Some Buffy love

So I can’t say that I am going to say anything terribly revelatory here myself, but a couple of other posts over the last few weeks reminded me of how much  Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a show with which women identified and which women continue to see as a depiction of female power across a broad spectrum. One of the great things about Buffy is that it does not offer any single idea of what it is to be a powerful woman; there are so many different models of female empowerment across the spectrum which are offered, that no matter how one sees oneself and one’s own strengths as a woman, there is something to draw on. Joss Whedon may have some limitations when it comes to his depictions of women, but the scope and expanse of Buffy means that his female characters grew beyond those limitations. And it wasn’t hurt by the strength that the actresses involved brought to their characterisations.

And so to the link-tastic-ness. Here is a discussion of the links between female characters in Buffy as opposed to those in other genre shows. Personally I’d like to try the same approach with Battlestar Galactica where I think there would be a similarly strong linking of female characters.

The second link for today is the, clearly ironically, named Why is Buffy so whiny? It points out the way that tropes of femininity and masculinity affect the way we respond to depictions of emotional reactions in male and female characters.

Always love a Buffy link, so please link it up!

100 Sci Fi women #15: Dana Scully

Before we get to today’s entry, I wanted to mention two new lists which are quite entertaining is the Buffy-Joss Whedon space. We have the Top Ten Buffy episodes which is quite entertaining and then the Top 5 Reasons It Sucks Being a Joss Fan, which can make one a bit squirmy. Although I do love the first entry – He Will Slaughter Everything That Makes You Happy Inside. Please Joss, just stop that!

Dana Scully X-Files

 

I always loved Scully. Mulder I found annoying, even though the logic of the show was that you really did have to “believe.” But sensible, practical, logical Scully always appealed to me a lot more. She was both a crack investigator and a medical doctor who didn’t flinch in the face of mangled bodies and horrible autopsies. What she did flinch at was Mulder’s weird theories, and even though he was often proved right, let’s face it, who wouldn’t have been with her? Her cool intelligence and sensible approach meant that she would accept the bizarre when proven, but she trusted to facts and reason.  She was also a positive depiction of a single mother and a professional woman, who was both attractive and, more importantly, highly intelligence. It was also Scully’s intelligence that was most important, not her looks.