LANGUAGE CIRCLE: Journal of Language and Literature 17(1) October 2022 p-ISSN 1858-0165 Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id e-ISSN 2460-853X １４０ １４０ Poststructural Feminism to Fight Kyriarchy: A Case of Black Widow (2021) Nur Alifia Putri Saptiadi1 nur.saptiadi@mhs.unsoed.ac.id Ririn Kurnia Trisnawati2 ririn.trisnawati@unsoed.ac.id Mia Fitria Agustina3 mia.agustina@unsoed.ac.id 1,2,3Universitas Jenderal Soedirman Abstract Black Widow is a sci-fi superhero movie directed by Cate Shortland. This movie narrates the lives of the black widows under the control of a secret crime organization called the Red Room Academy. In Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff as the main character and ex-black widow is shown taking down the Red Room Academy and its male leader, Dreykov. This current study utilizes a poststructural feminism approach and the concept of kyriarchy in literature to reveal the poststructural feminism inclination and the portrayal of kyriarchy in the movie. This study uses poststructural feminism and Susan Fiorenza's concept of kyriarchy as the theories. In analyzing the data, this currrent study uses visual narrative approach. The analysis reveals the postructural feminisim inclinations portrayed by Natasha Romanoff in two categories, those are infiltration and act of self-sacrifice. Moreover, the portrayal of kyriarchy is revealed through the Red Room Academy's system and Dreykov's sexist belief. This explains how sexist belief and the practice of kyriarchy by Dreykov affects the women as the target of oppression. Thus, no matter what the situation is, women are always at a disadvantage. Keywords: Black Widow, feminism, kyriarchy, poststructural feminism, sexism INTRODUCTION The discourse about female characters in males focused superhero movies have always been about them being the cherry on top, the sweetener, or the object of male gazes. Dating back to 2002, when the first Marvel superhero movie, Spiderman was released; MJ is portrayed solely as Peter Parker's love interest and a typical damsel in distress, so is with Pepper Pots (Iron Man’s love interest) and Elizabeth Ross (Bruce Banner’s love interest), as the other earliest female representations in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). When Natasha Romanoff was introduced as Black Widow, a member of S.H.I.E.L.D, and later became the only female Avenger, many fans had hoped that this portrayal of a female superhero would be better, but that does not seem like the case. As Barranco (2021) stated in their article 'Sexy, Sterile, Sacrificed: Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe', Natasha is introduced to the MCU as a sex object, and it is clear that her character is crafted by the male gaze, her first appearance in the franchise showed her dressed in a professional outfit with a low-cut shirt that emphasizes her breasts, her fight choreography introduction, too, has a sexual element through the use of her thighs. In Gerard and Poespel's 'Black Widow: Female Representation in the Marvel Cinematic Universe' (2018), they stated that Natasha engages in romantic relationships with more than one of the other Avengers; in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Natasha is shown kissing Steve Rogers the Captain America, http://journal.unnes.ac.id/ LANGUAGE CIRCLE: Journal of Language and Literature 17(1) October 2022 p-ISSN 1858-0165 Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id e-ISSN 2460-853X １４１ １４１ whilst in another movie, Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), relationship blooms between Bruce Banner (Hulk) and her. Lastly in Ameter's 'Gender Portrayal in the Marvel Cinematic Universe' (2019), where she discussed the more progressive side of MCU's female representations which the franchise had added another powerful main female superhero, Captain Marvel. She stated, while Black Widow and Captain Marvel are generally accepted by the Avengers as part of the team, there are still moments where their strength, power, and capability come as a shock to male characters. As the previous studies have proved, Natasha Romanoff’s portrayal as the only female Avenger is still limited to the roles of sexual object, love interest, and when she finally shows some lethal moves, the male characters take it by surprise. This portrayal of Natasha as a character is still using the dominant narrative of female portrayal, as in, the women do not take the spotlight at all. This is in line with R.W Connell’s theory of gender hierarchy in which femininities take the last place, while