An interesting article from the Guardian today about the slightly bizarre trend towards 'artificial insemination' movies in amongst this summer's blockbusters, with storylines focusing on women who choose to have children without a man in their lives.
Caroline Hagood argues that this is another re-emergence of the anxieties and concerns that come with shifting gender roles, in particular male worries that they may become fundamentally obsolete at some point in the future.
And whilst some of the movies pander to such fears by re-inserting men into the picture at the final moment, at least one of them doesn't. I've not see The Kids are All right (it doesn't premiere in Britain until October) but if, as this piece suggests, it provides a 'flawed but clearly functional example of successful same-sex coupledom' then it may well be as revolutionary as Hagood would have us believe.
Aside from anything else, I've got high hopes that some of this new batch of films might just pass the Bechdel test with women who have conversations about topics other than men.
