The Feminist Filter: Homecoming

[gabrielleabelle]

Und one more!

Forgive me if I fail to respond to comments. Discuss among yourselves and be awesome (as usual).

My hiatus goes back in effect roundabouts...nowish.

Mission Statement:This series is intended to outline the feminist text of each episode so as to provoke and encourage open discussion. It's not so much about making value judgments

Comments

[red_satin_doll]

This episodes never resonated with me much, because the whole "prom queen" thing was so far outside my high school experience.

*nods in agreement* My experience was somewhere between the girl who becomes invisible and Willow's (teasing, being expected to help others w/homework, etc)

But it becomes kind of interesting when viewed in terms of Buffy looking for social power, because she will need that in order to vanquish the bad guy in the finale.

I don't think I'd ever put two and two together on that the way you have. Huh, ( I only watched the episode once - not a favorite.) It is interesting in that in S2 her focus is all (mostly) on Angel, whereas in S3 she has more room to explore other areas of her life and other people/problems (esp Faith). Angel is still there, but constantly with one foot out the door. But that's my memory of it, so I may be wrong.

That's not where her social power is going to come from.

Excellent point. I guess the inverse of Homecoming is The Prom; she shows up looking like a feminine princess, yes, but this time she finally receives the recognition of her peers for what she does DO for them, for the actions as a "Hero", which is normally coded as "Masculine". And the prom is able to occur because she makes sure it happens, she keeps the bad guys away once again. And Angel does actually show up to dance with her. (I'm purposely not thinking about the scene of him breaking up with her right now.) Perhaps that's part of what makes that scene/episode so lovey: all of her selves, the Slayer and the Girl, are honored and acknowledged. But it's a rare moment in the series, as much of the show is about her struggle to balance the two aspects of herself, to see them as part of the whole of "Buffy" rather than opposites.

I suspect I'm going a bit OT, so apologies.

And it doesn't pay off. She doesn't win. That's not where her social power is going to come from.

I do find it interesting that by trying to compete against each other, both Cordy and Buffy lose; they succeed in battle by joining forces, which of course is another theme of the series (the importance of friends and allies to the "one girl in all the world".) I think it reflects certain feminist ideas about "womenpower", sisterhood, and "sharing power - as writer/theologian Starhawk wrote, it's about "power with, not power over". (Which she intended in a broader sense I think as applicable to all power dynamics that involve hierarchies of inequality.)

I think it's a nice ideal to reach for, but possibly somewhat reductive in terms of women specifically (I'm not an essentialist per se), and I'm not sure it isn't used somewhat reductively in this episode; that is, the competition of individuals portrayed here is "bad" for women (the stereotype of "catty women"), but not so for men: We don't see them compete for King of the Dance, and the show certainly isn't implying that the male dominated sporting events (football, swimming, etc) are bad or done away with.

The idea of women competing against one another as a negative thing was covered in "the Witch" in S1 (competition of women for cheerleading squad leads to injuries, near-death, and even the takeover of a girl's body by her own mother - foreshadowing Who's That Girl?); in the portrayal of Cordy as the "Alpha female" of her own little pack, someone who wields her power openly and without apology, who expects to be followed and is therefore portrayed as a "bitch"; and in Faith, who is in "competition" with Buffy as The Slayer, for Angel (as Buffy perceives it), etc. And again, Faith is another "bad girl" in the show's narrative.

The idea of sharing power being a source of feminine power specifically is of course played out to it's ultimate conclusion in Chosen; I'm sure it's no accident that Faith reappears in S7, and is still in competition, or seen as such by other characters.

[mcjulie]

Perhaps that's part of what makes that scene/episode so lovey: all of her selves, the Slayer and the Girl, are honored and acknowledged

I've always found that scene very touching -- that could easily be why.

I'm sure it's no accident that Faith reappears in S7

Oo, good point!

[red_satin_doll]

Oh that should have been "lovely". What I get for not spell-checking. Thanks for reading my assorted babbling.