Men out of focus: the Soviet masculinity crisis in the long sixties

Abstract

of their greater number, even though their contributions to what the authors call women’s cinema may not be any less consequential. Indeed, the conversation about gender issues and what women’s cinema is begins in the introduction of Chapter 1. The authors argue and convincingly illustrate throughout the book that ‘animation made by women was and is gendered’ (5) and that animations made by women depict opinions on important feminine problems. They effectively prove that these twelve female directors shaped the notion of female subjectivity in Soviet animation. Finally, the book positions animation as more than simply being of interest to children and places it in the broader context of Soviet and post-Soviet cinema and culture generally. The book is not without a few minor flaws. For example, it is unclear why the authors do not use a soft sign in their transliterations, which is quite eye-catching for Russian speakers. Similarly, Chapter 1 would be better identified as an introduction because it functions as such: the book’s layout would have been more consistent and logical. Nevertheless, She animates productively ‘begins a dialogue about women animators, preserving their legacy through the concept of women’s cinema’ (193). Michele Leigh and Lora Mjolsness have done a great job highlighting women’s directorial voices together with feminine aesthetics and Soviet and Russian female subjectivity. This interdisciplinary volume is an important and much-needed contribution to animation, gender and women’s studies.