Dollhouse Didn't Disappoint

Finally TV is new again!

Hopefully I'm not the only one out there who had a little list written up of the fall premieres, though it's certainly very possible. I was looking forward to a lot of my favorites returning, but one that didn't really stand out in my line-up was Dollhouse. I'm one of the biggest fans of Joss Whedon's work, but for some reason the first season (with the exception of the last four to five episodes) left me with a general luke-warminess that I more commonly attribute to eating a turkey sandwich. I mean, a turkey sandwich is nice, but I never think "Man, that was one great sandwich!" after eating one. Come to think about it, I can't remember the last turkey sandwich I've eaten.

But I digress.

Watching the fall premiere of Dollhouse (if you haven't seen it, stop reading now and watch watch! spoilers below!) made me remember why I'd been sad to see it go after the heart-stopping/breaking season finale last spring. And it made me remember why I love Joss Whedon and every brainchild he births (um, gross imagery, sorry).

I think I wasn't sure about Dollhouse for the same reason that most people didn't like it originally, in that it just deals with touchy subject matter, and in a way that is initially hard to navigate until you get the hang of what social issues dwell underneath.

I think Laura over at Adventures of a Young Feminist explains Dollhouse in a way that makes me understand it more than I thought I did the first time around (if that makes sense).

Dollhouse is a story about trying to find who you are while people are telling you who you should be, which is a struggle that almost everyone goes through. What is so great about Dollhouse is not just the writing and acting, but that it is not afraid to touch on those “unpleasant” issues that television producers often think people don’t want to hear about while still being relateable on some level.

She seems to be able to put into words the unnameable feelings I had toward the show the first time through, and also did a very detailed review of the first episode.

I think what I love about this new episode of Dollhouse isn't just that you can tell Joss wrote it (Boyd's answer of "I'm very tall" caught me completely off-guard) but that the characters are becoming real people to me. Maybe it's just that angsty teenager inside of me who loves melodrama, but Echo's need to find her true identity coupled with Dr. Saunders' confrontation of her maker, if you will, made the episode for me. I believe most of the hesitancy I had the first season was that mostly everyone in the show was confused and sort of fumbling around, but this season gave the main characters the opportunity to do something about their fate and their destiny and all those other big life things that Joss always makes his characters confront head-on.

Also, seeing more of Amy Acker wasn't exactly unpleasant.

So this fall I'll be tuning in more willingly to catch up with these characters, and hopefully there'll be more Dollhouse-centric posts wherein we can dive into the details together. Can't wait for Friday!

What's the Internet for if not Being Creepy?

No matter how I try, I still feel new at all of this, this "internet" stuff. (Yes, those quotes were used sarcastically. No, I am not that new.)

I mean, I've got email down. It makes sense. My foray into the blogosphere has so far been successful. News cites are simple enough. Amazon even is getting easy-breezier with every purchase, but that's about as far as I usually stray off the beaten course from homepage to email and straight to that red X in the corner.

So, for reasons unknown to yours truly, I signed up for an account on delicious a week or two ago. After getting over the initial joy of bookmarking recipes and random things aplenty (make my own bathbombs? yes please!) I realized that delicious can actually be more than a timesuck. Social bookmarking websites can be great resources, especially for someone like me trying to blog on a regular basis, because of that mysterious social element.

I traipsed around the website, following random links until I found the one: my social bookmarking soulmate!

Ok, so maybe not my soulmate, but a like-thinker out there operating on the same mind-frequency as me. What tipped me off to this? In LaCygne's top tags BtVS is the fourth most-tagged (with 68 total sites) and feminism comes in sixth with 45 tags. I know, I know, I would have been sold with the Buffy tags alone, but LaCygne's tags have a more social-trend vibe than most solely Buffy fans did. (You have no idea how many users out there are either complete fans of the same show as me or are really into feminism, but how very few fall into both of those categories. At least bookmark-wise.)

Now, I know what you're thinking. But dear Buffy Buff, why ever are you telling me about somebody else's delicious account? What does this have to do with anything?

