Where Do We Go From Here?

So, where do we go from here?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a show of contradicting figures. In my blog, I have outlined several power structures that exist within the series, and in doing so, I feel that I have uncovered power structures that present in contrasting ways. Indeed, the Slayer lineage, Buffy, Willow and the Watcher’s Council all create different power structures, and in these, gender is a significant factor.

In many respects, masculine powers attempt to control the power structures in Buffy. The Watcher’s Council and the Shadow Men represent the patriarchy in the series; indeed, these are predominantly male organizations and they are introduced as the superior figures to the Slayers, as they are the ones who traditionally regulate and control the Slayers through Watchers, individual Council members assigned to the Slayer and Potential Slayers. This creates a power structure, with the male Council posed as superior to the female Slayer line, and this sets up a traditional gender expectation.

This masculine power is furthered with the masculine aspects of Buffy’s powers. As I have outline in several of my posts, Buffy’s powers are dominated by masculine manifestations. In her Slayer role, Buffy has to ignore her feminine behaviour and adapt what are traditionally considered masculine qualities, including phallic weaponry, to succeed as the slayer. She must identify more with her masculine traits, and in doing so, this creates a problematic representation of female power.

However, one of the on-going themes that underscores the entire series is that, despite the masculine influence, the Slayers and Buffy are powerful women. As Buffy develops and matures in her role as Slayer, she begins to resist the patriarchal Watcher’s Council. She fires the Council, and while she still works with Giles, their relationship changes from Watcher and his charge to equals working on a team together. This poses the Council’s patriarchal system as outdated and the way that they operate, and the things they do as past their prime. Buffy resists the Watcher’s Council, and in doing so reclaims the role of the empowered female. Her choice of weapons does not change, but as time marches on, Buffy does become a more autonomous female, and in doing so, her status of powerful female is cemented.

So how does Buffy intervene into gender discussion? Well, simply put, the struggle for power in Sunnydale is ever present; with the Hellmouth posing a constant threat of apocalypse, it is an important thing to establish. Buffy may be a masculinized hero, but she asserts her independence and her ability to become dominant and powerful in her relationships with the Watcher’s Council, the Shadow Men and Angel, and in doing so crafts herself as a powerful female figure in the series. Further, the idea of powerful women seems to be the norm for Sunnydale; indeed, the other female characters have supernatural abilities that make them powerful, such as Tara’s magical ability, Anya’s Demon abilities and Dawn’s portal-opening Key powers, and the men like Xander lack these abilities (Owen 26).

Willow taking power from her male magic dealer Rack. (“Two to go”)

Willow is perhaps the pinnacle of this standard for women; she usurps power that she felt was reserved for men (Jowett 40) and in doing so becomes not only the most powerful Scooby, but more powerful than the men who created the Slayer and Potentials, making her the most powerful character in the entire narrative. Buffy, Willow, the Potentials and so many more women within the series are powerful, and while this power is sometimes crafted originally from a conflicting source, powerful women are the standard in Buffy, and because of this,  Joss Whedon has created a feminist show that creates alternatives to traditional ideologies of patriarchal authority and male domination, and asserts an alternative system in which women are the most powerful and dominant members of society.

Buffy, after defeating The First -arguably their most challenging Big Bad- with Willow and the Potentials playing crucial roles. (“Chosen”)