A Look at Buffy Summers Through a Feministic lens

Is She One of The Best Female Characters Ever Written? Find out below.

The 90s cult tv show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer will forever be an important part of pop culture history. Regardless, of whether you are over the vampire trope, or not. Buffy Summers, an ex-cheerleader, and Prom Princess, destined to fight vampires with her superhuman powers, has become a feminist icon since the show went off air in 2003. That is almost two decades she has been paving the way for female characters. Who knows perhaps without Buffy Summer we wouldn’t have Black Widow and Captain Marvel? Recent inclusions to Marvels’ repertoire, 2021 and 2019 respectively, and their only movies with lead female characters… 

 

Buffy Summers is unlike any character; she is a lean, mean, fighting machine. Her physique is very unique for someone of a lead character role. She is a petite girl; not bulky like a “man”, but nor curvy like a “female”. Yet, she plays such strong “male” and “female” roles. What I mean by she plays a male role is that she encompasses the properties of pretty much a male and female lead in the show. As she is a superhero, of such, she has superhero abilities, such as superhuman strength, speed, agility, and stamina. It is also argued that she has also a sort of “Spidey-sense” when it comes to finding (and killing) vampires and demons. These superhero abilities she possesses are typical of that of the male superhero, which is not to say, other female superheroes haven’t had them. But we see, in forms of flashbacks in the show, that before Buffy was the slayer, she was a cheerleader, Prom Princess and fit in the stereotypical label, a girly-girl. We see her current character overcome this barrier between being a slayer �" who is impervious to blood, gore, and guts �" and being a 16-year-old girl. She bridges her two identities, furthermore, bridging her masculine and feminine sides, as she continues to wear short skirts and heels in scenes where she is staking vampire to dust. It is as though she is saying, “vampire staking won’t get in the way of wearing a cute outfit”. A complete paradox in a traditionalist’s books. In other shows who share the vampire hunter trope, the hunters are more likely characterised as big beefy men with cross bows and tattoos (cough, cough, The Vampire Diaries). Even if we look briefly at Count Dracula, he is hunted by pitchfork wielding men. In funny commentary to the original Dracula story, Buffy defeats him in episode one season five as his character has a brief cameo in the series. It should be noted that Buffy isn’t Buffy because of her powers either, in the episode, Helpless, Buffy is temporarily without powers and has to kill a vicious vampire as a mortal. This test, which is facilitated by The Watcher’s Council (the organisation the monitors and controls the slayer), is mandatory to determine whether Buffy is suitable to be restored her slayer powers, or not. Because a true slayer, can slay vampires without her powers. 

 

Not only is Buffy a feminist icon, but she is a strongly written female character. She has complexities that reveal themselves over the course of the seven seasons of the show. To introduce the underlying motivation to her character, especially the slayer part of her identity, you must be familiarised with her destiny:

“Into every generation, there is a chosen one. One girl in all the world. She alone will wield the strength and skill to stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness; To stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. She is the Slayer.”

It may be the diehard fan in me, but that piece of writing is elite. Not only does it radiate feminist energy, but it also matches its eery tones with this enate optimism. Her destiny is something Buffy struggles with very early on in the show. Which we see in the final episode of season one, Prophecy Girl, when she is prophesised to die at the hands of The Master (the season one villain). In a touching, emotional revelation, she says to her watcher, “Giles, I’m sixteen years old, I don’t wanna die.” But as she learns time and time again, destinies and prophecies are written by fate. They happen, regardless, of whether she wants them to, or not. After her first brush with death, she becomes more attuned to her slayer identity. She knows it isn’t something she can just “quit” or “give up”. As the show progresses, we are invited to see the conflict between her morality and her human nature. Although it might not seem like it with her go-with-the-flow slayer style, Buffy has a strict moral compass. Which only strengthens as she matures and ages.  

 

The show, and the characters that surround Buffy, facilitate a sort of narrowness for her. No one is like Buffy, not even the other slayers that are introduced due to Buffy’s brief, but definitive, death. After Buffy momentarily dies in the end of season one, Kendra is chosen. She is a by-the-book slayer and depicted a somewhat of a lone warrior. She acts as a juxtaposition to Buffy’s slayer as Buffy has her Scooby Gang (Giles, Xander and Willow) helping her out. This inclusion of her friends into her secret life as a slayer is frowned upon by the Watcher’s Council, however, it provides a motivation for Buffy to continue being the slayer. And ultimately, shapes her inner drive to protect the world from vampires. This tie to her family and friends sets Buffy aside from Kendra who has no ties to humanity until meeting Buffy. 

 

Kendra is supposed to an equal to Buffy, but without that enate purpose, she is a superior slayer. Her death in the latter half of the second season, means a new slayer is chosen. Faith is introduced in the third season as the new bad-girl slayer on the block. She forms a much closer relationship to Buffy and ultimately tries to tempt Buffy into her dark, sinister ways. In the episode called Bad Girls, Faith develops the catchphrase “want, take, have” as she and Buffy are stealing weaponry from a sporting store. This episode provides a vessel for Buffy to take advantage of her slayer powers, like Faith does. Ultimately at the end of the episode, Faith accidentally murders a human. This event in the series is used to make a clear distinction between the two slayers: Faith aims to try and frame Buffy for the murder, whilst Buffy immediately confides in her Watcher, Giles, about the incident. When Faith accused of the murder, this sends her straight down a dark path. She joins sides with the season 3 villain, Mayor Richard Wilkson, and sexually assaults Buffy’s best friend, Xander. 

