People, friends of mine! Let's do Phases!
Mission Statement:
This series is intended to outline the feminist text of each episode so as to provoke and encourage open discussion. It's not so much about making value judgments about events and/or characters but about analyzing the series from a feminist framework so as to see what patterns and themes emerge.
Rules:
1. If you do not consider yourself a feminist or do not see the point of dissecting a TV show from a feminist perspective, this is not the meta series for you. I don't mean this in a hostile way, however the intended audience of this series is feminists who want to turn a critical eye to the show.
2. This meta series is written well beyond a 101 level of feminism. If you are new to feminism, I ask that you please take a look at this blog for an introduction to concepts that will be discussed heavily here.
3. If you begin to feel yourself getting defensive on behalf of a character (or the show), take a break from commenting. The outlines as posted are not meant to condemn either the characters or the show, but to contextualize the dialogue and events within the patriarchal cultural in which they reside.
4. BtVS is a constructed media. The characters are not actual people but are written, dressed, and directed by a team of outsiders. Criticizing a character for, say, having sex could be a sexist insult or it could be a legitimate criticism of the writers who chose to go that route with the storyline. There are nuances here when discussing a television show, and I ask that everybody be careful about exactly what's being discussed. A couple helpful terms are Watsonian and Doylist. "Watsonian" indicates that the discussion is taking place within the Buffy universe as if the characters are real people. "Doylist" indicates that the discussion is focused on the construction of the narrative and, as such, deals with the decisions of the writers and/or producers.
5. The key goal here is open discussion. I'm not presenting you guys with any brilliant insights; I'm just laying out what's in the episode. Feel free to discuss or disagree with me and others. Also feel free to answer other commenter's questions. The comment section is an open floor.
2.15 Phases
I. The Tallies
Criteria for Bechdel Check: The episode must have a) two women in it b) who talk to each other c) about something besides a man.
- Bechdel Check: PASS on 1 count
- Deaths:
Dead boys: 0
Dead girls: 1
II. Agency
Criteria for Agency: Do the female characters a) exert power or influence over the plot b) through decisions based on their own characterization? Agency means more than providing information or support that helps the (usually male) characters resolve the conflict.
The Plot: A werewolf is loose in Sunnydale.
The Big Question:
If Buffy were taken out of this episode, would events occur in much the same fashion? No.
If Willow were taken out of this episode, would events occur in much the same fashion? No.
If Cordelia were taken out of this episode, would events occur in much the same fashion? Yes.
If the Theresa were taken out of this episode, would events occur in much the same fashion? Yes.
- Decisive Buffy: Buffy works together with Giles to track down the werewolf. Of course, she's largely unsuccessful until Willow stumbles upon a transforming Oz and gives her the heads up.
- Decisive Willow: It's hard to qualify Willow as being "decisive" when her major part in the episode's plot is reactive. She sees Oz wolfing out and runs to Buffy for help.
III. Bodily Violations
Criteria: In media, women tend to be the ones who go through body transformations or disfigurations. Historically, women have only recently been afforded the right to consider their bodies their own as opposed to being public property. Even today, this is a battle that's still being fought. When female bodies are violated via magical alteration, it echoes the ongoing war to retain control over our own bodies.
Oz is turned into a werewolf, a significant and chronic violation that he will deal with throughout the series.
IV. The Feminist Fine-Toothed Comb
Criteria: Do any of the characters engage in sexist dialogue or action, whether overt or subtle? Does it receive an explicit rebuke or does it pass uncommented on? Further, what can be deduced from the various gendered comments that are made by the characters?
- Protagonists (Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, and Cordelia)
1. In the teaser, the discussion between Buffy and Willow shifts to Xander. Willow takes the time to slut-shame Cordelia: "What's his number? Oh, yeah, 1-800-I'm-Dating-A-Skanky-Ho."
It's interesting that this acts as a condemnation of Xander that he would be dating someone with Cordelia's reputation.
Buffy encourages Willow's slut-shaming.
2. While Cordelia and Xander are making out in her car, she says: "We came here to do things I can never tell my father about because he still thinks I'm a...good girl."
With this statement, being a "good girl" and making out become mutually exclusive. Any girl with the stain of sexual behavior on her is cast out of the "good girl" label. She becomes, as Willow notes, a "Skanky Ho".
