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butterflyOne of the interesting things about Buffy is the gender play and balance. Think about it -- at the end, we're overloaded with chicks, but there are three live guys, three extremely different guys, all with one thing in common -- they follow a woman. Andrew tends to go the hero worship, younger route, Giles is the mature and now understanding older male, while Xander is the equal, in age and standing.
From the very beginning, we have a two-sided view of the authority figure/father figure (truth to be, there are three, but considering that one is that of the absent father, he doesn't count for much good). First, the show plays with effectual versus ineffectual (Giles and Flutie). Teen behavior destroys the ineffectual father figure and we enter a new set, that of the stern but caring father versus the punishing father (Giles and Synder). The punishing father is swallowed up by the system as a whole (the Mayor). The end of the third season is the first attempt by Buffy and co to dismantle the system. They manage to destroy the hypocrite/punishing father figure, but still place total trust in Giles.
That's all right for when they're young. Part of Giles' purpose is to show that fathering is an important skill. But he has to be outgrown, Buffy has to learn to stand on her own two feet. The first three/four (depending on where you place Adam) seasons are about rejecting the obviously restricting patriarchy as shown by the fact that in the first four seasons, the 'Big Bad' is male. In Graduation, Buffy rejects the system as a whole, but is still willing to place her trust in Giles' reasoning abilities above her own. Again, that's perfectly fine. She's still young.
In Season Five, we see the rampage of the female possible, we see Buffy as she could be in Glory. Season Five (and Six) are, in part, about showing that a government/society that is fully driven by women is as likely to be as dangerously unbalanced as one fully driven by men (I fully disagree with the idea that a society run by women would be a utopia, but it would also not be the reverse of a patriarchy -- it would have as much destructive potential, but show it in a different way, which is what I find missing in many treatments of the subject.). In The Gift, we see two extremes of female power -- Glory consumes, so fully destructive that innocent blood must be shed to satisfy her needs while Buffy gives, choosing love over everything else. Glory is surrounded by sycophants who cringe at her heel, while Buffy inspires and is lifted up by the people who care for her. In Season Five, Joyce dies, putting Buffy into the dominant female role in her household. Where once Buffy was the maiden, she is now the mother.
Season Six is all about dangerous appetites, which is why Giles, the ultimate father figure in BtVS, must be absent for much of it. Buffy and Willow and Xander all play with fire -- Buffy with Spike, Xander with Anya, and Willow with magic. Buffy and Xander and Willow are set of mirrors, always reflecting hidden depths into each other. In some ways, Xander and Willow are the male and female halves of Buffy (definitely possible to see that in Chosen). Xander is openly in a relationship with an ex-demon. Willow tries to hide her need to exert control with magic. But it's the same need, playing with fire. Anya talks about what she did to unfaithful men quite a bit. Often enough for Xander never to forget it, for him to say that she's "a demon" whenever forced to say how he really feels (in the dream in Restless and in song in Once More, With Feeling). Willow pretends to be unaware of the damage that she's doing but the very secrecy of her behavior screams otherwise -- if it weren't 'wrong', it wouldn't need to be a secret.
Buffy plays both sides of this card, sleeping with Spike while berating him in public. She'll fuck the demon, but she won't admit to it, because she knows that it's wrong. Is it? Is the behavior intrinsically wrong or is the wrongness merely in the manner that it's gone about? The show suggests the latter -- Xander doesn't start to falter and fall until he starts keeping things hidden, and Tara's magic is never shown as wrong or hurtful. It isn't the mere act of sleeping with the demon that's wrong -- it's wrong when it's turned into a dirty secret (most of the B/S eps in S6, notably Normal Again) or when it's abused (most notably in Dead Things -- and it should be noted that this is a case of him 'asking for it'. Literally. He asks for it. "Put it on me." He wants to be abused to be shown love. Abuse is abuse, even when it's asked for by someone who has been taught to ask for and inflict pain (and, important point -- Spike is not a sadist or masochist by inclination -- he doesn't mind hurting people and he very much adores fighting, but he doesn't intentionally go after pain for the sake of pain -- he doesn't see the point (unlike our dear beloved Angel/us, who was, as he himself has pointed out, in it for the pain). Spike is very willing to inflict or receive pain, but does it for the benefit (or supposed benefit) of his beloved.).). Similarly, it is not magic (power, for seasons four+, specifically female power -- even when Giles comes in bearing magic in Two to Go/Grave, it is stated that it is the coven's power, feminine power) that is wrong, but dependence on or abuse of magic.
