact, she saves her male

counterpart, Finn, on three separate occasions in the film whereas he only saves her once. The

scene where Finn meets Rey and he rushes to save her from the enemy to only appear just as she

has beaten all of the guards thus making his rush to help useless. She is never the damsel of the

story, but rather the admirable hero. She leads the plot throughout the whole movie, displaying

her individual strength, wit and cunning ability. Also, the movie seems to poke fun at

standardized gender roles in movies, such as when Finn tries to grab Rey’s hand as they run

away and she says, “I know how to run without you holding my hand.” This also connects to a
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study conducted which examined the gender roles in Disney movies which found that the movies

implied women should take care of men’s domestic needs whereas men protect and rescue

women (Lacroix and Westerfelhaus, 2012, p. 36). There is also a refreshing distinct lack of

romantic plotline with these two characters, which is unusual for female representations in media

(Jong, 2009, p. 377). This is switched in this movie as Rey frequently saves Finn and Finn acts

more feminine, such being emotional and serving as the medic after battles.

Rey also possess some unfeminine traits in her character. She serves as the pilot within

the movie, which was a role typically reserved for men in the previous Star Wars films. She is

mechanical and technology savvy, which helps her work on the ship and therefore save the day

yet again. She is self-sufficient and does not rely on another character to survive. This is not

typical for female characters, as they are typically sexualized and subordinate to men (Collins,

2011). Rey is also unique in her ability to use the force. She is the only main female character to

be shown using the force, which is a skill typically reserved for the Jedi and their enemies. This

is a dignified skill that only privileged main characters can manipulate. Not only does Rey

possess the ability to use the force, but she is innately skilled at it. She even wins a battle using

the force against Kylo Ren, the leader of the of The First Order and direct enemy of Rey. Rey not

only excels in mental skill as she also beats Kylo Ren in a physical battle using a lightsaber. She

physically and mentally dominates her male enemy, and that is not typical gender roles.

However, this demonstrates how far Rey tries to distance herself away from gender

stereotypes. Female action stars tend to show women playing typically masculine roles,

operating within the traditional gender parameters of that male power (Camacho, 2012 p. 162).

It’s hard to know if Rey is excellent representation for women or simply playing a male role as a

woman. However, as feminist theory explains, genders should not be limited to a set of
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characteristics. (Ott & Mack, 2014, p. 194). Characteristics are not assigned at birth; therefore,

traits are not solely inhabited by one gender. Rey demonstrates that a girl can be both interested

in mechanics and powerful. Her excellence in machinery, the ability to use to the force and

skilled physical combat demonstrates how Rey excels past her gender confines.

Rey is shown wearing a practical outfit, and this seems like a no brainer for an active

character to wear. She is not wearing high heels, a copper bikini, a princess robe or tight

clothing. She is dressed very sensible for her surroundings and profession. However, it is far

more normal for a female character’s to be sexualized through her clothes. Collins (2012) found

that women in media are more than often dressed in scanty or provocative clothing. This is a

implication to be admired is not as necessary for men shown in media. This also has

ramifications within the audience as well. A study found that exposure to sexually explicit

content in movies related to how people view women as sex objects (Peter & Valkenburg, 2007).

Rey’s power did not come from her appearance or sexuality. Rey’s power comes from her

mental and physical ability. She served more than a pretty object on screen to entice viewers. She

was regarded as a skilled asset regardless of her gender. She was even praised by her male

counterparts for her expertise in these fields. Rey was never a spectacle because she was a great

pilot for a girl but simply portrayed as a great pilot. The Force Awakens’ depiction of Rey

showed her as a human being who excelled, regardless of her preexisting gender ideals or

making her a spectacle.

This notion of women needing to be sexualized could also explain the limited depictions

of women in film. Audiences want to see women shown in movies, but these movies typically

have smaller production budgets and this demonstrates the lack of interest of stories about

women by studio executives (Linder, Lindquist & Arnold, 2015). However, Star Wars: The
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Force Awakens completely shatters this belief. The Internet Movie Database (2017) states the

movie has gross earnings that nearly exceed $1 billion in the United States alone. Well-

constructed and well-written characters make people interested not the gender. The fact Rey, a

strong female lead, stars in such a successful film is hopefully progress toward abandoning

gender stereotypes to create interesting and compelling characters.

Rey transcends the gender stereotypes and ideals society implemented into women in

media. She is a representation of a strong, dynamic and skilled female protagonist, and

diversifying the narratives and heroes in movies is vital for representation. Representation in

media matters because it shows audiences that personality and gender is a relationship and not a

confine. A person’s characteristics are not predetermined when they are born as gender

expression is socially learned. Rey is an excellent example of a powerful female representation

that does not rely on anyone to fulfill her story. She is fierce in her own right, regardless of her

gender or her clothes. Hopefully, the widely successful character of Rey will expand the

spectrum of female protagonists away from their gendered stereotypes to simply being

extraordinary individuals with varying personalities and appearances.

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References

Camacho, M. (2012). Heroes: Action and super heroes. Encyclopedia of Gender in Media. 161-

164.

Collins, R. (2011). Content analysis of gender roles in media: Where are we now and where

should we go? Sex Roles, 64(3), 290-298. Doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9929-5

Haskell, M. (2015, October 5). From reverence to rape: The treatment of women in movies, third

edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Internet Movie Database. (2017). Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Retrieved from

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2488496/

Jung-Whan de Jong, M. (2009). Gender roles on television shows. Encyclopedia of Gender and

Society, (1), 374-378.

Lacroix, C. C., & Westerfelhaus, R. (2012). Children’s programming: Disney and Pixar.

Encyclopedia of Gender in Media, 34-37.

Lindner, A. M., Lindquist, M., & Arnold, J. (2015). Million dollar maybe? The effect of female

presence in movies on box office returns. Sociological Inquiry, 85(3), 407–428.

Doi:10.1111/soin.12081

Ott, B. P., & Mack, R. L. (2014). Critical Media Studies. Hoboken, New Jersey:Wiley Blackwell

Peter, J., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2007). Adolescents' exposure to a sexualized media environment

and their notions of women as sex objects. Sex Roles, 56(5), 381-395.

Doi:10.1007/s11199-006-9176-y