Well, luckily I found such a cool person for this or my point would be a lot harder to make. The thing is, instead of having to wade through twenties of tens of blogs before I find a suitable article that fits my tastes and high high standards (oh, such terribly high standards) I can just go hang out on LaCygne's delicious account and see what's been tagged recently, or search by tag, or whatever.

So really I'm just sharing my fun find with you all here. LaCygne tagged a lot of good stuff for any reader really, and I especially liked this link to a conversation with Anthony Stewart Head (in terms of Buffiness) and this link to a NY Times article about how men see smart women in the dating world (in terms of feminist articles).

All in all, there's a lot of fun to be had over at LaCygne's delicious account, and I'll have my eyes out for any more fascinating delicious users who have this blog's ideas in mind. Because really, what's more fun-albeit-a-tad-creepy than snooping around other people's information on the internet?

Sexism? Sure, if it's Short

Those diamond store ads always bothered me. Whether it's the sentiment that "Every kiss begins with K" or that "A diamond is forever", it's just a joy to see the idea that most women prefer something glittery and brag-able than anything real or meaningful from another human being. Basically, only sparkling diamonds can stave the gnawing hunger of the she-beast, and any attempts at a connection are only valuable if you put a ring on it. Beyonce knew what she was talking about.

In some perverse way, I like commercials. The tiny snippets in between show breaks aren't my opportunity to run to the fridge, they're a chance to get a look into how companies think I think, not to sound ridiculous. But come on. Most marketing campaigns are completely transparent, and seeing the strings in the system makes me feel like some secret superhero. Or someone with too much time on her hands. So I loved this article from Cracked about TV ads that hate women. Those Yoplait ads were always grating. I also love the series of More Commercials I Can't Stand over at Appetite for Equal Rights, which is entertaining while simultaneously being terribly depressing.

So what is it about commercials that makes them so prone to sexism? Is it just that there are so many commercials out there? Are commercials a chance for people to say what they really want to say, offensive as it may be? Is it sexism that sells?

I think commercials are trying so hard to address one certain crowd that they rely on stereotypes to reach what they consider their target audience. So if I'm trying to sell laundry soap I look at the complicated mathy numbers (I'm a creative writing major, not a scientist) , and the numbers tell me that women make up a large portion of my laundry-soap-buyers are women. So I make commercials about women, for women, that will convince those women that buy laundry soap to buy my laundry soap. So it makes sense logically to target a specific audience in some commercials, but do we really need to make the lines so distinct? Do only women do laundry? If women buy the laundry soap, maybe it's women paying attention to the commercials, and maybe they don't really like being shown as a boring mom who has to do all the chores. I know I can't identify with that, and I'm as much a laundry soap purchaser as anyone.

The Trifecta!

Because every once and a while what I do will make no logical sense to anyone, I'm reposting my first three posts here in this giganto post entitled The Trifecta. Some things are best left unexplained. This is one of them.

1. Hello, World!

For a while now I've been wondering if the world has just decided "Hey, maybe it's a bad place to live, but at least we've got hot beats" or if I'm the only sane one left. Mostly this pondering is due to Katy Perry and her, if danceable, utterly depressing pop hits like "I Kissed a Girl" and "UR so Gay". I swore I was the only one in the world who saw something wrong with the way she not only condones using women (I'm of the belief school that using people, in general, is a big ole no-no, even if you're Katy Perry) but also seems to see girls kissing other girls as a spectacle for any and all male viewers (if you haven't seen it, do watch the video, though I'll warn it might make you gravely depressed) than an expression of her own desire. I staggered around life, depressed, hurting for the sake of the world, unable to connect to humanity at large out of sheer disgust. Or something dramatic like that.

Then, I Googled. And I found voices of reason. I found sane people in what I had assumed was a world lost of all sense. I found others who shared my view.

You know that feeling when you stumble on sudden kindred-thinkers? When the world feels good and right and comprehensible? That's what happened with me when I entered the blogging world.