In Season Seven, she makes a concerted attempt to outgrown her father figure. In Season Six, he left her, abandoned her to her own devices, and she fell apart. She was a bird thrown too soon from the nest. In the beginning of Season Seven, she's apparently without guidance -- if it weren't for the fact that Willow is being taught and held by Giles and the unseen coven (and it's important that the coven remain unseen, that other female authority remain unseen -- until End of Days, and the passing of the torch). Willow is female power but is still being grounded by male authority. It isn't until Chosen that she embraces her true power and knows that she can trust herself to go the right way.
Buffy spends Season Seven fighting her heart and her head. She's in constant battle with her emotions and her rationalities. In the end, she decides that she can and that she must trust her instincts, even though her father figure may think that she's unready. She knows that she's made the right choice, she sticks by it, and wins through. She gains his blessing in the end, and though she appreciates it, she does not require it.
Spike is interesting. He's the test of faith. In Season Six, Buffy played with dangerous forces and got whomped. In Season Seven, she learns how to dance on the edge of the whirlwind. Spike is one of the ways that her growth is shown.
In Season Six, Buffy does lead Spike on, does initiate a pattern of no/yes. Does that make his behavior that culminated in the attempted rape in any way acceptable? Of course not. His choices were faulty, but so were many of hers. In Season Seven, Buffy is very very honest with Spike.
Spike is not just a man, Spike is a representation of Buffy's sexuality. At first when Buffy is with Riley, Spike is with Harmony. One relationship is purely sex, but the other is also clearly marked by its sexuality. An entire episode was plotted around Buffy and Riley being consumed by sex.
Season Six, of course, also has the Trio. The Geeks who turn murderer. Season Six is filled with sexual ambiguity. The Trio alone contains Jonathan, who appears in the guise of a woman in Dead Things, Andrew, who is ambisexual, and Warren, who is... the precusor to Caleb. Who shows us one way to reach a Caleb. A murderous, misogynistic coward. But Warren doesn't start out that way -- we see him become more broken over time. In the beginning, he's a bit of an asshole and, yes, a coward, but Dead Things was not inevitable.
Naturally, being a Xander fan, I find his role in the whole enterprise to be fascinating. Early up, I said that one way to view him was as Buffy's male side. He shares many of her experiences and reactions, as she often reacts in a traditionally male way to stress (note the three attempted rapes that happened between the two of them -- the reactions after especially); and both are protectors and nuturers instead of being warriors, which is more traditionally a female nature. Buffy, like Xander, prefers to mourn in private (Anya saying that Xander cried at their place in The Body; Buffy's breakdown in Listening to Fear). Each has a similar reaction to their lover reverting to being a killer. Buffy and Xander are very much alike in many ways.
There's a lot more that I'd like to say on the subject(s), but I really need to rewatch some episodes. It's been awhile since I've seen any Buffy, actually (I watched OMWF a couple of weeks ago, but that's it. I've been really involved with watching Stargate recently -- oh, I'd love to explore the gender/sexual politics on that show sometime), so if anything in here feels off, that may be why. Or you may just disagree with my interpretation of the show.
From the very beginning, we have a two-sided view of the authority figure/father figure (truth to be, there are three, but considering that one is that of the absent father, he doesn't count for much good). First, the show plays with effectual versus ineffectual (Giles and Flutie). Teen behavior destroys the ineffectual father figure and we enter a new set, that of the stern but caring father versus the punishing father (Giles and Synder). The punishing father is swallowed up by the system as a whole (the Mayor). The end of the third season is the first attempt by Buffy and co to dismantle the system. They manage to destroy the hypocrite/punishing father figure, but still place total trust in Giles.
That's all right for when they're young. Part of Giles' purpose is to show that fathering is an important skill. But he has to be outgrown, Buffy has to learn to stand on her own two feet. The first three/four (depending on where you place Adam) seasons are about rejecting the obviously restricting patriarchy as shown by the fact that in the first four seasons, the 'Big Bad' is male. In Graduation, Buffy rejects the system as a whole, but is still willing to place her trust in Giles' reasoning abilities above her own. Again, that's perfectly fine. She's still young.
In Season Five, we see the rampage of the female possible, we see Buffy as she could be in Glory. Season Five (and Six) are, in part, about showing that a government/society that is fully driven by women is as likely to be as dangerously unbalanced as one fully driven by men (I fully disagree with the idea that a society run by women would be a utopia, but it would also not be the reverse of a patriarchy -- it would have as much destructive potential, but show it in a different way, which is what I find missing in many treatments of the subject.). In The Gift, we see two extremes of female power -- Glory consumes, so fully destructive that innocent blood must be shed to satisfy her needs while Buffy gives, choosing love over everything else. Glory is surrounded by sycophants who cringe at her heel, while Buffy inspires and is lifted up by the people who care for her. In Season Five, Joyce dies, putting Buffy into the dominant female role in her household. Where once Buffy was the maiden, she is now the mother.
