The role of M in the Bond films has altered radically in the modern Bond franchise – due in part to the casting of Dame Judi Dench as M. This chapter argues that M as portrayed by…
Abstract
The role of M in the Bond films has altered radically in the modern Bond franchise – due in part to the casting of Dame Judi Dench as M. This chapter argues that M as portrayed by Dench asserts a monarch-like power and authority in her role as Bond’s commander, an authority that can be compared to that of the current monarch Queen Elizabeth II in both her real and imagined performances. It will examine how M as depicted by Dench fits into the legacy of the male M’s that came before her. It then compares the problematic relationship for both women with motherhood; their common refusal to employ emotive feminine manipulation to maintain their authority and how this authority utilises language and address. In doing so it will assert that both Dench’s M and Queen Elizabeth II put duty and their professional lives first – devoting themselves to the service of others.
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This chapter focuses on spy action as a way to answer the question: where can we find queer female action heroes? The chapter will identify three films – D.E.B.S. (Advocate, 2005…
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This chapter focuses on spy action as a way to answer the question: where can we find queer female action heroes? The chapter will identify three films – D.E.B.S. (Advocate, 2005), Atomic Blonde (David Leitch, 2017) and The Spy Who Dumped Me (Susanna Fogel, 2018) – worth attention to highlight the potential and problems of the queer female hero in spy action. This chapter examines how each of these spy action films contributes to the ongoing yet uneven development of the female hero as a queer figure in post-millennial action cinema. The chapter will consider to what extent these queer female-led action films may pose a challenge to some of the dominant standards and conventions associated with the action hero, gender roles and the representation of sexuality, but also reinforce others. Some comparisons will be made to James Bond in recognition that the Bond franchise has played an important role in the spy action genre.
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Claire Hines and Stephanie Jones
As Bond scholarship has shown, men’s magazines played a crucial role in shaping images of masculinity that circulated around James Bond from the 1960s onwards (Hines, 2018). More…
Abstract
As Bond scholarship has shown, men’s magazines played a crucial role in shaping images of masculinity that circulated around James Bond from the 1960s onwards (Hines, 2018). More generally, critics have charged both the Bond film franchise and men’s magazines with perpetuating sexist imagery that upholds patriarchal values or erodes the gains of feminism. Yet close readings of men’s magazines and Bond films can produce a more complex picture of masculinity and gender relations, especially since the mid-1990s saw not only the return of James Bond to the screen following a six-year production break, but also scholarly and media attention to masculinity and significant growth in the men’s magazine market, including the rise of lad mags. This research will analyse magazine content relating to Bond in British men’s magazines during the Pierce Brosnan era, beginning with the launch of the 1995 film GoldenEye, to examine the interrelationship between James Bond as a longstanding male icon, and contemporary models of masculinity characterised by this publishing phenomenon. It will argue that these men’s magazines become an important site for (re)negotiating James Bond’s culturally loaded masculinity throughout the Brosnan years.
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This chapter seeks to reassess the film GoldenEye (Campbell, 1995), and its highly successful (Impellizeri, 2010) videogame adaptation GoldenEye 007 (Rare, 1997), in light of the…
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This chapter seeks to reassess the film GoldenEye (Campbell, 1995), and its highly successful (Impellizeri, 2010) videogame adaptation GoldenEye 007 (Rare, 1997), in light of the concept of the Hegemony of Play (Fron, Fullerton, Morie, & Pearce, 2007), which seeks to critique the dominance of the hypermasculine ‘gamer’ identity in videogame culture (a persona GoldenEye anticipates in its problematic character Boris Grishenko).
