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Gender Roles In Game Of Thrones And Buffy The Vampire Slayer

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During class this week we talked about gender roles in media, featuring “Game of Thrones” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” two television shows almost 20 years apart. Oddly enough, the portrayal of women in these TV shows break almost the same amount of gender stereotypes despite being decades apart. While both of these shows are considered progressive in their respective realms, I believe that the creators could have done an even more impressive job with them. Both Television shows defy a set of gender roles in their respective environments; however, the female characters in “Game of Thrones” have a stronger code to breakout of as opposed to the high school setting the Buffy is present in. In Joss Whedon’s defense I have seen a significant amount more of HBO’s crowning achievement than of Buffy herself so my opinion is more biased in that regard, but I still believe people like Circe, Daenerys, and Brianne represent a further break in gender roles than Buffy. With the three female characters of “Game of Thrones” one can see a much bigger development in their roles in society and how they do not conform to them, throughout the series. During the medieval period women were second class citizens always behind a man, or restricted in their job choices and these women are demonstrative …show more content…

The part that makes her stand out is not this fact though, but it is the other characteristics that she uses in conjunction with her strength. Buffy is a cheerleader, she is popular, and she does well in school which separates her from others and is what breaks her of her stereotypes. In high school you can’t be pretty and athletic or smart, she breaks the “dumb blonde” stereotype by being blonde, and well, smart and strong. Through his show, Joss crafts a girl who does not want to play by society’s rules and won’t proving she can be beautiful and still defeat the bad

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