Joss Whedon's Women

I recently read a magazine article called “The Buffy Effect”, which describes the feminist messages in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series. Joss Whedon wrote and directed the show, and he intentionally created a strong female lead that “never denigrates herself, nor is her girlhood ever depicted as a detraction. By contrast, it’s the very source of her strength.”

I’ve never actually watched Buffy before, but I have watched Whedon’s other TV series called Firefly, which I now realize has very feminist characters. The show follows the adventures of a ship crew with cowboy-esque lifestyles in outer space. All of the women onboard are very interesting, intelligent, and strong (in both a physical and emotional sense).

There is Zoe, the second-in-command on the ship, who fought with Captain Mal in a past war. She is a beautiful warrior that is married to the pilot, who is clearly attracted to her despite potentially intimidating characteristics. Inara is a courtesan that is often on the ship, who is a good example of the difference between “sexy” and “sexist”. While the nature of her profession is controversial, she has taken control of her body and is never afraid to speak up against the men in charge of the ship. Kaylee, my personal favorite character on the show, is the ship’s mechanic. It was great to see a woman in such a traditionally male-dominated role and profession. Kaylee was an unsuspecting young woman that happened to have great intuitive mechanical skills and, while not particularly beautiful, was never “butch”.

Until reading this article Whedon’s feminist perspectives never really occurred to me (perhaps because the women he portrayed felt natural to me. Stereotypical women in TV and movies are actually way more distracting because I don’t identify with them at all). But his explanation of his intentions with Buffy also applies to his Firefly show:

“If I can make teenage boys comfortable with a girl who takes charge of a situation without their knowing that’s what’s happening, it’s better than sitting down and selling them on feminism.”


Cast of Firefly (http://bookreviewsandmore.ca/2008_02_01_archive.html)