Hayleigh Vail

Gender and the Media

James Bond Sexual Representation

James Bond had a very similar relationship with different women. James set his eye on these

women and went after what he wanted. Although some women put up more of a fight at first,

he was able to convince them to be with him. With Jill Masterson, James Bond didn’t have to do

much at all to win her over; he showed her that he was composed and powerful, which led her

to fall for him. Jill was more of a sexual object for Bond. Tilly Masterson had a different type of

relationship with Bond. He was flirtatious and protective over Tilly; where she had the idea of

revenge on Goldfinger, not reciprocating the same flirtatious relationship back at Bond. She

tried to be strong and independent on her heist to kill Goldfinger, but leaned on Bond to

protect her (which failed). Tilly was also more of a sexual object for Bond who somewhat

turned into a warrior, but was unable to be a warrior on her own. Bond had to do a lot of

convincing to win over Pussy Galore. She worked for Goldfinger, and came off as strong, and

independent. Bond was flirtatious and tried to get Pussy to reciprocate feelings, but it took

awhile for Pussy to do so. Pussy was most definitely Bond’s warrior. She did what she wanted,

and I don’t think she really gave into Bond, I believe she chose him. As for Miss Moneypenny,

Dink, and other women working for Goldfinger, these women were all easily persuaded and

flustered by James Bond. His sly tactics easily went over these women’s heads, allowing him to

come off as charming instead of sneaky.

 Bond’s sexual relationships with women came along lot easier than Goldfinger’s sexual

relationships with women. Bond was charming and handsome, causing women to fall for him

for these reasons alone. Goldfinger was not charming or handsome, but he was rich. By

flaunting his wealth, he was able to have some relationships with women, but not as many

relationships as Bond had. In the beginning of the film, Jill Masterson was paid by Goldfinger

just to help him cheat in cards, and to be seen with him. Bond was able to start a relationship

with Jill right away after just showing how charming and handsome he was. This reveals that

more attractive and charming men were able to have more sexual relationships with women

than those who are not. This also shows that women were attracted to men who had lots of

money in the 1960s.

Overall, this movie shows that women in power and authority is possible, but they are more

easily persuaded than men. For example, Pussy Galore worked for Goldfinger and came off as

strong and independent. But, Pussy was able to be charmed by Bond into starting a sexual

relationship, and no longer following through with the job she was assigned to do. Bond and

Goldfinger on the other hand, would clearly never be charmed out of completing their jobs. The

men in this film come off as determined until the job is done; where as the women can be

persuaded by handsome men to stop.

The Sexual Revolution became the metaphor of choice to describe changes in sexual

attitudes and behaviors during the 1960s; including new morality, Playboy Philosophy, free

love, easy sex, wife swapping, swinging, living out of wedlock, coming out of the closet, X-rated
movies, and full-frontal foldouts. One of these moralities, easy sex, is portrayed in Goldfinger as

when James Bond met Jill Masterson, she had never met him before. He broke into Goldfinger’s

room, found her on the balcony, demanded Goldfinger to lose his round of cards, and charmed

Jill for a few minutes. After this scene, he has sex with Jill, showing that sex was easy during the

Sexual Revolution. The sexual Revolution was also associated with living out of wedlock. Before

this revolution, men and women would usually have sex once they were married, it was

uncommon for two to have sex out of wedlock. During this time, it was becoming more popular

to live out of wedlock and have sex with multiple partners. As shown in Goldfinger, Bond was

single, and was able to charm many women. It showed that he had sex with Jill, but was

flirtatious with every woman in the film, and was shown kissing Pussy multiple times. This

connects with living out of wedlock, because Bond and these women are able to have sex,

without being married.

In my opinion, I think the sexual representation in movies have evolved in a big way

from the Sexual Revolution to current day. During the Sexual Revolution, the films didn’t show

the sexual scenes. The film showed the two partners pursuing each other, and then would show

them kissing in bed afterwards, allowing the audience to presume that the two have had sex.

Today, films are not shy when filming these scenes. They will show the whole sex scene; and

some movies may include nudity. It has definitely become the norm for current movies to show

sex scenes and nudity.