Critical Investigation

To what extent do the female characters in 'The Dark Knight Rises' and 'Salt' challenge traditional female stereotypes?

The traditional female stereotypes consist of women being house wives and serving men and they are also seen as sex symbols in media, this relates to Mulveys theory of the male gaze, however in contrast to this in modern times, woman are now also being portrayed as leaders and heroes as well as males.The female characters in these two movies are almost the opposite of traditional female stereotypes but not completely as they still have feminine traits to them, such as how they dress.  This can again be linked to Mulvey's male gaze theory, this is because even though they are in a position of power they are still portrayed as sexy and feminine to engage a male audience and make it seem as though the stereotypes are being phased out of traditional film.
In SALT the female character is the main protagonist in the film which means that she has the most control or power in the movie. Also in The Dark Knight Rises the female is almost in competition with the protagonist  who is Batman by almost killing him at the end of the movie and she is also the villain in the movie but at the same time their is a sexual attraction between her and batman relating to Propp's character types.