I just introduced a friend of mine to Buffy.  I have the entire series on DVD, and I’ve been lending them out to him.  He started at the beginning three weeks ago and he’s already on season six.  It is so much fun to watch episodes with people who haven’t seen them before.  We started watching season five together on Friday and he was totally confused by the appearance of Dawn.  It was great.

One of my exes did a research paper for his masters program at Harvard on whether or not teenage girls who watch Buffy have more self-esteem and a better self image than a control group.  He collected data through online surveys and most of it wasn’t really scientifically sound, but it was an interesting question, nonetheless.  

Buffy is essentially a feminist show.  It meant a lot to me to have a heroine to look up to who was strong, independent, and who kicked ass; but always while wearing stylish footwear.  Buffy was an example of how being a feminist and being girly aren’t mutually exclusive. 

I don’t watch a lot of tv, but I don’t think there are too many other teenage female characters around who are smart, strong, independent and who can think for themselves.  Veronica Mars, yes.  Maybe Rory Gilmore, but not consistently (although I also love Gilmore Girls).

I recently read the comic book for the eighth season of Buffy, and I came across this little piece of dialogue where Buffy says:  ”This isn’t about demons at all, is it?  It’s about women.  It’s about power and it’s about women and you just hate those two words in the same sentence, don’t you?”  I’m glad to know Buffy’s still fighting the patriarchy, even if now it’s only in comic book form.