Bond Girls: More Than a Pair of Breasts

Nowadays, there are very few roles for woman in films that involve simply looking pretty and screaming when the bad guys attack the hero. But there is the one very well known role that woman would scratch one another’s eyes out to play; James Bond girl.

For decades the Bond girl who accompanies James on his missions have been dismissed as eye candy for Bond and been given suggestive names, when in reality woman are generally disgusted when men treat them as play things or a ‘damsel in distress’.  But this traditional role of bond girls all changed in the last two or three films; ‘Die Another Day’, ‘Casino Royale’ and ‘Quantum of Solace’. For the time that the first James Bond films were out, the women were unique; Pussy Galore for example, was a female pilot. A lot of the woman were sexual predators who gave as good as they got. But the films also famously feature naked or semi-clothed woman in silhouette in the opening credits. And many of the most famous lines in James Bond are packed full with sexual innuendos.

Two of the most formidable female characters in the films, including some of his enemies, have fallen for his famous charms. Honey Rider, who steps out of the ocean in her bikini (Dr No), and ends up making love with Bond in a boat at the end of the film. And Pussy Galore, who originally betrays him and ends up in his arms beneath a parachute.

You can also see slight changes in the posters that advertise the films have changed since Dr No and Goldfinger. For the latest Bond release both Bond and Camille (Craig & Kurylenko) are given equal space on the poster. This shows a huge change from earlier films. The films have infuriated feminists in the past having been branded ‘male fantasy figures.’ Barbara Broccoli, the joint owner and producer of the James Bond franchise has added to this; ‘These films were attempts by men to keep women in their place and to ensure they still ironed their shirts.’ Kathy Lette, also a writer and broadcaster, said that the Bond women had always been little more than “a life support system to a pair of breasts”.

As the future goes for Bond girls it is looking bright.