hegemonic masculinity takes the first place. Thus, concluding to Black Widow is not the feminist figure in the franchise, at least not yet. In the most recent movie, Black Widow (2021), where it takes the timeline before Natasha sacrificed herself in Avengers: Endgame (2019), a progressive addition in the discourse is born. The movie is about Natasha’s story on the run, after the Avengers "broke up" in Captain America: Civil War (2016) and she comes across one of her sisters (Yelena Belova) in her old organization before S.H.I.E.L.D and The Avengers. While she got entangled in an old business, Natasha discovers that the Red Room Academy, the place where she used to be trained, is still running. The Red Room Academy is a secret Soviet-Russian training program that involved taking young women and turning them into elite spies and assassins known as Black Widows by the usage of psychological conditioning and mind control led by a male leader, Dreykov. A male led secret crime organization that imprisoned and weaponized young women is a practice in flesh of kyriarchy which is a social system built around domination, oppression, and submission (Fiorenza, 1992). Kyriarchy is still a part of feminism theory but with an intersectional extension beyond gender (Pui-lan, 2009). Unlike patriarchy that is often limited to familial unit led by the oldest male by definition, kyriarchy encompasses sexism, racism, ableism, ageism, antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, xenophobia, adultism, adultcentrism, economic injustice, prison- industrial complex, ephebiphobia, gerontophobia, colonialism, militarism, ethnocentrism, anthropocentrism, speciesism, Islamophobia, anti-Catholicism, and other forms of dominating hierarchies in which the subordination of one person or group to another is internalized and institutionalized. It emphasizes a more comprehensive view of how oppression functions. (Stichele, Caroline Vander; Penner, Todd C. 2005). The branch of feminism theory that counters kyriarchy is poststructural feminism because it explores the relationships between languages, sociology, subjectivity and power relations as they impact upon gender in particular (Prasad, 2005). Black Widow (2021) portrays the practice of kyriarchy precisely in the militarism aspect, for the Red Room Academy is built over Dreykov’s bloodlust and hunger for power. The involvement of young women, seen as objects turned weapons, shows how power-relations in term of poststructural feminism are implemented in this movie. Thus, with these issues in mind, this current study has found the subtle inclinations of poststructural feminism in the movie’s plot. While underlining the power-relations and militarism from both theories, this current study aims to unpack the said inclinations of poststructural feminism within the plot, furthermore wishing that this current study could serve as a progressive addition to the Natasha Romanoff discourse that has been postulated by numerous previous studies. METHODOLOGY http://journal.unnes.ac.id/ LANGUAGE CIRCLE: Journal of Language and Literature 17(1) October 2022 p-ISSN 1858-0165 Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id e-ISSN 2460-853X １４２ １４２ This current study employs one of the branches of feminism theory, which is poststructural feminism as the major theory and Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza's (1992) theory of kyriarchy as the supporting theory. Both major and supporting theories are used to support the analysis of the data in the movie. This current study exercises an approach in gender studies to literature to reveal the inclination of poststructural feminism concept and kyriarchy hidden within the plot of the movie. In this study, the subject as well as the primary data for the analysis is the movie Black Widow (2021). The length of this movie is 02:13:00, and this current study only takes several scenes related to the issues. In analyzing the data, this current study uses compilation of information extracted from various books and existing studies about poststructural feminism and or kyriarchy theories, mainly Chris Weedon's and Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza's collection. All sources including books, journals, and articles are collected to gain information in order to be able to thoroughly analyze the issue in this current study. In analyzing the data, this current study describes data by using a narrative approach to deliver the meaning of each dialogue and each screenshot of several scenes, afterward, relating it to the theories. Narrative