Secret agent James Bond is known for his banter, one-night stands and chauvinistic attitude to the women around him. Having watched 2012 Bond flick Skyfall, Emerald Street editor Anna Fielding asks if a feminist can ever enjoy a Bond film.

Skyfall is the 23rd film in the Bond series and opens in a classic 007 fashion with a huge action-packed set piece. There are motorbikes crashing through windows and chasing over rooftops, fights on top of trains, a bit with a JCB. Female agent Eve, played by Naomie Harris, puts her foot down and slams a four-wheel drive through Istanbul, a teeming mega-city of 13.5 million people. Unsurprisingly she loses a wing mirror. Then another one. There’s an opportunity for a joke there. You imagine all the previous Bonds raising one eyebrow in anticipation. But it doesn’t happen, it’s just not there. Daniel Craig’s Bond does not make a crack about women drivers. Not so classically 007 after all.

Historically the Bond franchise has always implied that a women’s place is in the bedroom. James is a serial shagger and comes across as either a cheeseball or an oaf when it comes to seduction. A significant amount of his sexual partners end up dead. On the one occasion he marries (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) his wife also dies. Those who live are rarely seen again, unless they’re evil double agents. They also have demeaning names like Honey Rider, Pussy Galore or Octopussy. However much you may have enjoyed the action and the camp and the cunning gadgets, the feminist part of you always cringed and knew there wasn’t really a permanent place for you in the Bond universe. Men can fantasise about being 007, but Moneypenny’s secretarial role just isn’t so appealing.

As Spectre hits our screens, we ask: can a feminist ever really enjoy a James Bond film?