Fighting for Subjectivity: Articulations of Physicality in Girlfight
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Lindner, Katharina (
Fighting for Subjectivity: Articulations of Physicality in Girlfi ght
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Fighting for Subjectivity: Articulations of Physicality in Girlfight
By Katharina Lindner 1
Abstract
The analysis of Girlfight (Karyn Kusama, 2000) in this paper is framed by critical
discourses surrounding physically active female characters in the action genre, the
conventions of the boxing film ‘genre’, the relationship between bodily spectacle and
narrative structure, as well as the more general significance of the female boxer’s
challenge to normative and binary notions of bodily existence and subjectivity. With a
particular focus on the interrelationship between narrative structure and boxing sequences
(‘numbers’), this paper explores notions of the (gendered) subjectivity constructed around
the film’s female boxing character, Diana (Michelle Rodriguez). I will argue that the
boxing ‘numbers’ largely function as a (bodily) articulation of Diana’s struggle for a
unified sense of identity and the embodiment of subjectivity. However, the emphasis on
the materiality of the body in earlier ‘numbers’ is replaced in the final boxing sequence
by a sense of abstraction and generic integration. The significance of the physicality of
the body in relation to the embodiment of subjectivity is therefore strangely disavowed
and the (bodily) agency of Diana’s character undermined.
Introduction
‘The body’ and visual representations of ‘the body’ are issues that have attracted
the attention of (feminist) film critics, cultural studies scholars and media researchers for
some time. Questions surrounding representations of ‘the body’ frequently arise in the
context of questions surrounding articulations of ‘subjectivity’. However, ‘the materiality
of bodies and bodily movement can sometimes become paradoxically submerged’ within
these debates as ‘the body’ remains a strangely abstract concept (Desmond 2). In
response to this tendency, a number of contemporary scholars in various fields have
started to take an increased interest in the ‘inescapable fleshiness of the human subject’
(Taylor 344). This shift towards a more corporeal worldview and a consideration of the
materiality of the ‘lived body’ has its origins in the work of phenomenologists such as
Marcel Merleau-Ponty and is also heavily influenced by Foucault’s work on sexuality
and institutions. The emphasis on the ‘lived body’ is linked to a rejection of the Cartesian
mind/body dualism as the significance of the relationship between body and mind is
emphasised; in this context, conceptualisations of subjectivity as ‘embodied’ become
central
(see Taylor 2007)
.
The following analysis of Girlfight (Karyn Kusama 2000), an independent
American film about a female boxer, is situated in the context of this proposed shift. My
reading of the film draws on debates concerned with the ambiguously empowering nature
of women’s pursuit of a quintessentially ‘masculine’ sport such as boxing. Additionally,
it is situated in relation to debates surrounding cinematic representations of female
1 Katharina Lindner has recently completed her PhD on representations of female athleticism in cinema at
the University of Glasgow. Her general research interests include feminist film and cultural criticism,
theories of gender and sexuality, popular film and culture, representation and identity, as well as sports.
physicality, particularly within the action genre. Lastly, my conceptual approach borrows
from work on the ‘musical’, in particular the sustained academic interest in the
relationship between narrative and ‘number’, as well as from conceptualisations of the
boxing film as a (sub)genre in its own right. I will first outline the conceptual framework
for this analysis in some more detail, before moving on to a discussion of Girlfight itself,
where I will argue that the boxing ‘numbers’ function as an articulation of the
protagonist’s (bodily) struggle for a unified and embodied sense of self.
The Female Boxing Character: Action Heroine?
The relatively recent phenomenon of the boxing film with a female protagonist
has been discussed primarily in the context of the increased presence of central female
characters in the action genre – an issue that has received much critical attention within
feminist film and media studies over the last two decades
(Tasker 1993 and 1998;
Holmund 2001)
. This work is primarily concerned with the ideological implications of
the depictions of physically active an (...truncated)