Season Six is all about dangerous appetites, which is why Giles, the ultimate father figure in BtVS, must be absent for much of it. Buffy and Willow and Xander all play with fire -- Buffy with Spike, Xander with Anya, and Willow with magic. Buffy and Xander and Willow are set of mirrors, always reflecting hidden depths into each other. In some ways, Xander and Willow are the male and female halves of Buffy (definitely possible to see that in Chosen). Xander is openly in a relationship with an ex-demon. Willow tries to hide her need to exert control with magic. But it's the same need, playing with fire. Anya talks about what she did to unfaithful men quite a bit. Often enough for Xander never to forget it, for him to say that she's "a demon" whenever forced to say how he really feels (in the dream in Restless and in song in Once More, With Feeling). Willow pretends to be unaware of the damage that she's doing but the very secrecy of her behavior screams otherwise -- if it weren't 'wrong', it wouldn't need to be a secret.
Buffy plays both sides of this card, sleeping with Spike while berating him in public. She'll fuck the demon, but she won't admit to it, because she knows that it's wrong. Is it? Is the behavior intrinsically wrong or is the wrongness merely in the manner that it's gone about? The show suggests the latter -- Xander doesn't start to falter and fall until he starts keeping things hidden, and Tara's magic is never shown as wrong or hurtful. It isn't the mere act of sleeping with the demon that's wrong -- it's wrong when it's turned into a dirty secret (most of the B/S eps in S6, notably Normal Again) or when it's abused (most notably in Dead Things -- and it should be noted that this is a case of him 'asking for it'. Literally. He asks for it. "Put it on me." He wants to be abused to be shown love. Abuse is abuse, even when it's asked for by someone who has been taught to ask for and inflict pain (and, important point -- Spike is not a sadist or masochist by inclination -- he doesn't mind hurting people and he very much adores fighting, but he doesn't intentionally go after pain for the sake of pain -- he doesn't see the point (unlike our dear beloved Angel/us, who was, as he himself has pointed out, in it for the pain). Spike is very willing to inflict or receive pain, but does it for the benefit (or supposed benefit) of his beloved.).). Similarly, it is not magic (power, for seasons four+, specifically female power -- even when Giles comes in bearing magic in Two to Go/Grave, it is stated that it is the coven's power, feminine power) that is wrong, but dependence on or abuse of magic.
In Season Seven, she makes a concerted attempt to outgrown her father figure. In Season Six, he left her, abandoned her to her own devices, and she fell apart. She was a bird thrown too soon from the nest. In the beginning of Season Seven, she's apparently without guidance -- if it weren't for the fact that Willow is being taught and held by Giles and the unseen coven (and it's important that the coven remain unseen, that other female authority remain unseen -- until End of Days, and the passing of the torch). Willow is female power but is still being grounded by male authority. It isn't until Chosen that she embraces her true power and knows that she can trust herself to go the right way.
Buffy spends Season Seven fighting her heart and her head. She's in constant battle with her emotions and her rationalities. In the end, she decides that she can and that she must trust her instincts, even though her father figure may think that she's unready. She knows that she's made the right choice, she sticks by it, and wins through. She gains his blessing in the end, and though she appreciates it, she does not require it.
Spike is interesting. He's the test of faith. In Season Six, Buffy played with dangerous forces and got whomped. In Season Seven, she learns how to dance on the edge of the whirlwind. Spike is one of the ways that her growth is shown.
In Season Six, Buffy does lead Spike on, does initiate a pattern of no/yes. Does that make his behavior that culminated in the attempted rape in any way acceptable? Of course not. His choices were faulty, but so were many of hers. In Season Seven, Buffy is very very honest with Spike.
Spike is not just a man, Spike is a representation of Buffy's sexuality. At first when Buffy is with Riley, Spike is with Harmony. One relationship is purely sex, but the other is also clearly marked by its sexuality. An entire episode was plotted around Buffy and Riley being consumed by sex.
Season Six, of course, also has the Trio. The Geeks who turn murderer. Season Six is filled with sexual ambiguity. The Trio alone contains Jonathan, who appears in the guise of a woman in Dead Things, Andrew, who is ambisexual, and Warren, who is... the precusor to Caleb. Who shows us one way to reach a Caleb. A murderous, misogynistic coward. But Warren doesn't start out that way -- we see him become more broken over time. In the beginning, he's a bit of an asshole and, yes, a coward, but Dead Things was not inevitable.