Thus, I found it most fitting to embark on my own personal mission to, in one way or another, point out all things wrong with pop culture. Ok, so maybe that's the sensationalized version of the actual goal, but I'd at least like to outline the biases and assorted -isms apparent in today's television and media. I mean, who hasn't found it just a tad depressing that women in horror movies are around as victims or sex symbols? Who hasn't found it odd that only after Stephen Moyer made a sexist comment did anyone realize that True Blood is kind of an offensive show? (If you answered "not me" to either of those questions, please stick around. You have much to learn.)

As for my qualifications on this topic? Well, I'm just some girl who grew up in a really socially conservative part of the U.S., who almost exploded in a fit of happiness and belongingness upon reaching L.A. for college. I'd like to say I know everything about the feminist viewpoint, but I'm still a little new at all this open-minded-good-feeling-doing-right-in-the-world stuff, so it's a learning community here. My log o' blogs is full of those same voices that I mentioned earlier, those oh-so-deliciously-sane people who may be just a tad more eloquent than yours truly, and possibly a touch more researched in the art of feminism, so consider that your (and my) reading list.

I'm also a complete Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, and will make a ridiculous number of posts and references to Buffy. I apologize in advance, and will try my hardest to keep all fantacular meltdowns expressing my utter Buffy joy to a minimum, though I can't make any promises.

I can only hope that the next time you turn on the radio and hear Katy Perry gushing about just how much she liked it, that maybe while you're dancing you'll wonder just why most of America likes it too.

2. Blog Profile

So it comes as no surprise that my first actual entry is devoted to a discussion of feminism...and of course Buffy the Vampire Slayer. With a strong female lead and a brilliant set of supporting characters, Buffy pleads the case that all hope for the modern world is not lost. And that's not just because Buffy Summers always finds a way to save the world.

A rather insightful blog that discusses Buffy and its feminist themes is this ain't livin', a site authored by s. e. smith (penname meloukia) that covers topics from health care to Harry Potter and everything in between. smith updates her blog quite often, and most of her posts are rather lengthy, but in-depth and chock full of witty wisdom and insightful social commentary. It's really a joy to read, so stop by some time.

Recently on her blog, smith has written a series of examinations into how Joss Whedon’s shows reflect his personal claims of being a feminist, and if his work stands up as a reflection of his personal beliefs, or if his beliefs are sacrificed for the sake of plot and audience size. She warns her audience numerous times that it isn't her right in any way to judge Joss's personal beliefs or to revoke his feminist card, and I think she succeeds in never judging his beliefs on their own, just the choices he makes as a key component of the show. I cannot wait to tackle this very same topic of whether or not Buffy holds up as a feminist character.

In her article on female empowerment in Buffy, smith discusses Buffy’s relationships with Angel, Riley, and Spike, and the role that Willow and Joyce play in the series. It’s an article founded on a plethora of evidence from the show, and which requires a certain amount of background Buffy-knowledge. Her article on demons and Slayers is a follow-up to her first article, and dives into the other Slayers and Slayer-potentials and the demons that are featured each week on Buffy. These articles provide a great basis for future debate about whether or not Buffy is a good example of a feminist show, or if it’s just Joss’s personal opinions and the lens through which one looks that provide the basis for any opinions one might form.These articles provide a thorough discussion of exact particulars that would support the argument for Buffy being as feminist as some may claim, but also gives the differing side of the argument, detailing in which ways Buffy fails as an exemplar of gender equality in prime time television. I only hope to be this unbiased in my own blog, and will be lucky to live up to the example set by smith.

Where smith fails, however, is in giving the show some deserved wiggle room. In the end, Buffy wasn’t made in a vacuum, and had to be accepted by network executives. In terms of how progressive it is, one has to look at the culture in which it was made, and the other forces that controlled the show. Though smith recognizes that “it’s hard to be consistently on message for 7 seasons”, she also berates Joss for incorporating a character like Jenny Calendar, saying that she was used simply as a plot device and that her existence in the show “is another case of a situation in which feminism had to take a back seat to storytelling”. It’s in details like this that smith’s opinion differs from my own. While it would be nice to think that the sole purpose of Buffy would be to fight the battle for feminism, it wasn’t. Buffy had to be a compelling drama, and though I recognize that the title of “compelling drama” doesn’t give a show free reign to be as anti-feminist as possible, it’s clear that a scripted show without plot or variant characters wouldn’t last terribly long on prime-time television, even if it were spouting the most honest social theory. While smith’s articles on Whedon’s work bring up many good points and backs up those assertions with ample evidence, there are many holes in the argument made.

