Molly Haskell: Feminism and the Movies

About this episode

Laura McLaws Helms interviews film critic Molly Haskell about feminism and the representation of women in movies.

Fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms speaks with movie critic and author Molly Haskell. A legendary film critic, with her first book, ‘From Reverence to Rape: the Treatment of Women in the Movies’ (1973) Molly Haskell fundamentally changed the way we look at women in film and basically started the whole field of feminist film theory and criticism. Starting her career in the mid-1960s at the French Film Office in New York, writing press releases about French films and translating for visiting directors, Molly began reviewing in the late 1960s. Over the next five decades, she went on to write for New York Magazine, Vogue, Ms., Viva, The New York Times, The Guardian, Esquire, The New York Review of Books, Film Comment, and many other publications, in addition to writing five other books. From a traditional Southern background, Molly forsook the expected path of a housewife, instead choosing a career and a marriage built on a shared passion for film—she was married to fellow film critic Andrew Sarris for 43 years, until his death in 2012. Of course, this conversation touches on movies, but also about growing up in the South in the 1940s and 50s, feminism, the life of a…

People in this episode

Host: Laura McLaws Helms

Guest: Molly Haskell

Topics covered

• feminism
• film criticism
• women in film
• Southern upbringing
• writing

Keywords

• Molly Haskell
• feminist film theory
• cultural historian
• film critic

Mentioned in this episode

Products: From Reverence to Rape: the Treatment of Women in the Movies

Books & works: Feminism and the Movies, From Reverence to Rape: the Treatment of Women in the Movies

Places: New York, South

More episodes of Sighs and Whispers

• Hylan Booker: Fashion, Art, and Breaking Boundaries · March 31, 2026 · 1h 33m
• Denis Piel: Photography, Fashion, and Flowers · March 9, 2026 · 59 min
• Richard Ellescas: A Meditation on Illustration and Gratitude · February 18, 2026 · 48 min
• Barry Zaid: An Artistic Journey from 1960s London to Push Pin, Celestial Seasonings to Mexico · January 15, 2026 · 1h 8m
• Peter Coyote: The Counterculture, Zen, and Hollywood · January 2, 2026 · 1h 24m
• Sally Ann Parsons: A Costume Maker's Art · December 9, 2025 · 1h 1m