Buffy's feminism is totally overhyped and so is Joss as a feminist and talent.
I would never classify any of his shows as feminist if we are strictly talking about the 'portrayal of women'. There is the behind the scenes stuff and how he treated women. In that those that kissed his ass got whatever they wanted and Whedon loved them. Those that messed up his brilliant ideas (like CC) or argued with him on plots for their character (like SMG) were treated like crap.
When looking at the female characters in Buffy specifically, I can't understand why anyone would say feminist show beyond the basic premise of the show, little blond girl kicks ass. When looking at the female characters on both shows, it's kind of disturbing how anti-femist it really is. Why did all female characters die permanent deaths (except Buffy) while the men were allowed to leave or be resurrected? Angel, Riley, Oz, Giles were allowed to leave and drop by now and then again, Angel and Spike even came back from death/hell. Which female character can say that for themselves? None.
The punishment of expressing female sexuality or desire. Buffy was often punished (except for Riley) for expressing her desire. Cordelia's (I think) first time ended in demon pregnancy. Buffy's story ultimately became all about her not being able to go through life without a guy holding her up. Then there is the problem that women can't handle power, with Willow and Buffy being the prime examples. They go batshit crazy with it. Or become megalomaniacs thinking themselves to be better than other people. And expect to be treated as such.
I will give Whedon & Co. one thing, they weren't shy about showing women can be just as bad as men. Women on men violence, female rapists and attempted rapists, lack of female support for female victims, women can be just as power hungry and misuse said power, female murderers etc.. The only difference is that these things were rarely treated as 'bad' or examined in terms of meaning or given the weight that they should, because it was women it was just pushed under the rug and shrugged off. Or they blamed the men for it anyway.
It's hard to tell what conception people get when they watch Buffy to be honest, in terms of what message it tries to send in terms of feminism.
I have found a few articles like this one -
Buffy the Vampire Slayer's feminism is still subversive, 20 years later
To take a few things from it just to save everyone having to click on it lol...
Most action stories prioritize the male hero’s pain over everything else
Always, the male action hero must struggle with the responsibility of being the only person who can stop the spread of evil across the world. He’ll stand broodingly on a rooftop, dressed in billowing black, gazing out over the city he has sworn to protect. All of those lives, depending only on him — how could any one man bear such a burden?
On Buffy, Buffy’s pain is the most important thing in the world
But on
Buffy, the action hero is a girl. It is her pain that is the most important, and her story that other characters support.
Buffy is a specifically feminine archetype at the center of masculine action hero storylines. That’s hugely significant.
Buffy’s manpain is subversive not only because she’s a female character, but because of the specific female archetype that she represents.
Buffy creator Joss Whedon has always said that Buffy is based on the archetypal blonde girl who gets killed first in every horror movie. In his DVD commentary for the first episode, he says, “The idea of
Buffy was to subvert that idea, that image, and create someone who was a hero where she had always been a victim.”
As described by film scholar Carol J. Clover, the blonde girl of horror is a foil for
the brunette Final Girl who will survive to the end of the movie. The blonde is feminine where the Final Girl is tomboyish, and sexual where the Final Girl is virginal. For those crimes — those specifically feminine crimes — she must be punished. When you see a cute blonde cheerleader having sex in a horror movie, you know the monster is about to kill her horribly.
As a character, Buffy fits horror’s blonde archetype perfectly. She’s unapologetically hyper feminine; she adores fashion and makeup and shopping; she longs to be a cheerleader. But not only does she not die first when
Buffy’s monsters come calling, she kicks their ass and saves the day
Buffy Summers is a living embodiment of the kind of femininity that horror and action traditionally despise, that they erase or disregard or destroy on sight. But on
Buffy, her particular archetype is combined with the brooding, manpain-riddled action hero. Buffy is blonde and high femme and sexual,
and her pain is still the most important thing in the world.