3. Xander is distracted by Willow during his make-out session with Cordelia. He notes: "I just don't trust Oz with her."
This sentiment mirrors similar sentiments we've seen from Xander in the past. It displays a proprietory view over Willow and her sexuality. Furthermore, it prods along the "men as beasts" theme of the episode in framing Oz as someone to be "trusted" or not. Ostensibly, Xander is talking about not trusting Oz to not have sex with Willow. The fact that this is positioned as a bad thing ties back in with our society's views of masculinity, the Virgin/Whore dichotomy, and our traditional dating scripts.
The conversation continues:Xander: I mean, he's a senior, he's attractive -- okay, maybe not to me, but -- and he's in a band. And we know what kind of element that attracts.
Cordelia: I've dated lots of guys in bands.
Xander: (nods) Thank you.
Again, we have Cordelia firmly in the "not good girl" category, this time because of her association with those untrustworthy boys.
4. In Act One, during the gym scene, Willow reminds Buffy not to display her Slayer strength: "Don't forget, you're supposed to be a meek little girlie-girl like the rest of us."
This statement casts every woman (besides Buffy) as "a meek little girlie-girl".
5. When Giles is giving everybody the run-down on werewolves, we get this exchange:Giles: And it, uh, acts on-on pure instinct. No conscience, uh, uh, predatory and, and aggressive.
Buffy: In other words, your typical male.
Xander: On behalf of my gender, hey.
Giles: Yes, let's not jump to any conclusions.
Buffy: I didn't jump. I took a tiny step, and there conclusions were.
As is typical with the show, the construction of masculinity involves aggression and predation. The "typical male" apparently acts on pure instinct, has no conscience, is predatory and aggressive.
While Xander protests, Giles clarifies that the werewolf could also be a woman.
6. Willow and Cordelia commiserate about their respective relationships at one point:Cordelia: What's he waiting for? What's his problem? (rolls her eyes) Oh, that's right, he's a guy.
Willow: (disgusted) Yeah, him and Xander. Guys.
Cordelia: Who do they think they are?
Willow: A couple of guys.
Being a guy is "a problem". Earlier, Cordelia had characterized "little guy games" as when a guy is "there, but then he's not there, and he wants it, but then he doesn't want it."
It's interesting in that we're usually presented with men complaining about women/girls playing "mind games" and not being clear about what they want. Here, both Cordelia and Willow are lamenting the ambiguity from their male partners.
7. After Teresa is killed the Scoobies try to narrow down who the werewolf might be. Xander feels he can relate due to his time as a hyena.
Like the werewolf, the hyena acted as a metaphor for masculinity (among other things). We even got the same humorous comments from the characters likening the behavior to being a teenage boy.
In this episode, Xander attempts to put himself in the place of hyper-masculinity:Xander: I'm a big, bad wolf. I'm on the prowl. (sniffs) I'm sniffing, I'm snarling, I'm a slobbering predator, I'm... (opens his eyes) Wait a second! It's right in front of us. (Oz's eye go wide with the fear of being recognized) It's obvious who I am. I'm Larry! (Oz breathes a sigh of relief) The guy's practically got wolf-boy stamped on his forehead. You got the dog bite, you got the aggression, not to mention the excessive back hair.
8. After Willow's done some research of possible werewolf candidates, we get this exchange:Willow: There is one name that keeps getting spit out. Aggressive behavior, run-ins with authorities, about a screenful of violent incidents.
Buffy: Okay, most of those were not my fault. Somebody else started
'em. I was just standing up for myself.
As is usual, Buffy, especially with her Slaying tendencies, gets lumped into the masculine side of things.
9. Buffy and Willow later have a discussion about Willow's relationship with Oz:Buffy: Welcome to the mystery that is men. I think it goes something like, they grow body hair, they lose all ability to tell you what they really want.
Willow: It doesn't seem like a fair trade. (stands up and puts her laptop in its case)
Buffy: Well, if you wanna up the speed quotient with Oz, maybe you need to do something daring. Maybe you need to make the first move.
She slides off of the table, and Willow follows her as she gets her stuff for class.
Willow: Well, that won't make me a slut?
Buffy: I think your reputation will remain intact.
