The Feminist Filter: Halloween

[gabrielleabelle]

Alright! Let's do Halloween! This one is particularly rich in the feminist text, so make yourself some tea. :)

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

Comments

[alexeia_drae]

I think, being the history buff that I am, I have some issues with how Noblewoman!Buffy was presented...or the idea that all women back then were empty headed idiots. Certainly the media and literature of the time portrayed them that way and their options were limited, still some managed to be very successful at things that didn't involve having a good marriage.

But then Lady!Buffy I wonder if I should take so much issue with it because what if it was more of Buffy projecting her assumptions of what a noblewoman was like on her?

I think the other thing I have an issue with is the assumption that the hyper feminine is useless. The hyper masculine (Xander) is portrayed as useful and non-problematic. Hyper-feminine not so much. I don't think either extreme is good, and I don't think anyone embodies either extreme, yet there are good things about both. The hyper-feminine is seen as selfish, petty and useless though.

[gabrielleabelle]

Certainly the media and literature of the time portrayed them that way and their options were limited, still some managed to be very successful at things that didn't involve having a good marriage.

Le gasp! Women doing things???

But then Lady!Buffy I wonder if I should take so much issue with it because what if it was more of Buffy projecting her assumptions of what a noblewoman was like on her?

Good point. That would add a different perspective to it.

Also, good point about the hyper-masculinity vs hyper-femininity. Xander is portrayed as being competent, cool-headed, sensible, an all-around awesome. Buffy? Generally useless and oft-mocked by her friends.

[debetesse]

The only way I can make it work is if the costume-self is based on the wearer's ideas and understanding, rather than any reality.

Which, of course, then says quite a lot about Buffy's view of femininity. Our standard exemplar of femininity in the show at this point is Cordelia, and she's certainly much more competent than costume!Buffy. Given that, I do think that at least a certain degree of subversive reading is completely justified.

[eowyn_315]

The only way I can make it work is if the costume-self is based on the wearer's ideas and understanding, rather than any reality.

Hmmm, but then you have the problem that Xander picks up real military knowledge - the fact that he can break into a military base and know protocols and how to operate weapons suggests that it was more reality than the wearer's ideas.

Of course, that also ties into the issue of Xander's masculine costume being useful, while Buffy's feminine one is utterly useless.

[debetesse]

Right, but he believes that a soldier would have that knowledge. Actually, it could be that his perception of his costume makes CostumeXander unrealistically hyper-competent.