Vanessa, your link to the speech is broken. Here is a working link.

The speech itself was top-notch. What I think should be the take-home part is,

- "Why do you write these strong female characters?"

-"This is ridiculous... why don't you ask a hundred other guys why they don't?"

or the final answer, "Because you're still asking me this question."

Meh, I'm a HUUUGE Buffyverse fan (Spike, Tara, and Cordelia were the best characters) but I don't quite agree with Whedon's brand of "strong" female characters; they were kind of put on a pedistel and punished for their sexuality, I think. He reinforced many of the restricting stereotypes. But, hey, the thought that counts.

Ugh, I so hated season 3 of "Buffy".

Thanks Alon, Ann was kind enough to fix the link...

Durga_is_my_homey, I must confess I'm less familiar with Buffy/Angel than with Firefly/Serenity. But in the latter universe, strong female characters are not punished for their sexuality at all. On the contrary, first mate Zoe typically gets into trouble for the same things as typical male action heroes: endangering herself to save another crew member, lack of sufficient planning on the captain's part, being outgunned, etc.

Now, I'm more iffy about characterizing the show's other three female characters as strong, but still, they're definitely closer to that ideal than to the damsel in distress role.

*cough* this guy sucks *cough*

Seriously, the only television show I can tolerate is Lost, and I think the female characters contained on the show are very realistic and fair.

Lost takes a very good idea to make a show out of and ruins it with dumb supernaturalism, horrible clichés, and characters that seem to be a modernized D&D party rather than real people.

Rrrriiiigggght.

Jealous much?

No, I just think J. J. Abrams should be prohibited from producing TV series. Alias is just as trashy.

The producer rarely has much to do with the actual making of the series. Alias is crap, you're right...

Lost is the only thing I find worth watching on T.V.

I agree with Vanessa and Alon about Joss; I liked the speech. Joss is not perfect, and neither (as much as I hate to admit it) is BtVS. But I do think Joss has gone way, waaaay beyond the norm in creating complex, smart, courageous female characters. I personally don't see how the BUFFY women were punished for their sexuality, though they certainly made some questionable choices, as we all do. One of the important things, I think, is that even though the BUFFY women are super-skinny and wear cutesy tops and lots of lip gloss, their sex appeal really does derive primarily from witty wordplay. Plus, no matter what you may think of him, Joss is still pretty rare in terms of being a celebrity -- male OR female -- who isn't afraid to say in public that he's a feminist, and who even inspires his fans to hold benefits for Equality Now.

Don't get me started on LOST. I am a huge fan of the show, but its gender politics need help. It started out with strong female characters, but what happened? They've reduced Kate (who was originally conceived of as the protagonist!) to Sawyer and Jack's (often blubbering) pawn. Claire is obsessed with her baby, and they impregnated Sun for apparently no reason other than they couldn't think of another storyline for a woman (why do we need *two* island babies???). They murdered -- to the gleeful delight of most of the fans -- the "whiney" (Shannon) and "bitchy" (Ana Lucia) female characters. The male-female character ratio is 3-1. Couldn't this be better?

You're missing some female characters there to be fair....and I think those actresses legal problems might have led to their characters deaths.

And Kate is far from "just a pawn".

I haven't watched any of Joss' shows--no boycott, I just never got into them--but I love me this speech. I will be quoting the "Because you're still asking the question" bit for years, because it's effing brilliant.

Cheers,

TH

Buffy has sex with Angel? *BAM* He goes bad. It is supposedly a metaphor for the guy who is a jerk after you sleep with him, but we’re of course made to feel sorry for *Angel* (who I can’t stand; what a patronizing prick) and it is Buffy who has to clean up the mess. Oh, then he leaves her because, hey, although it was wise for a man of his age to get in with a 16 year-old after spying on her at 15, you then have to tell her what is *best*.

Faith, the slayer, is the bad girl. Of course that means she is very sexual (you know, cause that is *bad*. Unlike Buffy who was virginal until Angel which was made to be her fault).

Buffy falls into a depression and has sex with Spike the vampire who is obsessed with her as a sort of substitute heroin. They smack each other around a lot, especially Buffy to Spike (mostly, actually). Marti Noxon (ex. Producer) gets word that people aren’t completely sympathizing with Buffy as she is held to a higher standard for having a soul (that means a lot in this ‘verse, as it means you have a moral compass) or think she is a “slut� for having sex with that soulless vampire. So, Marti Noxon pulls a Rape to Redeem the Badgirl to make her “case� and Spike basically attempts to rape Buffy near the end of the 6th season (never mind how irresponsible it is to bring real life issues into an allegorical world) in an attempt to punish the audience for not seeing what they were aiming for.

Willow and Tara and finally shown to have sex and the next morning Tara is shot and killed.

Cordelia slowly becomes possessed by a God, has sex with Angel’s son in order for the God to be born (you had to have been there) which means she is virtually raped, and then *she* dies the next season.

Fred and Wesley finally get together. Fred dies.

Buffy is overly-emotionally attached to men and always laments not having a boyfriend.

I’ll never forget a line that I so hated:

Buffy: It's just... you're never gonna get noticed if you keep hiding. You're missing the whole point of Halloween.

Willow: (smiles) Free candy?

Buffy: It's come as you aren't night. The perfect chance for a girl to get sexy and wild with no repercussions.

It would be one thing if she wised-up later, but, nope. Instead they go for something else.

Don't get me started on LOST. I am a huge fan of the show, but its gender politics need help. It started out with strong female characters, but what happened? They've reduced Kate (who was originally conceived of as the protagonist!) to Sawyer and Jack's (often blubbering) pawn. Claire is obsessed with her baby, and they impregnated Sun for apparently no reason other than they couldn't think of another storyline for a woman (why do we need *two* island babies???). They murdered -- to the gleeful delight of most of the fans -- the "whiney" (Shannon) and "bitchy" (Ana Lucia) female characters. The male-female character ratio is 3-1. Couldn't this be better?

Thank you! I know it is partly not their fault considering the decisions made by some of the female actors, but they were the ones who constructed the story. Its like, all the women there are either victims (because, you know, people won’t like a woman to be morally ambiguous unless she is “tainted�) and/or somebody’s “wife�, “girlfriend�, or “mother�. They are treated as secondary characters and their stories are treated as secondary. The wise and philosophical characters are men. I stopped watching that show.

I haven't watched any of Joss' shows--no boycott, I just never got into them--but I love me this speech. I will be quoting the "Because you're still asking the question" bit for years, because it's effing brilliant.

Yeah, it is. Personally I prefer the "Why don't you ask a hundred other guys why they don't?" bit because it's easier to understand, but once you set that up, "Because you're still asking this question" becomes resplendent.

I really relate to his trenchant remarks in the last minute of his Equality Now speech:

Equality is not a concept. It’s not something we should be striving for. It’s a necessity. Equality is like gravity. We need it to stand on this earth as men and women and the misogyny that is in every culture is not a true part of the human condition. It is life out of balance and that imbalance is sucking out of the soul of every man and woman who is confronted with it. We need equality, kinda, now.

More about Equality Now and more from Joss:

Equality Now works to end violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world through the mobilization of public pressure.

http://www.equalitynow.org/english/

There are two ways to fight a battle like ours. One is to whisper in the ear of the masses, try subtly and gradually to change the gender expectations and mythic structures of our culture. That's me. The other is to step up and confront the thousands of atrocities that are taking place around the world on an immediate, one-by-one basis.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/6/prweb396521.htm

Thanks to Tennessee Guerilla Women.