Britain’s last line of Defence: Miss Moneypenny and the desperations of filmic feminism

The fracturing of femininity is a strength of, as well as a problem for
cor.temporary feminism. No political label can encompass the plurality
of women. Since suffragettes chained themselves to the gate of Number
10 Downing Street, the representational politics of subjectivity have been
a c,ntral topic of gender theorists.' Without a metaphoric Boadicea to
embody strength, the political objectives of contemporary feminism can
see-n tenuous and ambivalent. In response to these larger concerns, this
paper explores a minor character from a long-running film series and
demonstrates that even in the midst of saturating sexism, a voice of social
justice and responsibility can speak. With the latest Bond film, Tomorrow
Never Dies, released during the Christmas season of 1997/8, it is timely
to evaluate a superspy's supersecretary.