Since the gamer is bound up in the very technological materiality of videogames as a medium and an industry (Dyer-Witheford & de Peuter, 2009), central to this discussion is the significant yet highly ambivalent role technology continues to play in the Bond films, both extending and threatening (Leach, 2015; Nitins, 2010) Bond’s natural male skill and intuition (McGowan, 2010). Indeed, GoldenEye is a particularly salient study since many suggest Brosnan to be the most technologically adept (or dependent) of the Bonds (Rositzka, 2015; Willis, 2003), and I will argue that the film and game together explore just what happens when Bond’s implacable force meets the immutable technological object, providing a fascinating lens through which to read the larger technocultural shifts embodied in the transition to the immaterial economies of cognitive capitalism (Hardt & Negri, 2001) and their potential to disrupt traditional, patriarchal gender configurations (Haraway, 1991; Hayles, 2005; Plant, 1998; Wajcman, 2004).
Core to this is a critical reading of the game’s popular multiplayer mode, where exploration of whether technology can be understood to potentially level the gender playing field (Jones, 2015) or whether the fact that such technology is always already encoded as masculine (Chess, 2017) ultimately undercuts this ambition.
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At the end of this chapter, learners should be able to:
- Discuss the origin of family-friendly policies.
- Explain the different types of family-friendly policies.
- Explain the…
Abstract
Learning Objectives
At the end of this chapter, learners should be able to:
Discuss the origin of family-friendly policies.
Explain the different types of family-friendly policies.
Explain the importance of family-friendly policies.
Explore the financial implications of family-friendly policies.
Understand how to calculate leave payment.
Explain possible limitations of family-friendly policies.
Discuss the origin of family-friendly policies.
Explain the different types of family-friendly policies.
Explain the importance of family-friendly policies.
Explore the financial implications of family-friendly policies.
Understand how to calculate leave payment.
Explain possible limitations of family-friendly policies.
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This study aims to examine library programming for active older (“third age”) adults and give suggestions for future improvements. In addition to covering research specific to…
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Purpose
This study aims to examine library programming for active older (“third age”) adults and give suggestions for future improvements. In addition to covering research specific to library programming for these adults, which is limited, this review will also survey the literature on lifelong learning for this population.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper includes a literature review on library programming geared specifically to active, older adults and a survey of literature on lifelong learning for the “third agers”.
Findings
Demographics show that older adults are a growing population, not only in the USA, but worldwide. Many baby boomers have already entered or soon will be entering the “third age”. Most libraries are not providing specific programming to support these older lifelong learners. In the USA, baby boomers have the highest net worth of any generation, and as such, are an important fundraising source. Research indicates that older adults participate in lifelong learning activities and will attend library programs of interest. Topics of interest include hobbies/leisure pursuits, humanities, social/international issues, religion/philosophy, arts, technology and nutrition/health/stress management.
Practical implications
Libraries are missing a prime opportunity to expand services, develop library advocates and fundraise by ignoring the growing population of active older adults. Suggestions are given for how both public and academic libraries can take advantage of these opportunities.
Social implications
Older adults are a rapidly growing population. Providing library programming for this group benefits both older adults and libraries.
Originality/value
There are no known previous comprehensive literature reviews on library programming for older adults. Offering specific programming to this population has benefits for older adults, libraries and their communities.
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To examine the factors which influence the implementation of employees’ right to time off for dependants protected by the Employment Relations Act 1999.
Abstract
Purpose
To examine the factors which influence the implementation of employees’ right to time off for dependants protected by the Employment Relations Act 1999.
Design/methodology/approach
The responses of two organisations in the same corporate group with identical policy provision are examined. Formal provision in the two companies was broadly similar providing an opportunity to examine how centrally developed, statutory‐based policy operates in different organisational contexts. Using qualitative reports from line managers and human resource managers the interaction and tensions between formal policy and informal, discretionary practice are examined.
Findings
Line manager attitudes to discretionary decision making and other company policies, especially flexitime, produced very different outcomes for employees highlighting a continuing challenge for governments and organisations: Is it more important to be consistent in implementation or responsive to individual circumstances?
Research limitations/implications
The paper uses data from only two organisations, although it complements national research on the usage rates of parents’ statutory rights to leave.
Practical implications
Factors which can influence and detract from the effective implementation of statutory‐based employment rights are highlighted.
Originality/value
In focusing on parent's right to time off for dependant emergency an important element of the work‐life balance field is examined.