It is those holes that I would like to dutifully fill in my upcoming posts, and I would like to just as thoroughly dissect what it is about BtVS that makes it feminist television. this ain't livin' provides solid groundwork for the upcoming debate I would like to make in favor of Buffy being a mostly gender-equal view of life, and that Whedon’s personal beliefs do, for the most part, make it through to the final cut.

Later Correction: In the comments on my post and in a later article on her blog smith addresses the non-vacuuminess of Buffy, and writes yet another beautiful post analyzing the actual impact of Buffy on culture, which you can read here. If I sound overly-critical of smith's series, it was entirely unintentional, as I thoroughly enjoyed reading each post and was excited to find someone out there in the blogosphere who also takes an academic look at Buffy.

3. Voice Critique

Sitting down to my nightly computering, I thought to myself "Hey, I seem to like feminist blogs a lot. I wonder what other ones are out there right now, saying enlightened, meaningful things that I haven't yet heard?" My old friend Google gave me a whole list of feminist blogs, and one of those little beauties is a place called Feministe, one of my favorite blogs so far.

Feministe declares itself one of the oldest feminist blogs, and this one's as much an oldie/goodie as is Doris Day. Feministe features guest bloggers of a wide variety, which makes reading it feel like listening to a wondrous chorus of brilliant angels. Or also like a lot of people blogging. Whichever image works for you.

One of the guest bloggers that caught my eye was Aunt B, especially in her post about her personal search for a more feminist-friendly religion. She takes what may, on the surface, seem a confrontational post about her personal unhappiness with the Christian religion, and turns it into an open and honest discussion of just what about Christianity made her seek a religion elsewhere. She prefaces her whole argument with a parenthetical warning to all those who would assume she's making a personal attack. I particularly love her use of the phrase "woo-woo crap", and so loved the way in which she phrases her preface that I've posted it here for you to enjoy as well.

(I probably don’t need to do this, but let me just say that the following post is going to contain a bunch of woo-woo crap. If that’s not your thing, please don’t make a big issue about how stupid it is or how I’m going to Hell or how we all need to embrace Christianity or secular humanism or whatever. I understand that, if you’re born and raised in certain religious traditions, the kinds of stuff that may come up here can be very shocking and distressing. I also understand that, if you think that spirituality is hokum, the urge to share how stupid and deluded people with religious beliefs are can be overwhelming. I’m still going to ask y’all to treat anyone who will share openly with respect. And I will try to talk gracefully and unselfconsciously about it, myself.)

I think it's not just in her conversational tone that she conveys her very playful, yet simultaneously serious subject matter that make her extremely likeable as a guest blogger. It's this disclaimer before the post that makes me think "Hey, this lady's watching out for her audience." She comes right out of the gate ready to not offend people, but to open an honest conversation about two things that are usually touchy subjects for some people. The questions she poses to her readers at the end of her post tell me that she really does want to engage the reader in a dialogue, rather than preach at them (pun intended, but also apologized for). Her writing is flexible, fallible, and conversational, making her seem all the more honest for it.

Response to "Caster Semenya and the great gender debate"

Everybody at this point has heard of Caster Semenya, the South African track runner who is currently undergoing very public gender testing. If not, read up.

I've been reading a lot of articles about Semenya, and found a really great one over at Appetite for Equal Rights. So I left a comment, and for one reason or another, am reposting my comment below.

I agree completely with this post and with Amy. Apparently to most of the world there should be simple lines drawn in the sand (as exhibited by the above comment from Burn) without allotting room for people to be individuals. I love how you describe the icons used on bathroom doors in this post, because for me that cements exactly how the world would like to categorize people.The magazine cover photo to me is just disturbing, because apparently all it takes is a dress and some makeup to make a woman.