aspect includes the story and the plot (Ida, 2015) and in other cases, the story itself becomes the raw data of an analysis (Bleakley A, 2005). This current study, however, specifically used visual narrative analysis, which is a broad area encompassing words and images and it incorporates images into narrative analysis alongside written or spoken text (Reissman CK, 2008). Hence, the usage of several dialogues quotation and several screenshots of the scenes. There are several steps to identify the inclination of poststructural feminism concept and kyriarchy in Black Widow (2021). Firstly, as depicted in the movie, Dreykov built the Red Room Academy which operates through robbing the freedom of young women in order to satisfy his power hunger can be related to the militarism aspect in the practice of kyriarchy. Secondly, the act of Natasha Romanoff fighting the Red Room system to free the other young women from Dreykov's control depicts the inclination of poststructural feminism concept relating to its power-relation aspect, thus adding a progressive argument to the discourse of Natasha Romanoff as a character. Lastly, the conclusion is provided by concluding the results of data based on analysis and interpretation. RESULT AND DISCUSSION This part discusses how Fiorenza's kyriarchy and poststructural feminism are implied by the Red Room Academy and how Natasha Romanoff attempts to take it down in the movie. This current study has found two poststructural inclinations performed by Natasha Romanoff in order to take down the kyriarchal system of the Red Room: they are by infiltration and by self-sacrifice. The infiltration that Natasha does depicted how women are hardly noticeable and are rarely seen as a danger. Thus, she utilizes the brand that is closely associated with women, being underestimated, to take down the Red Room and Dreykov. While self-sacrificing, as Evans (2010) argued, feminists may find that they need to endorse certain forms of self-sacrifice in order to be consistent in their feminism. The example of self-sacrifice that women often go through is explained further by Jones (2000), stating particularly in cases of women who are in abusive relationships, are poor or marginalized, or in other ways disempowered. One of the situations described by Jones, which is disempowered, fits the life of Dreykov's black widows who are imprisoned since young and then were raised to be weapons with no humanely identity. Since Natasha Romanoff was once a part of the Red Room, she went through the same oppression. In this analysis, the researchers found Natasha's self- sacrifice as another one of the feminist tools that she uses to take down the Red Room and Dreykov. Infiltration: Because Women Are Hardly Noticable http://journal.unnes.ac.id/ LANGUAGE CIRCLE: Journal of Language and Literature 17(1) October 2022 p-ISSN 1858-0165 Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id e-ISSN 2460-853X １４３ １４３ The Red Room Academy is the central of kyriarchy practice in the movie. Dreykov employs the kyriarchal system in several ways, from imprisoning them, controlling them, and taking their free-will. Dreykov is shown as the male leader of the Red Room Academy, where the organization takes confine of "selected" young girls to be raised and trained as skillful assassins. Since the beginning, Dreykov sees these girls not as human but rather referring them as an object as he said, “remove all the defects.” (Shortland, 2021, 13:46). Calling the women defects implies Dreykov’s sexism as he considers women’s position is lower and thus he has control over them. At this point, sexism as the basic ideology shown by Dreykov is in line with what is believed to be the underlying concept of what Fiorenza dubs as kyriarchy. Another concept of the kyriarchy is described by Boochani (2017) as a system where different forms of oppression intersect where oppression is not random but purposeful, designed to isolate and create friction amongst prisoners, leading to despair and broken spirits. In timestamps 01:20:05, a scene where Natasha and Yelena’s childhood figures album in the Red Room is shown, followed by a dialogue recited by Natasha Romanoff that goes: “I remember this day. We shot Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, and summer vacation in one day. Different backgrounds. I knew all the presents under the tree were empty boxes but I didn’t care, I wanted to open every single one so just it can ever feel real,” (Shortland, 2021). As Boochani described kyriarchy’s oppression as purposeful and often leave the oppressed in despair