Naturally, being a Xander fan, I find his role in the whole enterprise to be fascinating. Early up, I said that one way to view him was as Buffy's male side. He shares many of her experiences and reactions, as she often reacts in a traditionally male way to stress (note the three attempted rapes that happened between the two of them -- the reactions after especially); and both are protectors and nuturers instead of being warriors, which is more traditionally a female nature. Buffy, like Xander, prefers to mourn in private (Anya saying that Xander cried at their place in The Body; Buffy's breakdown in Listening to Fear). Each has a similar reaction to their lover reverting to being a killer. Buffy and Xander are very much alike in many ways.
There's a lot more that I'd like to say on the subject(s), but I really need to rewatch some episodes. It's been awhile since I've seen any Buffy, actually (I watched OMWF a couple of weeks ago, but that's it. I've been really involved with watching Stargate recently -- oh, I'd love to explore the gender/sexual politics on that show sometime), so if anything in here feels off, that may be why. Or you may just disagree with my interpretation of the show.
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-03 12:09 pm (UTC)I don't really have anything to add at the moment, but I was wondering about this:
Naturally, being a Xander fan, I find his role in the whole enterprise to be fascinating. Early up, I said that one way to view him was as Buffy's male side. He shares many of her experiences and reactions, as she often reacts in a traditionally male way to stress (note the three attempted rapes that happened between the two of them -- the reactions after especially
Three attempted rapes between Xander and Buffy? Could you refresh my memory please? The only incident I remember is the Hyena-episode...
Anyway, this has nothing to do with your post, but I've been meaning to ask you for a while, did you use to post at TwoP, under the name of "Butterflyinmotion"? (I used to follow that forum as a lurker, and I had quite a few favourite posters, BiM being one of them.)
(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-03 03:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-03 06:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-03 07:51 pm (UTC)Yeah, sixth and seventh are seasons that are particularly interesting to me because Buffy is a classic clinic depressive/recovering depressive. Season Six is when I really started to identify with Buffy. I finally started to understand her instead of just admiring her.
Three attempted rapes between Xander and Buffy? Could you refresh my memory please? The only incident I remember is the Hyena-episode...
As was mentioned before, I was indeed talking about the Xander-Buffy, Faith-Xander, and Spike-Buffy attempted rapes. I could have been clearer in the original statement. Still, no harm done.
Anyway, this has nothing to do with your post, but I've been meaning to ask you for a while, did you use to post at TwoP, under the name of "Butterflyinmotion"? (I used to follow that forum as a lurker, and I had quite a few favourite posters, BiM being one of them.)
Wow. Yeah, I was, actually. You remember me? I stopped posting... well, a while ago, back when Buffy was still on. Being on TWoP was exhausting near the end. Being one of the few positive voices about BtVS on TWoP was exhausting and frustrating.
But, wow. I was a favorite poster of yours?
I won't be fit to live with for a month.
Thank you.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-04 05:26 pm (UTC)Yes, well I haven't been there for quite a while myself, the only forums I visited with regularity were the Buffy-forum and Off-topic forum (Damn, I miss that!:D), and since Buffy stopped airing I haven't really seen a point in going to the forums at all.
Being on TWoP was exhausting near the end. Being one of the few positive voices about BtVS on TWoP was exhausting and frustrating.
Hee, I can understand that! But I must say it was refreshing to read. Not that I don't love some good snark but sometimes it could get too much; killing my anticipation of watching an episode long before I even had a chance to see it (I always had to wait until someone had downloaded the eppies, because they still haven't aired more than half the forth season in Sweden, and at this point, I'm not too sure they'll EVER air the rest...)
(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-03 03:12 pm (UTC)In general, I think many of the ways I disagree with you here are really from my own desire not to see broad symbolism in the show, no matter how much anyone (including Joss) tells me it's there. Symbolism was the one thing we covered in my English classes growing up that I really, really hated. I'm okay with narrow symbolism -- ie, in dreams, over one or a few episodes, but nothing that defines a character or an entire season. Personal perspective. :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-03 06:26 pm (UTC)What's also important, I think, is the comparison of the Walsh/Adam plot with the Shelley Frankenstein, because one of the interesting things about the novel is that all Victor's destructive and villainous aspects are coded as feminine - indecision, emotional instability, squeamishness.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-03 08:12 pm (UTC)Well, third season is the first time that she challenges the system as a whole (both with the Council and with the Mayor). But both the Master and Angelus are dominant male figures who, well, want to control/kill Buffy. Third season, we see a shadow of Buffy in Faith, I'd agree, but that's an out-of-control and broken shadow. One that doesn't understand or control her own power. Faith flips from wanting Buffy's approval to wanting the Mayor's very easily. And the Mayor is the ultimate in creepy father figures -- he seems nice and a 'family man' but violence and corruption are just under the surface. And he cares about Faith but still uses her to get what he wants. He thinks that Faith's life is so worthless without him in it that she should sacrifice it and take Buffy's. He constantly pokes and prods Faith to change into his vision of what a woman/girl should be. Faith is what Buffy could be if she had more desire to belong, enough to bend what she knew to be right. Glory is an extreme version of one way power could corrupt Buffy (and didn't -- Buffy is never her shadow figures, in fact, she fights so hard against becoming something like that that she pulls inwards and becomes something else creepy). Glory is Faith without the need to take orders.
