Great video essay on FilmsForAction.org about the “born sexy yesterday” trope. Women will be like “yawn, this is obvious, eyes-rolling”, men like me will be like “oh yeh, now you mention it…” i know, 18 minutes long, but definitely worth it..

Spoiler: around the 15 minute mark, the commentary says things like this: (paraphrasing) “Born Sexy Yesterday” is about unbalanced relationships, it’s very much connected to masculinity. The subtext of the trope is rooted in deep-seated male insecurity around sex and sexuality; its crux is a fixation on male superiority, and a fixation on holding power over an innocent girl.”

“science fiction is employed to put the mind of a girl into an adult female body. It’s a fantasy based on fear of women who are men’s equal in sexual experience and romantic history, as well as fear of losing the intellectual upper hand to women. It’s based on some troubling patriarchal ideas.”