Female Character In Joss Whedon's Buffy Summers

From Disney’s feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, through to many of its princess movies, the female protagonist is reliant on a male counterpart as either their goal or last hope. For example, Ariel in The Little Mermaid sacrifices her voice for a far off prince and Aurora in Sleeping Beauty can only be awoken by a kiss from one. However, as public opinions in society changed, Disney also shifted it focus when it came to dealing with female leads. To do this, they scripted strong and independent women, who could rely on themselves, rather than on some glorified man. Although transcendentalism does not solely focus on females when it comes to its ideals, the practice of self-reliance by these modern Disney princesses is in direct

Disney Princesses have changed from time to time, but they still hold the same value. In Monika Bartyzel’s article “Girls on Film: The Real Problem with Disney Princess Brand”, she is basically pointing out the negative affects Disney Princesses have on little girls. Bartyzel claims that Disney is pulling the company’s progress back with feminine stereotypes of the past (Bartyzel 467). What really matters is how Disney princesses give little girls something to look up to, all around the world. Despite the backlash Disney has received based on the changes throughout Disney Princess history, Disney Princesses shed a positive light on little girls through love, a sense of morality and dreams.

The idea of a Disney princess is one I personally believe has changed over time. In Dawn England’s article “Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princess,” we see an in depth look in how this change has occurred. England, in her research, relies on three different hypotheses: Gender roles of princess and princes would differ (Princesses more feminine and princes more masculine), princes would preform more rescues and be rescued less times then princesses, and over time, Disney films’ role portrays would change over time (princesses become more masculine and princes become more feminine). By using behavioral characteristics and the resolutions of the films, these hypotheses can be proven correct. In looking at the results, the films studied, and other Disney films, we can take a look at how strong England’s arguments are and the possibility of any criticisms that may rise into question.

Disney princesses are fun for all ages, but their target audience is young children and “as children grow and develop, they can be easily influenced by what they see and hear”. Therefore, what they see and hear in Disney movies leaves an impression on them. The first princess, Snow White, was created in a time where each gender and race had a specific role in society. Recently, many believe that Disney has come a long way in regards to gender and race since Snow White, as several multi-cultural protagonists have been introduced subsequently, and gender roles do not appear to be as stereotypical as they once were. However, many of the apparent innocent messages about race and gender in these movies, can be exposed as otherwise. Despite

Heroes are found everywhere when Disney is involved. From a prince or princess to secretive toys to the smallest forms of life on earth, a hero can be found in anyone. Being attached to one or a few is entirely common. These certain characters may be the ones they look up to. Young girls often choose to look up to a princess, although, they are not what they were over 50 years ago. The very first Disney princess, Snow White, is purely a damsel in distress. The same goes for Aurora who appeared in Sleeping Beauty years later. As the years have gone on, that weaker vision of a princess has faded. The modern day princesses are anything but damsels needing to be saved by a man. Rapunzel chooses to give up her freedom in order to save Flynn Rider’s life. Tiana works hard to provide for herself so she can chase her dream. Merida rejects what everyone else thinks she should be and is true to herself. Elsa only needs the love from her sister. This list will only get bigger as Disney continues to create these young female heroines. If anything, Disney is preaching to young girls everywhere to be strong in a world that may play on their faults or weaknesses. During a time strong feminist movements, Disney manages to satisfy demands by allowing the girl to be the hero. Though Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are still timeless classics, the princesses of today set a better example for young girls everywhere and that is why they seem to be more attractive than the originals.

The representation of females in Disney films can be interpreted to be very sexist and miss-leading to young girls. In nearly all Disney films women are represented as house wives that are vulnerable and need saving. Although in our postmodern society where laws are now in place to protect females from being discriminated against (such as the equality act.) Disney has not kept up with these changes in the view of many people and still remains to include these sexist stereotypes.

When Buffy: The Vampire Slayer premiered on American televisions in 1997, nobody expected much of it. It was a campy, teen horror-comedy about a monster-fighting valley girl, based on a mediocre, five year old movie. However, with the use of snappy dialogue, adult themes, and memorable characters, this little cult hit spread into a phenomenon that lasted 144 episodes over seven seasons. Buffy's success can be attributed to many factors, not limited to those listed above, but the strength of it's eponymous lead character certainly gave the series a significant leg-up amongst other supernatural dramedies. Buffy Summers, in all her cheerleading, monster-slaying glory, became the face of female characters on television trough a combination of complex

Willow Rosenberg is a character from the incredibly successful American TV show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” created by Joss Whedon. Buffy The Vampire Slayer ran for 7 Seasons and was centered around Buffy, who at the age of 15 arrives in Sunnydale with her mother following an incident involving a gang of vampires at her old high school in Los Angeles. She is the latest in a long line of women who are destined to be “Slayers” and defend the world from Vampires and various other evil forces. Around the age of 14 buffy began to gains “Slayer Powers” which include incredible strength, speed, and fighting ability. In the beginning of the series, Buffy resents her destiny and wishes to live the life of a regular teenaged girl. Willow Rosenberg is the first student Buffy meets at her new highschool in Sunnydale. Willow introduces Buffy to Xander who has been Willow’s best friend since they were very young. After Buffy saves Willow and Xander from some vampires, and explains who she is, the three of them become best friends. Buffy, Willow, Xander, and later some additional characters who join forces with them to fight the powers of evil are collectively referred to as the “Scooby Gang”.

