Carry On films ‘were not sexist and actually empowered women’
CARRY On films were not sexist and actually empowered women, an author has claimed.
The bawdy British classics are known for their seaside postcard-style humour and smuttiness.
Memorable scenes included Barbara Windsor’s bikini flying off in Carry On Camping.
Caroline Frost, who watched all 31 films for her book Carry On Regardless, said she expected women to be portrayed as “stupid and beautiful”.
But she said the films were not “sexist romps” that reduced their female stars, such as Babs, to “totty”.
And she argues that the movies were actually “more sophisticated than they are remembered for”.
Caroline said the films gave female stars an “opportunity to shine”, adding: “Some of the scripts were defiantly feminist when there wasn’t a lot of that about.”
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She said: “Hattie Jacques, Windsor and Joan Sims, they were all fine actresses who took pride in creating characters and never considered themselves exploited.”
Babs, who died in 2020, once said: “The ladies in Carry On would always push the men away. They never actually got there. The films were very moral actually.”
And Sally Geeson said on filming of her two movies there was “an atmosphere of total respect and equality”.
But feminist commentator Jean Hatchet called it a “tired argument”, and said: “I’m unsure whether Caroline Frost is trying to create her own comedy through controversy.”
