There isn’t much in the way of Femdom in the media. For the most part female characters if they have dominant traits are either evil or de-sexualized. Dominant Female characters tend to all boil down to either the Wicked Witch or Mary Poppins.
So, if I’m looking for some vicarious F/m romance it can be hard to come by, generally I have to make do with something that’s close enough.
The Princess Bride is about as close as it gets. I probably watched this movie over a hundred times growing up. I don’t know why exactly I’m submissive but repeatedly seeing true love depicted the way it is in this film probably didn’t hurt.
We only get about three minutes of explicit female dominance. Buttercup and Westley out on a small farm.
She says “Farmboy do this.”
He says “as you wish.”
Eventually Buttercup is surprised to learn that whenever Westley says “as you wish” what he is really saying is “I love you.”
That’s pretty great I think, it’s not often we see example of men expressing their love and devotion through obedience.
Predictably, this doesn’t last. Westley goes off to seek his fortune, is murdered by pirates and Buttercup becomes engaged to Prince Humperdink subsequently kidnapped by Andre the Giant and his posse. Westley comes back from the dead and does all the requisite hero stuff, revealing his identity by saying “as you wish” after Buttercup pushes him down a slope for being an ass.
The other titbit of F/m I see in the Princess Bride is whenever Buttercup and Westley kiss it’s either the slow star in to each others eyes and mutually lean in for the passionate kiss or, it’s Buttercup smothering Westley in affection. Like, when he’s lying in bed unable to move because he’s been mostly dead all day. It’s not much, but it is different than a lot of movies where the guy holds her head and goes in for the kiss while the girl is passive.
You could also point out that Westley fights to save and protect Buttercup, and how chivalrous and ultimately submissive those actions are, but that isn’t any different than any other hero saving the day to get the girl. It’s not as if the filmmakers had any intention of making a F/m romance, but with the the media landscape for femdom being barren as it is, one takes what one can get.
Easily one of my all time favorite posts, everything about this film is brilliant to me, and it tries so hard to be stupid that it removes all of its flaws!
Great work!
It’s pretty much a perfect movie, endlessly re-watchable and enjoyable for everybody.
Ah yes,
I do so love that movie.
The items you pointed out here undoubtedly play a role in that.
Hard to beat Bond in CR as a torture scene. I was simultaneously turned on and disturbed by being so turned on. Very confusing and yet, so so so very hot.
Just watching one dude torture another doesn’t really tickle my fancy otherwise it’d be a good deal easier to get my jollies.
Have you ever seen Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. RDJ takes a fair amount of abuse in that one… though it’s played for laughs so it might not do much for you.
I can’t believe I never realized that about the Princess Bride. I’ve read the book, and seen the movie so many times that I can pretty much quote the entire film word for word. I’m so glad that the movie shows some female dominance…just another reason for me to love it any more. Now I’m off to re-watch it again to see what I missed.
Adding it to the list…
I’ll let you know.
I haven’t seen Princess Bride in a while. I don’t recall getting a femdom vibe from it, but I should watch it again.
I’ll throw one out, if I may. I recently rewatched Father of the Bride, the remake with Steve Martin. I didn’t notice it the first time around, but there’s a strong femdom vibe in that movie. Really all the way through, Diane Keaton’s character is a calming force in the Steve Martin character’s life, but particularly the scene when she leaves him in jail until he promises to start behaving. He wants to kiss her so bad, pressing his face between the bars, but she makes him repeat after her his promise to behave. It’s so obvious but, like I said, I missed it the first time around.
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