I'm Buffy and You're History: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Contemporary Feminism

by Patricia Pender

Buffy the Vampire Slayer gave contemporary TV viewers an exhilarating alternative to the tired cultural trope of a hapless, attractive blonde woman victimized by a murderous male villain. With its strong, capable heroine; quippy, witty dialogue; and a creator (Joss Whedon) who identifies himself as a feminist, the cult show became one of the most widely analyzed texts of contemporary popular culture.This book reveals the ways in which Buffy reconfigures the ideals of second-wave American feminism for a broadly conceived third-wave audience. It also explores the ways in which the final season’s vision of collective feminist activism transcends racial and class boundaries. I’m Buffy and You’re History will foster fresh debate within the fields of Buffy studies, gender studies and popular culture studies.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Buffy The Vampire Slayer

242 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2015

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting, thoughtful, and uniquely-framed work. I most enjoyed the examination of Buffy's position between second- and third-wave feminism as well as the chapter on the show's commentary on masculinity through Riley and season 4 as a whole.

The audience for this book is definitely more academic, however, and you must be very familiar with Buffy to get much out of the work, in my opinion. While I respect Pender's obviously vast and intimate knowledge of the show and various related scholarship, it did sometimes read as unnecessarily obfuscating--academic for the sake of being academic. I'm not saying that things should have been "dumbed down," but I do wonder if Pender's self-conscious urge to prove Buffy scholarship as real scholarship encouraged her to go a bit overboard with the academic writing at the expense of clarity.

Also, I do wonder how things have changed in Buffy scholarship after the "cancellation" of Joss Whedon, and his reestablishment in popular culture as a sort of creepy, closet misogynist jerk. How has Buffy scholarship been dealing with, or adapting to, that evolution? Or did Joss's misdeeds kill the field entirely? I'd be interested to know.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to do a bit of googling when I started this, since I had no idea what "third wave feminism" was. (I didn't even know there was a second wave.) Fortunately, you don't need more than the basic definition to enjoy this collection of essays about everyone's favorite Slayer. I especially appreciated the chapter on Andrew, a character who's often overlooked in BtVS analysis (much as he is in the series itself, until the end -- "I summoned the flying monkeys that attacked the high school? During the school play, you know?" "Oh, Tucker's brother.") I also appreciated that the book refused to fall into the either/or trap of viewing Buffy as either a raging success (she's a fighter who kicks demon ass) or a dismal failure (she's a cliche blonde worried about clothes and boys), instead arguing that (much like real girls) it's OK to do both.

[Brie_reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

“In every generation there is a Chosen One. She and she alone will fight the demons, the vampires and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.” — Grew up watching this show and this book was such a fun throwback to one of my favourite shows of all time. It explores not only the feminism that is Buffy the Vampire Slayer but takes a look at how the show worked in political issues, masculinity, LGBTQ with not only Tara and Willow but the underlying message of Andrew’s queer identity and how it was portrayed, racism, militarism, war, and empowerment.

Reasons I Recommend:

1) I love Buffy and everything about Buffy so going back to explore an academic look at a cultural phenomenon is always fun

2) Gave a different viewpoint on the Riley character in comparison ro the always debatable Angel or Spike and

3) Discussed the cultural significance of Buffy from being quoted in other tv shows to how it still influences the world today.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Quote 1: At that moment - as the archaic power of a recently recovered matriarchal scythe is wrested from the patriarchal dictates of the Watchers’ Council - we see a series of vignettes from around the world, as young women of different ages, races, cultures and backgrounds sense their strength, take charge and rise up against their oppressors. This is a ‘feel the force, Luke’ moment for girls on a global scale. It is a revolution that has been televised.

Quote 2: Despite her possession of the stake/phallus, Dawn does not have the power: He’ does. Women can wield the stake/phallus, but the power ultimately belongs to men/vampires. The associations between men, vampires and patriarchy are made explicit and unusually didactic here.

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[Nicola Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to follow.

[Linda Rowan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed. Only way I can describe this is 'blah'.

[mullemit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need to get myself a copy of this book, so that I can annotate it in some way.

It's been a while since I've read anything as academic as this and though it took me a while to get back into it, I now want to consume every one of the many academic analyses of Buffy in existence.