A Comparative Study Of Women’s Empowerment in Moxie and Enola Holmes 2

Abstract

This study analyzes women’s empowerment in the films Moxie (2021) and Enola Holmes 2 (2022) using Longwe’s Five-Level Empowerment Framework: welfare, access, conscientization, participation, and control. Employing a qualitative comparative method, the research explores how empowerment is represented and compares the strategies used in both films. Findings show that Moxie emphasizes collective activism in a school setting, while Enola Holmes 2 focuses on individual agency within a historical and class-based context. The study highlights the diverse ways empowerment is portrayed in media and demonstrates the usefulness of Longwe’s five-levels framework for feminist film analysis, while also addressing a gap in comparative and youth-focused empowerment studies.