Women in the Jossverse

[pfeifferpack]

I review a lot and tend to get wordy. While doing a review the character of Lilah came up and I started to reply to the authors response but as it got longer and more off topic decided to post it here instead. I wonder if other saw the same things I did or if I've misread the subtext, missed something that others have caught

Comments

[nmcil12]

In my Anya Voice "all I can say is..."

Buffy as a woman in the Lovers Role in the series and the Twilight Times was depicted as "damaged" and "weakened" -

Using your example of Riley and Xander - I cringe even just thinking about how she runs after Riley after that "if he is the one" - That is Xander channeling his own life needs and choices for Anya. Even worse, IMHO, is the depiction of Buffy in As We Were - could there be a more "victim of love needs" than how Buffy goes into automatic I Need Riley and I Want Riley when he returns to Sunnydale. And YES - it's her reaction to her miserable life and her conduct "hidden dirty secret" with Spike but why the hell does she have to still have this need for a man who made the choice to leave her behind? We know that Buffy-Riley-Spike in AWW is fundamentally connected to Buffy's inner demons and sense of "failure in life" but the symbolism is extremely significant to Buffy the woman. And again, that is the point of importance from my perspective - love relationships Not A Friend Of Buffy.

Angel love turned her into a would be murderess, Riley took her on her "Mr. Normal" quest need as a reaction to her Angel love, with Spike she becomes an abuser, physically and emotionally in their mutually dysfunctional relationship. It's only once she and Spike go through the tragic ending of their relationship in the AR and that he fights for and wins his soul/humanity back that she begins her journey with what I see as "her power of love" free of her dependency of "Love Boy Friend Needs." I want to be clear - I don't mean that Buffy does not and did not have a Great Strength from her capacity to love but, IMHO, it's post her relationship with Spike and his return from Africa that she becomes the Great Giver & Guide without the negatives of her relationships that caused so much damage in her life.

And what's with the use of rape and mind-control sexual avatar as used in The Twilight Times? Control and Transformation but from such horrendous methods. The only way that I can get through the AR in the series is by application of the Black Kali symbolism. As for The Twilight Times - I can't make my way to understanding what Joss Whedon and Dark Horse were going for - if Buffy is not used as a victim and again it's a form of rape only on a colossal scale, what do we make of that story?