I myself am not much older than Caster Semenya, and so it’s almost painful to hear the humiliating hoops through which she has to jump just to prove that she deserves to have won that medal. Though the case shouldn’t have been leaked, and no one should have to endure such public embarrassment, at least now more people are aware of the issue and it’s not all hidden somewhere in the system where it’ll be neatly cleaned up. Right now the one good thing I can see in the situation is that maybe other people in the future won’t have to suffer through a huge public affair like Semenya does right now.

Thank you for writing this blog post. It’s so good to hear someone appropriately enraged at the whole situation, and with a solid argument to back everything up. Though clearly you cannot change everyone’s mind (again, witness Burn), I feel just voicing that disgust at the unfair treatment another human being is forced to undergo must be accomplishing something.

So there you have it. My wonderful words of wisdom on a topic I'm not exactly an expert in. But really, do read the article, and if you're not already familiar with Appetite for Equal Rights, go hang out there for a while. It's a fun place to be.

Buffy vs. The Fridge

Before I begin, I’d like to warn any and all Buffy fans that this post is rife with spoilers for the entire Buffy series. I spoil the comics as well, if you’re not there yet, so beware. Beware! Now, on with the show.

What do you keep in your refrigerator? Is it carrots? Is it half a jar of yellowing mayonnaise? Is it the sliced-and-diced body of your girlfriend? Because that’s what the Green Lantern found in his, apparently. Not the mayonnaise, but the girlfriend. And it’s this fridge issue that seems to be cropping up everywhere in pop culture these days.

For those of you who’ve never heard of the Women in Refrigerators trend, I'll link to the wikipedia article, but I also found a lot of other fun sites. I especially enjoyed a certain blog post entitled “The Dolls in Topher’s Fridge”, but would like to reserve all Dollhouse discussion in this blog for a later date when I’ve had time to rewatch all the episodes. But if you’re into Dollhouse, I highly suggest checking it out.

Anyway, some online discussion led me to believe that Buffy is a series that exhibits WiR syndrome. It's hard for me to believe that a show like Buffy, that's clearly unlike most comic books just in the fact that it features a female lead instead of a male, could be a show where people believe the women are put in refrigerators, so to speak. After all, Jessie's death in the first episode seems like Joss was trying to set up his own precedent for the show right off the bat. The death of Jessie said anyone could die at any moment for any reason, with little to no warning, no matter how likeable they were. (Joyce's body in the corner of your screen a second before Buffy turned around? Yuh-huh.)

But in Jessie’s fatal encounter with the wrong side of a stake, Joss isn't just telling fans that this will be a series fraught with surprise and, well, death. To me Jessie's death is the anti-WiR death. For all the pretty little comic queens who are around just long enough to prove how much they matter to the main character and then die in a twisted way, there is Jessie, a young male, around just long enough to prove how much he matters as a friend to Xander, and then it's off to Dustville for the poor sap. I believe that in the seven television seasons of Buffy, none of the deaths can be called a Women in Refrigerator type of death, and that deaths like Jessie’s prove just how gender-equal the deaths are. Jessie was Buffy’s first ever damsel in distress.

Even Tara going crazy didn't last terribly long, and as much as people want to argue that Tara's death was a classic case of a women being...refrigeratored, it's a totally unmerited argument. Tara was a well-developed character and was around for more than just a gruesome death. I think the thing that sets the deaths in Buffy apart for me is that they aren't just done to motivate the main character to act. I believe Willow's reaction to Tara's death is a callback to the trend of comic book heroes charging off to avenge the gruesome deaths of their girlfriends, but Joss turns Willow’s would-be rightful rampage on its head. Though in the end Willow flays Warren alive, she also tries to kill Buffy and end the world, and has to spend a lot of re-coop time in the giant grassy field-filled rehab that is England, realizing that even though it may seem right, vengeance has its price.

But as much as I like the TV show, and as much as I can understand most of the deaths that happen, I wonder if the comic-book season eight of Buffy isn't falling into all the classic comic traps that Joss's TV show seem to be lampooning. Xander's love interest Renee is impaled by the newest baddie in a full blood-soaked page in the end of “Wolves at the Gate: Part 3”. I don’t know exactly how much influence Joss has on the actual writing of the comic book, so I’d like to think he’s somehow not involved.

