Treatment of Female Sexuality in Last Tango in Paris

Unrestrained female sexuality in popular media is regarded as something of a taboo. As a society, we are not used to the pleasure of women being portrayed on screen, despite our supposedly ‘equal’ society. Much of this is the inflection of sexism and the patriarchy, placed upon the minds of the masses, influencing the internalized discomfort of female sexuality. This, of course, does not apply towards male sexuality. Male sexuality is unrelenting and respected, even revered. These concepts of unrestrained sexuality, equal pleasure and lack of censoring have leached into one of the major sources of media in our society, which is the all encompassing film.

Film acts as a medium for art, and for information. We are entertained, as well as given food for thought when watching a film. We are brought into the world of the characters, we see their flaws, we see their thoughts, we essentially see them as a whole unit. This is the beauty of film, the progression of character. This progresses across all facets of film, all genres inclusively. Particularly impressive for character development was the creation of Italian Cinema. Italian Cinema was a creative pursuit into the minds of Italians, who had gone through much after the war, and had lots to say. It extended into different themes, different storylines, creating a diverse genre worthy of note in the society of film.

However, all Italian films seem to have one thing in common. In some, this thing wasn’t terribly outrageous, and in some it was anything but subtle. This thing, of course, is sex. With sex in popular media, we typically have two people, usually a man and woman, in order to consummate the act. While there are celebrated divergences from these socially constructed ‘norms...

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...in their actions towards each other and towards sexual behaviour. Both their actions can be attributed toward the treatment of female sexuality in cinema and the media. They both portray different aspects of each other, in harmony and in difference.

In conclusion, it is clear that Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris had a unique treatment of female sexuality. Both the plot and the characterization throughout the film lend to both the empowerment of female sexuality, as well as the degradation. Through observing power struggle of the sexes, the pleasure involved in sex, and the consent required for sexual acts, it is clear that he created a dynamic world in which the raw emotion of human sexuality could be explored thoroughly. One wonders, had Last Tango been produced in our modern day age, would it have had the same treatment of female sexuality? What has ch