Cassandra Stover explains in her Journal Damsels and Heroines: The Conundrum of the Post-Feminist Disney Princess, the dramatic shift with Disney princess at the peak of the late 1980s and early 1990s. She explains that the shift can derive from feminist movements and how the change can be directed to the third wave of feminism. She examines the original Disney princesses and decribes them to be more passively aggresive and unindependent, while the new princesses are more independent and brave. The author then explains if the shift from the old to new princesses are actually better, and not just different. Stover analysizes that Disney princesses evolve and are a part of the worlds change on feminism.

His heroine "wanders into a dark alley, takes care of herself, and deploys her power to kill the monster" . She never claims to be "just a girl" and in fact, her femininity is the very source of her strength. She is proficient at martial arts, paying homage to women's self-defense collectives of the 70s and date rape awareness training of the 90s, fulfilling the female dream of walking anywhere at any time, knowing you can take care of yourself against the monsters . The critical feminist cultural perspective on television and film, specifically on the genres of action-adventure and horror, provide a dynamic framework for analyzing some of the symbols and metaphors within Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This paper is not exhaustive in its evaluation.

The Disney film “The Lion King” is a great example of how females are seen as subordinate to males. Giroux states, “All of the rulers of the kingdom are men, reinforcing the assumption that independence and leadership are tied to patriarchal entitlement and high social standing” (Greene 582). This is the case for most Disney films that the male characters have power over the female characters. The female characters are depicted as weak and dependent on the male characters. This can give young girls the wrong idea of what type of roles they should take on. If they keep seeing female characters being portrayed as weak and dependent on males they may think that they should be the same way. However, not all of the female characters in these movies are portrayed the same way.

In many recent Disney adaptations of fairytales, we are presented with a more "non-traditional" princess, who has complete control of her "fate, as Merida puts it, in order to redefine the strict gender roles we have today. Disney princesses like Elsa from Frozen, Merida from Brave, and Moana from Moana do not get saved at the end by the magical kiss of a prince; in fact, there is no prince in the story. Instead, they are independent, self-sufficient women with the autonomy to make her own decisions. However, this was not always the case. Traditional fairytales clearly portray that gender roles for women are tremendously limited and agency is loss through kidnappings, victimizing a male character, marriages and the maternal role of a woman in a family. Hundreds of years ago, there was no such thing as an "independent" princess; women were all forced into strict gender roles with limitations and restrictions create and enforced by the patriarchal society.

influences around them. The role models would impart on the young girls the necessary standards to compare themselves to learn their intrinsic worth and fight the opinion that women are inferior to men. Many times they look to the media for such influences. Disney princesses have for decades been the representation little girls see; however, not all of them are positive. The Disney Princess brand is broken down into three generations, or waves. The first generation, including Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora, perpetuate sexism because they teach young girls that their value lies in their beauty and their relationship with a man. The second wave

Growing up, all I ever did was watch Disney movies and the Disney channel. Now as I’m older, I can’t help but realize that all the movies are exactly the same. The princess is stuck in a dilemma and then a perfect prince comes along and saves her and then they marry in the end. Other than a similar plot, all the movies have very similar character traits. England, Descartes, and Collier-Meek in Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princesses explain the characters, “traditionally masculine (e.g., athletic, brave) and traditionally feminine (e.g., helpful, nurturing) characteristics exhibited by the prince and princess characters through

Heros do not have to come in the form of having special abilities, it is the fact that you use those abilities to create good in society is what makes someone a hero. The hit television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, written and produced by Joss Whedon created Buffy Summers to be a butt kicking, teenage girl that balances fighting evil forces and being a regular teen. Whedon compares the evil forces to feminists ideas. For example, domestic violence and manipulating women are two big ideas that the feminists movement are trying t o make a change to. An example of domestic abuse in the show comes from a character Pete. Pete had created a potion to make his girlfriend Debbie desire him so much more, but the downfall of the potion was when he drank and got angry a monster would come out. An example of Whedon implementing the manipulation of men towards women is a character Ted who is Buffy’s step-dad, but the person they think he is is not true. He controls Joyce’s every move to ensure that she knows she is not the dominate person in the relationship. Heros do not have to come in the form of having special abilities, it is the fact that you use those abilities to create good in society is what makes someone a hero. Female empowerment has shifted with the rise of feminism and acceptance of women’s rights.