James Bond and the Treatment of Women

The film Dr. No raises many issues that were prevalent during the 1960’s such as the treatment of women as well as the perception of women in society. While the film portrays women having an amount of power within the context of the film, it ultimately strips them of this power by placing them back in to a role of submission. The film give us a view of women that would correspond to the idea of using sexuality in order to deceive, but then, in the end, places the main female character in a submissive role in relation to James Bond.

The first picture of a woman that we get in the film is in the opening sequence where there are girls, only shadows, parading around to the introduction music. This is then followed by the card game in which Bond tries to seduce the woman at the table by inviting her to his room for what is apparently some casual sex. The woman seems as if she is going to resist, displaying a small amount of power over Bond, but is then in his room waiting for him.

The next picture of a woman that we receive is the spy who invites him over to her house for sex. She creates a believable ruse leading Bond to travel to her house, almost being killed on the way. While she is given power through the ability to trick Bond successfully, she is ultimately put in her place by the fact that he escapes the attempted murder and arrives at her house; which eventually leads to her having to have sex with him. Basically, she tricked him, got caught, and now she is being punished through sex.

The last picture of a female that the viewer receives is the girl Bond meets on the island. Bond makes it apparent that he wants to have sex with her but does not pursue it immediately. I think that the reason for this is because she did not pose a threat to him. It seems as if the only time that Bond had sex in the film was when the woman he was with was presenting some kind of agency which would in turn need to be taken back under control by him.

The film, overall, does not present a good picture of women in society. The film does allow women to have a certain amount of agency within the context of the film, but this is ultimately brought back under control by the patriarchal structure of society. The film displays women as sex objects used for the gain of other males, and presents an overall derogatory view of the sex.