"Redemptive Softness": Interiority, Intellect, and Black Women's Ecstasy in Kathleen Collins's Losing Ground

This essay examines the importance of Kathleen Collins's film Losing Ground as a ground-breaking representation of black women's sexuality on screen. I deconstruct the way that Collins incorporates intellect and consciousness into her representations of black women's eroticism and ecstasy, writing away from typical cinematic narratives that position sexuality as disconnected from the mind and intellectual labor.