So no women in fridges, at least on the TV Buffy. But can Joss turn the comic world around with Buffy season eight? Or will the Buffy franchise fall into line with the new medium it must inhabit?

Where God Meets Girl

Sitting down to my nightly computering, I thought to myself "Hey, I seem to like feminist blogs a lot. I wonder what other ones are out there right now, saying enlightened, meaningful things that I haven't yet heard?" My old friend google gave me a whole list of feminist blogs, and one of those little beauties is a place called Feministe, one of my favorite blogs so far.

Feministe declares itself one of the oldest feminist blogs, and this one's as much an oldie/goodie as is Doris Day. Feministe features guest bloggers of a wide variety, which makes reading it seem like a wondrous chorus of beautiful angels. Or also like a lot of people blogging. Whichever image works for you.

One of the guest bloggers that caught my eye was Aunt B, especially in her post about her personal search for a more feminist-friendly religion. She takes what may, on the surface, seem a confrontational post about her personal unhappiness with the Christian religion, and turns it into an open and honest discussion of just what about Christianity made her seek a religion elsewhere. She prefaces her whole argument with a parenthetical warning to all those who would assume she's making a personal attack. I particularly love her use of the phrase "woo-woo crap", and so loved the way in which she phrases her preface that I've posted it here for you to enjoy as well.

(I probably don’t need to do this, but let me just say that the following post is going to contain a bunch of woo-woo crap. If that’s not your thing, please don’t make a big issue about how stupid it is or how I’m going to Hell or how we all need to embrace Christianity or secular humanism or whatever. I understand that, if you’re born and raised in certain religious traditions, the kinds of stuff that may come up here can be very shocking and distressing. I also understand that, if you think that spirituality is hokum, the urge to share how stupid and deluded people with religious beliefs are can be overwhelming. I’m still going to ask y’all to treat anyone who will share openly with respect. And I will try to talk gracefully and unselfconsciously about it, myself.)

I think it's not just in her conversational tone that she conveys her very playful, yet simultaneously serious subject matter that make her extremely likeable as a guest blogger. It's this disclaimer before the post that makes me think "Hey, this lady's watching out for her audience." She comes right out of the gate ready to not offend people, but to open an honest conversation about two things that are usually touchy subjects for some people. The questions she poses to her readers at the end of her post tell me that she really does want to engage the reader in a dialogue, rather than preach at them (pun intended, but also apologized for). Her writing is flexible, fallible, and conversational, making her seem all the more honest for it.

I Can Never Ignore Buffy for Too Long

So it comes to no surprise that my first actual entry is devoted to a discussion of feminism...and of course Buffy the Vampire Slayer. With a strong female lead and a brilliant set of supporting characters, Buffy pleads the case that all hope for the modern world is not lost. And that's not just because Buffy Summers always finds a way to save the world.

A rather insightful blog that discusses Buffy and its feminist themes is this ain't livin', a site authored by s. e. smith (penname meloukia) that covers topics from health care to Harry Potter and everything in between. smith updates her blog quite often, and most of her posts are rather lengthy, but in-depth and chock full of witty wisdom and insightful social commentary.

Recently on her blog, smith has written a series of examinations into how Joss Whedon’s shows reflect his personal claims of being a feminist, and if his work stands up as a reflection of his personal beliefs, or if his beliefs are sacrificed for the sake of plot and audience size. She warns her audience numerous times that it isn't her right in any way to judge Joss's personal beliefs or to revoke his feminist card, and I think she succeeds in never judging his beliefs on their own, just the choices he makes as a key component of the show. I cannot wait to tackle this very same topic of whether or not Buffy holds up as a feminist character.

