The Feminist Filter: Inca Mummy Girl

[gabrielleabelle]

Y'all know what this is! Let's do it!

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 about events and/or characters but about analyzing the series from a feminist framework so as to see what patterns and themes

Comments

[local_max]

I have surprisingly little to say here, but I just wanted to add that there is something interesting/disturbing about the way Ampata the virginal chosen one has the power to kill, and kill predominantly men, in a sexualized manner (the kiss of death). I think that plays into a bunch of tropes about dangerous women and sexuality; of course, this is also a mirror of the way vampires (who are predominantly male, in this series) kill in a sexualized manner (the neck bite/"kiss"/penetration). We're a few episodes after When She Was Bad where Buffy's "dangerous" sexuality was highlighted. The question is whether the show is presenting female sexuality as inherently dangerous or all sexuality, and if it's the latter, for what reason? It's all very complicated, because I think the intended message is that sexuality is a powerful emotional trigger/motivator, and that is why so much trauma can surround it, even if when dealt with properly it's natural/pleasurable/all of the good etc. But it's a little obscured. In the long run, I do think

[gabrielleabelle]

From what I've gleaned, the portrayal of sexuality, in general, is very negative. Even back in S1, we see that what makes Angel vamp out is kissing Buffy. Sex is very often linked to the demonic and aggressive. Masculinity, especially, is depicted as being dangerous (though Phases will be an interesting episode in that regard).

So, yeah. Good point on Ampata's sexualized mode of attack.