"As a young woman, I felt I should embrace a feminist perspective on films, but I was a cinephile first. Movies came before politics, religion, or boyfriends-always. When I first read From Reverence to Rape, I was relieved that Haskell also admitted movies were her 'first allegiance, ' and that the theory of the male gaze 'seemed too monolithic, a narrow one-way street, allowing no room for the pleasure women take in looking and being seen.' Without discrediting earlier feminist writings, Haskell expanded perspectives and enlightened readers not only because she loved the movies but also because she knew cinema history. . . . With her approach, Haskell reclaims classic films and female stars, explaining their meaning and appeal for women. But, she is no apologist for an industry that has excluded women from behind the camera, tried to pigeon-hole women characters as wives and mothers, shaped female archetypes that reflect male fears and desires, and turned on actresses who defied male standards of beauty and femaleness."–Susan Doll "Movie Morlocks"