Season 4 rejects authority too, but that authority is really the Initiative, not Adam. While it is a traditionally male establishment, it has a female head, and some of the things that go drastically wrong do reflect on feminine abuses of power (Walsh's mothering role gone dark).
Walsh doesn't get to do a lot of mothering that we see. She creates Adam and then he kills her. The son controls the mother, in the end, forces her to do his will and be little more than a rotting corpse. And even what we do see of her is traditionally masculine -- it's like the dangers of what can happen to a woman who thinks she can control a patriarchal system -- no matter how 'in' she may think that she is, no matter how much of herself she's sacrificed to get where she is, she's still in danger of being seen as nothing more than a pawn. The system is rigged against her, no matter how well she plays the game.
I just don't see how Season 1, with the Master, can be said to be a rejection of patriarchy at all. I think the implications of patriarchy just aren't present there; if we saw his minions (female, especially, or if Darla weren't dust) turning on him, I could see that as rejecting patriarchy.
It starts small. Buffy refutes the power of prophecy, the power of (as was said in Chosen) a bunch of men who died thousands of years ago, to tell her whether she will live or die (Darla... wow, I really should write about her -- independent by inclination, taught to bend knee to the system. Her lives and deaths are tragic every time around.).
In general, I think many of the ways I disagree with you here are really from my own desire not to see broad symbolism in the show, no matter how much anyone (including Joss) tells me it's there.
Oh, I've no clue if it was intended to be there (though this is easier to assume than most, as Joss has said that the show was intended to skew feminist), I just have tons of fun making up theories and seeing how well I can match them to the show. It's my happy place.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-03 10:27 pm (UTC)I do get that. :-) I do the same thing in different ways -- mostly analyzing character motivations and ethics and such. Symbolism and long-term themes just aren't my things, most of the time.
I can see Season 1 in terms of going against prophecy, and I do like that as a theme, I just don't see that as patriarchal; it's about fate and choosing your own way, as well as about playing the system. After all, she fulfilled the prophecy and came out on top, anyway. For anti-patriarchy, breaking from the intents of the original Watchers is probably the best example in the series, but that's Season 7. Or at least, the last couple episodes of Season 7.
the dangers of what can happen to a woman who thinks she can control a patriarchal system
I like this point; I hadn't thought of it that way. In terms of "mothering," though, I was thinking more of her intentions than the end result. She thinks of herself as Riley's mother and is jealous of his relationship with Buffy, as with Dennis's mom (from Angel) or Norman's perception of his mother in Psycho. Basically, it's the mother who can't deal with not being #1 in her son's life. (Rather the opposite of Spike's Mum, yes, at least as far as Vamp!Mum wants him to believe.) In terms of Adam, I think there's very much an aspect of mothering from her POV -- Adam's, of course, is very different and wins out. However, this is her creation, something that she is designing and her way of bringing life into the world.
It may be that we're using the term patriarchy differently. I don't think that a patriarchy requires a specific, direct father-figure, but I do think there's much more involved than a powerful male. The Angel/Angelus dynamic certainly deals with men, power, and subjugating women, but it's got little to do, IMO, with traditional authority . The lover-turned-evil dynamic is completely different. Similarly, the Master is just evil (more so than any other Buffyverse villain I can think of). There really isn't any authority relationship to be overcome or traditional roles to conform to or deny.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-04 09:22 pm (UTC)Dude, she watched him have sex with Buffy. I don't want to think of her thinking of herself as his mom.
Ick. Now I feel dirty (mostly kidding. but only mostly).
Yeah, when I'm talking about patriarchy, I'm talking about not just the direct father-figure connection, but the entire culture that that attitude spawns -- the idea that women are lesser, the idea that men have 'the right' to do what they want because they're men. All the societal ideas that spring from putting men above women in importance.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-05 02:46 am (UTC)