and broken spirits, the exact same thing happened to young Natasha and the other young girls who grow up in the Red Room. Dreykov altered their version of what a normal childhood is, while some older girls like Natasha, feels the shift in reality but is still unable to do anything. Moreover, as the girls grow older and of age, Dreykov proceeds to use physiological conditioning and mind control to make them unable to rebel against him, in which is proved by what Yelena said in timestamps 47:28: "What you're experiencing is a psychological conditioning; I'm talking about chemically altering brain function. You're fully conscious but you don't know which part is you," (Shortland, 2021). The control Dreykov has over his widows is not only limited inside the Red Room. Dreykov employs his network of widows all over the world and put killing chip in each of the widow's brain so when a widow fails to carry her mission, Dreykov can easily terminate her on duty. Just as shown in the figure below. Figure 1. Dreykov pushing “terminate button to kill a defected widow Dreykov is shown handling a high-tec gadget that displays a figure of one widow, alongside with her defected part which is the fracture on her leg, colored in red. The color red in business term often means bankruptcy and in the programming term, the color red often means there is an error in the program. Thus, the fact that the fracture on the defected widow’s leg is colored red, while Dreykov monitors and handles everything from a gadget, can be depicted as how he sees the widows no more than a business or a program. Once one of them goes red, he can terminate them anytime anywhere. This argument is further supported by a dialogue played by Yelena in timestamps 48:11: “Maybe one in twenty survived the training, becomes a widow, the rest he kills. To him we are just things, weapons with no face that he can just throw away because there is always more,” (Shortland, 2021). The depiction of one widow’s reluctance and helplessness under Dreykov’s hand is also shown in early minutes before the scene shows Dreykov pushing the “terminate” button: “I don’t wanna do this. He’s making me.” (Shortland, 2021, 38:20). Dreykov maintained his status-quo as the leader through brute violence and malestream http://journal.unnes.ac.id/ LANGUAGE CIRCLE: Journal of Language and Literature 17(1) October 2022 p-ISSN 1858-0165 Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id e-ISSN 2460-853X １４４ １４４ (Fiorenza, 1992), as shown in the movie how he makes sure the widows know that there is no escape by controlling even down to selecting which woman deserves to live by judging it on their sole purposeness. Another thing Dreykov controls other than the widows’ lifetime is their sexual organ functions. This is shown in the scene where Alexei, the Red Room’s ex-Super Soldier and Natasha’s foster father asked, “Why the aggression? Is it your time of the month?” (Shortland, 2021, 01:02:20), in which Yelena countered with: “I don’t get my period, dipshit. I don’t have a uterus ... that’s what happens when the Red Room gives you an involuntary hysterectomy.” (Shortland, 2021, 01:02:24). Dreykov guinea pig-ed the women he forcefully took as hostages by cracking open their brain to put chemicals in it and by sterilizing them. He takes away exactly the one biological feature that makes woman a woman, completely making them see themselves not as a woman, let alone human, but as a weapon and weapon only. Another instance to support Dreykov’s tendencies to sees and treats women as objects slash weapon is shown in the scene where Natasha finally confronts Dreykov’s office in Red Room Academy. She asks Dreykov: “You don’t feel anything? You feel anything when I killed your daughter?” (Shortland, 2021, 01:34:19), in which he answers with: “... thank you, Natasha. You gave me my greatest weapon.” (Shortland, 2021, 01:34:42). These dialogues quotations between Natasha and Dreykov implies how militarism has run deep in Dreykov’s blood, adding a linkage to a comparison of the real life situation where military family also involves their children in the practice of militarism (Frains, 2020), Dreykov also turns his daughter into one of his weapons by putting a chip at the back of her neck, still controlling her against her will. Figure 2. Dreykov’s daughter/Taskmaster In figure 2 above, Dreykov’s daughter is finally revealed as she takes off her helmet, before her true identity is revealed, Natasha and Yelena knew her as Taskmaster. Taskmaster is an intelligent android weapon that can mimics its opponents’ fighting