 

Aside from slayers, there are two other strong female roles throughout the show, that can be compared to that of Buffy Summers. First, Glory, a hell goddess that strives and momentarily succeeds at breaking down the walls between the hell dimension and Earth. She is a very powerful women and some could say there are feministic undertones in her characters. However, I believe that the depiction of her power tied into her complete insanity comes across as a more misogynistic writing style. Implicitly, the writers are suggesting that any women with that much power will go insane, that she won’t be able to handle it. But in comparison to other characters such as The First Evil or Angelus, they are capable of starting apocalypses because they are male. Granted there is a form of insanity in anyone who wants to end the world, but regarding Glory, she is depicted as ‘nutty’ and schizophrenic, as she has is hosting the body of mortal, Ben, who reveals himself to the audience as “freedom” from her control. 

 

The second villain who I can composite in Buffy’s league is Dark Willow. Willow is Buffy’s witch best friend. In the sixth season, Willow’s girlfriend Tara is shot and murdered, and Willow is consumed by dark magic with intentions to bring on the apocalypse. She is extremely powerful and absorbs a lot of it from other dark witches, artefacts, and even Buffy’s powers. I wish to compare Dark Willow to Buffy to attest the fact Buffy was written in an accumulate fashion, and really is the ultimate role model for girls. It should be noted that Buffy has had to deal with the death of many people in her life, and never has she headed down a dark path. Even when she was in her former years, and had to deal with her own death, she never exceeded more than something an immature teenager would amount to. That is making her friends jealous and being reckless. The second season of the show was problem the most traumatic for Buffy as a character. Not only did she expose a vulnerable to Angel and lose her virginity to him. Only for it to break his curse, and strip him of his soul, reverting him back to Angelus �" his soulless vampire alter ego. He, then, proceeded to harass and torment Buffy followed with devising a plan to engulf Earth into hell. And just at the portal to hell opened, Willow restored Angel’s soul. However, the only way to close the mouth to hell is to stab the person who opened it, with its complimentary sword. Looking Angel in his eyes, knowing his soul has been restored, Buffy had to impale Angel on the sword, closing the mouth to hell and taking Angel with it. We finish the season seeing Buffy leave town as a result to her mother rejecting her for her slayer powers. Yet, although noticeably shaken and mentally wounded from season two, Buffy’s character in season three is ultimately far more independent.

 

Buffy is truly an unparalleled character. Even with all these strong female characters accompanying her, she remains the most head-strong and morally-sound. She even found her mother dead on the couch from a brain aneurysm and yet took on the motherly role of the household immediately. Her character is nuanced, especially in the gender roles she plays throughout the show. One scene particularly comes to mind when exhibiting both “male” and “female” lead points of view. In the last episode of season five, The Gift, Glory tears down the walls between dimensions, leaking hell into Earth. Buffy’s younger sister, Dawn, who was configured by monks to hold the energy, The Key, to closing the bridge between the dimensions is at risk of losing her life. However, in a heroic move, Buffy sacrificing herself to save Dawn. Suggesting, that she, too, holds the mystical energy to close the barrier as they are sisters. Here is a prime example of how Buffy is transitioning between those gender binaries, male and female. She is acting as head of the household �" a more “male” role �" to ultimately decides to kill herself and spare her sister. Before she does, Buffy in a vulnerable state of impending death, she expresses her love to Dawn. Crying, she says to her “live for me” and then jumps into the mystical portal. This more emotionally response to the situation is displaying a stereotypical “womanly” response to the philosophical idea of death. 

 

The final season of the show is one big feministic stance, as the whole premise of the season is that the villain, The First Evil, hates women. This provides many an opportunity for characters in the show, not just Buffy, to become more vocal on their standpoint with feminism. Buffy, by this stage, is an adult and has grown in her feministic nature. She engages with The First Evil on many occasions, one of which he calls her a “w***e”. She responds by kicking him across the room and calling him out for being a “woman hating jerk”. The feminist undertones are heavily explicit in this season, especially when Buffy and the Scooby Gang find a way to call forth all the potential slayer (the ones who just haven’t been chosen yet) and activate their powers, forming this all women army to defeat The First Evil. She says: 

 

The odds are against us. Time is against us. And some of us will die in this battle. Decide now that it’s not going to be you… Most people in this world have no idea why they’re here or what they want to do. But you do. You have a mission. A reason for being here. You’re not here by chance. You’re here because you are the Chosen Ones.

This quote really encompasses her growth as a character. She rose as a young slayer, conflicted with the notion of giving up her teenage years �" boys, parties, school dances �" to fight vampires. But seven seasons later, she has matured into this selfless warrior who wears her destiny proud on her shimmering breastplate. Having overcome the struggles of love, heartbreak, and grief. Along with some blood stains in her clothes and some bruises here and there, not to mention rising from the dead twice, after sacrificing herself for her destiny. Buffy is the feminist of all feminists; a pure icon and artform that hopefully years to come will be still be marvelling over. 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

Disclaimer: This piece has spoilers to the show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Reviews

[Kaz_M]

Loved the essay, which is not unexpected as I'm a huge Buffy fan. You captured her journey through the seasons well.

I missed any reference to Spike, aka William the Bloody. But hey this essay was from a feminist viewpoint, not a full review of all characters. Thanks for sharing.

[Cinematic N0stalgia]

Thank you for the review. It is must appreciated.

Maybe a full character review of Buffy or a Spuffy v Bangel piece, might be something I can work on in the future....!!!