We get a reiteration of men as indecisive, a trait usually ascribed to women. Furthermore, we get the spectre of slut-shaming rearing its head as Willow worries about her reputation should she make the first move. Making the first move would go against traditional gender roles and dating scripts, and WIllow's worried about the social sanctions that may result from it. Buffy is optimistic, though, and assures Willow that this isn't an issue. - Antagonists (Cain, Angelus)
1. When Buffy and Giles first meet Cain, he implies a sexual relationship between the two:Cain: Well, it's good to get the fruit while it's fresh.
Giles: You'd be wise to take that back.
Cain: Hey, what a man and a girl do in lovers' lane at night is nobody's busi...
Because, obviously, the presence of a girl means that sex must be involved.
2. Cain further trivializes Buffy:Cain: No, it's funny thinking about you two catching one. I mean, this guy looks like he's auditioning to be a librarian, and, you, well, you're a girl.
Giles: I assure you she's quite capable.
Cain: Uh-huh. Lemme ask you something, sweetheart. Exactly how many of these animals have you taken out?
Being "a girl" is apparently mutually exclusive with being strong and capable enough to catch a werewolf. Cain continues to be condescending by referring to Buffy as "sweetheart". He's doing everything to put her in her place as an ineffectual girl.
3. Angelus' encounter with Theresa is interesting in how it follows standard horror movie tropes, combined with rape culture warnings to women. Theresa trusts Angelus when he mentions Buffy, making her think that he's safe. But, of course, he isn't.
4. After Buffy fails to capture the werewolf at the Bronze, Cain rails: "This is what happens when a woman tries to do a man's job."
This statement feels pretty self-explanatory in it's explicitness. Cain goes further in commenting about Giles: "And Daddy's doing a great job of carrying her bag of milk bones."
Not only is Cain being blatantly sexist, he's also starting to devalue the work that Buffy does by trivializing it as "dog-catching".
Cain concludes with more condescension: "You know, sis, if that thing out there harms anyone, it's going to be on your pretty little head."
5. In the final act, after Willow has tranquilized Oz, Cain exclaims: "No wonder this town's overrun with monsters. No one here's man enough to kill 'em."
His use of gendered language is indicative of his attitude, in general. - The Rest (Oz, Larry)
1. In the teaser, Larry is written in an intentionally over-the-top fashion in his harassment of girls.Larry: Man! Oz, I would love to get me some of that Buffy and Willow action, if you know what I mean. (laughs)
Oz: (nods) That's great, Larry. You've really mastered the single entendre.
Larry notices a pretty girl coming down the hall and ignores the insult to stare at her. As she goes by he taps her books, and they fall out of her hands.
Girl: Hey!
Larry: Oops!
She bends down to pick up her books, and Larry and the other jocks stare at her legs.
Larry: Ohhh! Oh, thank you, Thighmaster! (laughs)
Not only does Larry engage in sexually harassing the girl, he references Thighmaster, an exercise machine. The artificiality of beauty standards means large amounts of exercise, dieting, and beauty products are a central part of today's life for women and girls. His comment highlights the expectations therein.
Larry's behavior will be expanded on more in the Points to Consider section. What we see plainly is that he relates to girls/women foremost by objectifying them. This is further elaborated on as he questions Oz about Willow.Larry: So, Oz, man, what's up with that? Dating a junior? Uh, let me guess. That little innocent schoolgirl thing is just, uh, just an act, right?
Oz: Yeah. Yeah, she's actually an evil mastermind. It's fun.
Larry: I mean, she's gotta be putting out, or what's the point? What are you gonna do, talk? (laughs) Come on, fess up. How far have you gotten?
Larry talks of Willow's "little innocent schoolgirl thing" being an act. His performance of hypermasculinity prioritizes sex, so there is ostensibly no reason to hang out with Willow unless she's actually "putting out".
This episode takes the framework of men as beasts. This is shown in the next scene where Willow laments to Buffy that she and Oz aren't getting as physical as she'd like. Buffy says: "Well, I think it's nice that he's not just being an animal."
2. In Act One, we have the scene with the class practicing self defense. Larry, when thinking he's paired up with Theresa, says: "Be still my shorts. We're in the same group. I may have to attack you."
He acts in a threatening manner. Again, the construction of masculinity, the performance that Larry is intentionally putting on, involves not just aggression but predatory sexual aggression.