style. Dreykov weaponized his daughter even more than he did the black widows by making his injured daughter’s body a new identity as a weapon, dresses her up in iron suits and gears, and treating her as a half-machine. As a true twisted leader, Dreykov planned his widows’ project meticulously and without flaws. The last thing Dreykov has control over is about to be shown in the series of evidence below: Figure 3.1. Natasha struggling to fight Dreykov http://journal.unnes.ac.id/ LANGUAGE CIRCLE: Journal of Language and Literature 17(1) October 2022 p-ISSN 1858-0165 Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id e-ISSN 2460-853X １４５ １４５ Figure 3.2. Natasha struggling to fight Dreykov In figures 3.1 and 3.2, Natasha was shown having difficulties to harm Dreykov. From her expressions, it can be seen that she knows something is wrong but she does not know what it is, the franticness is shown more in the lines where she asked, “How are you controlling me?” (Shortland, 2021, 01:37:16) in which Dreykov discloses: “... there is a pheromonal lock. Smelling my pheromone prevents you from committing violence against me.” (Shortland, 2021, 01:37:22). The pheromonal lock that Dreykov instills in the widows’ sense of smell could be an implication of how women are naturally vulnerable against men and that even just from a pheromone of the male species, it is able to make women forced into submission. Figure 3.3. Natasha being forced to submission Figure 3.3 above serves as a restatement that Dreykov meticulously planned his widow project for even Natasha, who have long broke free from Dreykov’s controls (physical conditioning that makes her work under him), still reacts to the pheromonal lock. This could still be in line with what Fiorenza meant by using malestream in the practice of kyriarchy, by instilling a pheromonal lock in his widows, Dreykov is able to commit violence and abuse them but on the other hand, they cannot fight back. In timestamps 01:46:04, Dreykov finalized his bloodlust and power- hunger by saying “… my widows can start or end wars,” (Shortland, 2021). This shows how militarism in the base of kyriarchy is practiced by Dreykov, oppressing women and turning them into weapons that can help him reach his objective to rule the world. Also, putting emphasize on how he says ‘my widows’, it can be depicted as Dreykov fully takes ownership of the women he imprisoned. Followed by “… using the only natural resources that the world has too much of. Girls,” (Shortland, 2021), the statement Dreykov uttered further proved how he never sees women as human beings, by referring to them as natural resources depicts his sexism belief of men’s higher status than women, because in his eyes women are equal to objects that can be obtained and controlled. The kyriarchal system of the Red Room led by its bloodlust and hungry-of-power leader Dreykov are disclosed and Natasha found out the secret behind why Dreykov are still able to stay off the radar all this time, is because the Red Room’s building is built up in the clouds. In timestamps 01:32:56 to 01:33:20, a series of scene show Natasha and Melina, her foster mother and one of the girls who is forced to work for Dreykov but not as a black widow, are planning to infiltrate the Red Room. They switch their fighting suits and gear and wear a high-tech masks that can mimic each other’s faces and voices perfectly. Just like the network of widows that Dreykov disperses all over the globe as spies, the spies that Dreykov intended to be off the radar, because women in their initial role were never meant to be lethal. Natasha Romanoff infiltrated the Red Room Academy using the same way. Self-Sacrifice: Because Men Can Hardly Do It Right Self-sacrifice as described by Evans (2006) is something that some women do to maintain her http://journal.unnes.ac.id/ LANGUAGE CIRCLE: Journal of Language and Literature 17(1) October 2022 p-ISSN 1858-0165 Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id e-ISSN 2460-853X １４６ １４６ feminism. It is a mean to breakthrough from the oppression or to leave the powerless state. Thus, this is a section where Natasha’s self-sacrifice becomes a tool to fight Dreykov and the Red Room’s kyriarchal system through a stream of poststructural feminism. After being unable to harm Dreykov due to the pheromonal lock, Natasha starts provoking Dreykov by calling him cowards and make fun of his network of widows, starting from timestamp 01:39:30 to 01:40:41, she keeps cornering Dreykov with degrading words. Two of the lines that particularly makes Dreykov angry are: “If no