This article is particularly relevant to today as last week was Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s 20th anniversary and its women’s history month. This is the most appropriate time to talk about this…though honestly it’s always the appropriate time to talk about feminism, female characters, and Buffy Summers. I first started watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer when I was in my early teens, it was introduced to me by my best friend which is what made it so important to me at first, but as I grew older I found that the show was a strong force in kick starting my feminist identity. Of course, I got a lot of problems with this show (which will probably pop up in this article so don’t be surprised when it does) but that doesn’t stop it from being one of my favorite, most life-defining shows I have ever watched.
Joss Whedon is kind of known for his ability to create complex female characters and that all started with Buffy Summers. It’s important that characters like her are created so young people, like me when I first started watching this show, can be positively influenced by her. But sometimes when people try to write these strong female characters they make some pretty terrible mistakes that don’t help the process. So, let’s go through what makes a strong female character…and what doesn’t.
Emotionally Complex-Not Emotionally Stunted
Human beings have complex emotional strengths and weaknesses but in our American culture there tends to be distaste for expressing those emotions because it’s considered to irrational, unpredictable, and…well, feminine. Suppressing our emotions is a sure-fire way of shaking up a tightly corked bottle, it’s only a matter of time before a toxic explosion occurs. A lot of people try to make their female character strong by making them subscribe to the traditionally masculine trait of being emotionally unavailable…as if that is something to admire. (Of course, some people are naturally this way, it would be ableist of me to say that everyone who has trouble expressing themselves is just another victim of a toxic patriarchal practice and pressure.) Buffy isn't always fueled by her anger, as the above picture might suggest, she is often fueled by her love of her friends, family, and humanity.
Femininity Isn’t Weakness
Being physically strong and being feminine aren't mutually exclusive. Buffy is a physically strong character who dresses in style, cares about her appearance, romance, shopping, and saving the world. She can be strong and she can be feminine and neither of those things are bad, neither of those things need to be fixed. A good character can actually be like other girls, want to be like other girls, because girls can be just as complex as guys.
Physical Weakness Isn't Weakness
Though Buffy is physically strong, when her strength is taken away she just shows that she has other strengths as well. A strong female character doesn't need to be physically strong to be considered a complex and well-developed character.
Women Can Have Women Friends and Women Can Appreciate Other Women
How often have you heard or read "I'm not like other girls"/"She's not like other girls" as if to be like a "normal" girl is a bad thing. Buffy doesn't buy into that shit, her friendships with women are just as important to her friendships with men. Often times we get the trope that a strong female character doesn't befriend other women because she's better than them, either that or other females don't exist in her world unless they are there to compete against her or for her to be compared against. The point is to bring women up, not step on them to show how much better you are than them.