In her article on female empowerment in Buffy, smith discusses Buffy’s relationships with Angel, Riley, and Spike, and the role that Willow and Joyce play in the series. It’s an article founded on a plethora of evidence from the show, and which requires a certain amount of background Buffy-knowledge. Her article on demons and Slayers is a follow-up to her first article, and dives into the other Slayers and Slayer-potentials and the demons that are featured each week on Buffy. These articles provide a great basis for future debate about whether or not Buffy is a good example of a feminist show, or if it’s just Joss’s personal opinions and the lens through which one looks that provide the basis for any opinions one might form.These articles provide a thorough discussion of exact particulars that would support the argument for Buffy being as feminist as some may claim, but also gives the differing side of the argument, detailing in which ways Buffy fails as an exemplar of gender equality in prime time television.

Where smith fails, however, is in giving the show some deserved wiggle room. In the end, Buffy wasn’t made in a vacuum, and had to be accepted by network executives. In terms of how progressive it is, one has to look at the culture in which it was made, and the other forces that controlled the show. Though smith recognizes that “it’s hard to be consistently on message for 7 seasons”, she also berates Joss for incorporating a character like Jenny Calendar, saying that she was used simply as a plot device and that her existence in the show “is another case of a situation in which feminism had to take a back seat to storytelling”. It’s in details like this that smith’s opinion differs from my own. While it would be nice to think that the sole purpose of Buffy would be to fight the battle for feminism, it wasn’t. Buffy had to be a compelling drama, and though I recognize that the title of “compelling drama” doesn’t give a show free reign to be as anti-feminist as possible, it’s clear that a scripted show without plot or variant characters wouldn’t last terribly long on prime-time television, even if it were spouting the most honest social theory. While smith’s articles on Whedon’s work bring up many good points and backs up those assertions with ample evidence, there are many holes in the argument made.

It is those holes that I would like to dutifully fill in my upcoming posts, and I would like to just as thoroughly dissect what it is about BtVS that makes it feminist television. this ain't livin' provides solid groundwork for the upcoming debate I would like to make in favor of Buffy being a mostly gender-equal view of life, and that Whedon’s personal beliefs do, for the most part, make it through to the final cut.

Hello, World!

For a while now I've been wondering if the world has just decided "Hey, maybe it's a bad place to live, but at least we've got hot dance beats" or if I'm the only sane one left. Mostly this pondering is due to Katy Perry and her, if danceable, utterly depressing pop hits like "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n' Cold". I swore I was the only one in the world who saw something wrong with the way she not only condones using women (I'm of the belief school that using people, in general, is a big ole no-no, even if you're Katy Perry) but also seems to see girls kissing other girls as more a show for any and all male viewers (if you don't know what I mean, do watch the video) than an expression of her own desire. I staggered around life, depressed, hurting for the sake of the world. Or something dramatic like that.

Then, I googled. And I found voices of reason. I found sane people in what I had assumed was a world lost of all sense. I found others who shared my view.

You know that feeling when you stumble on sudden kindred-thinkers? When the world feels good and right and comprehensible? That's what happened with me.

Thus, I found it most fitting to embark on my own personal mission to, in one way or another, point out all things wrong with pop culture. Ok, so maybe that's setting myself up for failure, but to at least outline the biases and -isms apparent in today's television and media. Who hasn't found it just a tad depressing that women in horror movies are around as victims or sex symbols? Who hasn't found it odd that only after Stephen Moyer made a sexist comment did anyone realize that True Blood is an incredibly biased show? (If you answered "not me" to either of those questions, please stick around. You have much to learn.)

As for my qualifications on this topic? Well, I'm just some girl who grew up in a really socially conservative part of the U.S., who almost exploded in a fit of happiness and belongingness upon reaching L.A. for college. I'd like to say I know everything about the feminist viewpoint, but I'm still a little new at all this open-minded-good-feeling-doing-right-in-the-world stuff, so it's a learning community here. My log o' blogs is full of those same voices that I mentioned earlier, those oh-so-deliciously-sane people who may be just a tad more eloquent than yours truly, and possibly a touch more researched in the art of feminism.

I'm also a complete Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, and will make a ridiculous number of posts and references to Buffy. I apologize in advance, and will try my hardest to keep all fantacular meltdowns expressing my utter Buffy joy to a minimum. Though I can't make any promises.

I can only hope that the next time you turn on the radio and hear Katy Perry gushing about just how much she liked it, that maybe while you're dancing you'll wonder just why most of America likes it too.