Representations of sex acts on‐screen are inextricably connected with gender. Sex, as a performative act, can inscribe normative gender roles and stereotypes, and “masculinity” and “femininity” are particularly reinforced through certain sex acts. Although gender and sex are linked closely, the relationship between sex and gender/performativity/gender roles in film has not actually been explored in an overt and concentrated way in academic literature on the subject. In other words, at this current time, there are no scholarly pieces of literature where the sole research objective is to explore sex acts and their specific relationship with gender (and gender roles/stereotypes) in film, or how sex acts in film reinscribe or challenge gendered norms. However, this entry presents a concise and cogent overview of academic literature that has dealt with sex and gender in film, such as Jane Fonda's performance of orgasm, the figure of the straight and queer femme fatale in the contemporary erotic thriller, the (taboo) sexual desires of women and men, adultery and domestic transgressions, and teen narratives and sex.
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