one’s noticed, then why even do it? You’re nothing, you have nothing.”,“You’re weak, bet it’s easier to act tough in front of defenseless little girls,” (Shortland, 2021). In the timestamp 01:40:03, Dreykov is shown throwing repeated punches to Natasha and Dreykov’s fast succumbing to rage upon Natasha’s degrading words highlights his toxic masculinity and how insecure he is inside, his sexist belief rejects being called ‘nothing’ and ‘weak’ by a woman. Thus, driven by insecurity and temper, Dreykov clumsily reveals the secret to take down the Red Room, which is a plan well- played in Natasha’s side. Natasha is purposely making Dreykov lost his temper by using the best feature that women have, their body. Body is a tool for women to communicate (Cixous, 2018), which is ironic since women are often defined by and trapped inside their body but Natasha utilizes it so she could have the upper-hand of the situation. She drives Dreykov mad by women’s signature petty remarks rather than violence. The act of Natasha’s self-sacrifice other than purposely driving Dreykov’s mad and then getting punched is breaking her own nose in timestamp 01:43:49. Natasha breaks her own nose in order to finally be able to commit violence against Dreykov. Women are often forced to sacrifice something personal to them, or even themselves, in order to break-free from the gender gap and or to fight back the oppression. Comparing it to the real-life situation, in which patriarchal environment is more common, many women have to sacrifice their freedom and education so that they can marry and build a family, involving caretaking and domestic obligations to be carried out by women (Mitra & Knottnerus, 2008). In the next scenes, Natasha is able to attack Dreykov, he fast succumbs to defeat but seeing as they are in the Red Room Academy, and the Black Widows are still coming to Dreykov’s aid as shown in the figures below. Figure 4.1. The Black Widows in the Red Room Figure 4.2. The Black Widows coming to help Dreykov In figure 4.1, the black widows are seen gathering in a dark room where they repeatedly practice uniformed fighting moves in unison. While in figure 4.2, the black widows are seen coming towards Dreykov for aid, their expression filled with rage but soulless at the same time. The uniformed movements and soulless look that the widows have are emphasizing how these women have fully became emotionless weapons, only know how to fight and only reacting to danger. In timestamps 01:46:04, Dreykov orders them to “Nobody leaves the room until she’s dead. Make her suffer,” (Shortland, 2021). The widows, still under Dreykov’s control, obey his order and start to attack Natasha. This scene is similar to the http://journal.unnes.ac.id/ LANGUAGE CIRCLE: Journal of Language and Literature 17(1) October 2022 p-ISSN 1858-0165 Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id e-ISSN 2460-853X １４７ １４７ phenomenon where woman is often seen turning against other woman under the cause of a man rather than supporting each other, they fight each other. Brainwashed by the societal dictum, women even in their fiercest form, seem to be subconsciously seek validation from men (Mohapatra, 2019). Although in the movie, the widows are doing it against their will, however the chemically altering brain function that is in their head makes an equivalent to the real-life practice of women subconsciously seeking men’s validation that often makes them fight another woman. Dreykov chooses girls, as he claimed as the world’s most abundance resources, to be weaponized is rooted deep in the bigoted and sexist belief that women are equals to object. They can be controlled and disposed when defected. The said belief is a product of social structures and processes that shape our subjectivities, which are situated within discursive fields where language, social institutions, subjectivity, and power exist, intersect and produce competing ways of giving meaning to and constructing subjectivity (de Lauretis, 1986; Kondo, 1990; Weedon, 1997). Dreykov’s subjectivity towards women is related to his belief of men naturally controls over women. However, poststructuralist feminism of subjectivity reject the humanist notion of a unified, fixed self that has a stable, essential core and instead propose the self as a site of disunity and conflict that is always in process and constructed within power relations (Weedon, 1997). Hence, the lines in timestamp 01:48:27 where Natasha goes, “You get to make your own choices now,” (Shortland, 2021) which identify the end of Dreykov’s regime and the start of women’s union under the same sense of freedom, counters the unified identity as widows that Dreykov forced onto them ever since they were young. Natasha’s lines serve as a mean that they can finally be a woman, whatever kind of woman they want to be without having a unified subjectivity forced onto their identity. The acts of infiltrating and self-sacrificing as the implementation of all the trainings she got from the Red Room, including manipulating and deceiving male opponents, helped Natasha Romanoff take down the Red Room. All the while Dreykov perceives himself as a higher being, more powerful than the enemies he had defeated with his widows. However, Natasha puts him back to his place, making him realize his position as the same male target as the others she had easily defeated in the past. Natasha reminds him that he is still a man with sexist and bigoted vision towards women, that he is a man who is about to be defeated by the weapons he had created on his own. Towards the end of the movie, the acts of women supporting women are seen as shown in the figures below. Figure 5.1. Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova Figure 5.2. One black widow and Dreykov’s daughter In figure 5.1, the close-up shot of Natasha and Yelena touching their foreheads together shows how intimate the scene is. After defeating Dreykov and destroying the Red Room together as sisters, Natasha and Yelena are not shy to display their sisterly affection towards each other, http://journal.unnes.ac.id/ LANGUAGE CIRCLE: Journal of Language and Literature 17(1) October 2022 p-ISSN 1858-0165 Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id e-ISSN 2460-853X １４８ １４８ showing relief and gratefulness upon knowing that they both survived. While in figure 5.2, one black widow is taking the hand of Dreykov’s daughter who is lying on the ground. The full shot of this scene is meant to show the black widow helping Dreykov’s daughter, despite her being Dreykov’s daughter. This scene further elevates the act of women supporting women because even though Taskmaster is Dreykov’s daughter, that one black widow is still willing to help her because she knows that Taskmaster is also a victim of Dreykov; being mind-controlled and turned into weapon. However, as both of them are free from Dreykov’s control, they are able to help each other as a fellow woman. Thus, as figures 5.1 and 5.2 suggest, the movie ends with a clear notion that Natasha Romanoff, though a little bit late, finally becomes and or represents a proper feminist figure or character in the MCU franchise. Black Widow (2021) portrays Natasha Romanoff’s feminist growth as a character in a way that, this time, Natasha fights as a woman and as a sister for a cause that brings justice and empowerment to women with the same fate as hers. The writings of her character in the movie this time debunk the older writings that portrayed her as a sexual object, a love interest, and a hero whose power comes as a surprise to her male colleagues. CONCLUSION Through the findings of the portrayal of Fiorenza's kyriarchy and the inclination of poststructural feminism in Black Widow, this study reveals that Natasha Romanoff fights off the kyriarchal system of The Red Room led by Dreykov by utilizing two elements of poststructural feminism concept, which are through infiltration and self-sacrificing. The infiltration was done by Natasha by using the label that is often associated with women: weak and unnoticeable. The self-sacrificing was done by Natasha as a mean to breakthrough from the oppression that cages the other female black widows. The success that Natasha Romanoff achieved countering the unified subjectivity and or identity of women by Dreykov's sexist belief is able to dub her as MCU's feminist figure, debunking her earlier character writings which have been progressed from a sexual object, a love interest, a hero whose power comes as a surprise for her male colleagues to a female hero who fights as a woman and a sister for a cause that brings justice and empowerment to other women sharing alike fate. Moreover, through Black Widow, we could see the counter roles of women placed in an environment that is thick with militarism and power-relations. The mainstream discourse about women with said environment is always about them being the oppressed, either by violence or discrimination. However in this movie, the women are portrayed doing what the men usually do in a militant environment, albeit in the end these women are still controlled by men. 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