Larry furthers this display when he's "attacking" Buffy. He cries: "Oh, Summers, you are turning me on." Then he grabs her butt.
V. Objectification Watch
- We get a brief scene of Oz naked, though we're only shown him from the chest up.
- There's a quick shot of Buffy from Xander's POV as she walks away from him after dusting Theresa.
VI. Points to Consider
- The big theme of the episode is masculinity as a construct. How does Larry factor into this. He performs aggressive masculinity as a cover for his being homosexual. Does this subvert the idea of predatory masculinity? Does it contribute to stereotypes of gay men as inherently harmless toward women in its subversion?
- The central actor in the episode is Oz, ostensibly the most harmless-seeming guy you could imagine. In Innocence, he turned down a make-out session with Willow because he didn't feel he was ready. And in this episode, Willow laments to both Cordelia and Buffy about how Oz isn't moving very fast in the relationship.
And yet, we see Xander constantly being concerned about Willow "not being safe" with Oz. Furthermore, we get the revelation that Oz is, in fact, a werewolf, the metaphorical equivalent of the out-of-control predatory male. Is this a subversion? What sort of commentary does it provide on the construct of masculinity? - Additionally, we have the final scene between Willow and Oz:
Oz: So... (hops off of the table and they walk) Maybe it'd be best if I just... sorta...
Willow: What?
Oz: Well, you know, like, stayed out of your way for awhile.
Willow: I don't know. I'm kind of okay with you being *in* my way.
Oz: (stops and faces her) You mean, you'd still...
Willow: Well, I like you. You're nice and you're funny. And you don't
smoke. Yeah, okay, werewolf, but that's not all the time. I mean, three
days out of the month I'm not much fun to be around either.
Oz: You are quite the human.
What are we to make of the comparison of Willow's menstrual period with Oz's werewolf period? Is male aggression analogous to a woman on her period? - Xander has a rather over-the-top panic reaction to Larry's coming out. Does this reaction play into the episode's commentary on masculinity?
- Act One shows us the school having a self-defense class, attended by both boys and girls.
Coach: Sunnydale is becoming more dangerous all the time. And a full moon like tonight tends to bring out the crazies, but with some simple basics of self-defense each of you can learn how to protect yourself.
Buffy: (quietly to Willow) Here's a suggestion: move away from the
Hellmouth.
The ubiquity of self-defense classes, tips, and advise in the real world are usually targeted toward women and usually distract from the central cause of rape. However, Sunnydale's position of being on the Hellmouth and attracting large numbers of demons and vampires complicates this in the show.
This entry was originally posted at http://gabrielleabelle.dreamwidth.org/35
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Comments
I always found it odd just how freaked out Xander seemed to be over Larry being gay. It wasn't like Larry ever expressed any interest in Xander, even when he did believe that they were both gay (which could have maybe explained Xander's nervousness over the whole thing, although of course not justified it). But then in Earshot he's again just thanking Xander for being a friend and helping him come out, yet Xander seems genuinally unnerved by the whole thing and terrified to even be discussing it??
I guess it's meant to be commentary on how high school kids can react to someone they know coming out, but Xander's exaggeratated fear still seems a little off to me though, I don't know. Xander originally knew Larry as a bully that acted so hyper-masculine that Xander was using him as an example of the guy code in Halloween, so I'd have thought a more natural reaction to finding out that he was putting on all of that as a cover would be to express shocked laughter or something.
Edited at 2012-01-05 01:02 pm (UTC)
I do think there's a conscious subversion of the dating trope with Willow wanting physical intimacy and Oz not 'putting out'. And it subverts the stereotypical depiction of werewolves as aggressive even when not wolfed out. (In a way Larry's gayness is an echo of this - the animalistic male is not what we expect.)
I think there's definitely some subversion in there. I don't know about how the details pan out all the time, but it presents an interesting exploration of the topic. Very fascinating. :)
Hm. That can be tricky, too. I think it's done well here, mostly because we know Willow, we know her as a person with wishes and desires that don't amount to her wanting to get physical with Oz. But when done badly (like in Twilight - though, no surprises about the misogynist worldview there), it can actually be a return to a decidedly mediaeval view of female sexuality, where the woman is a temptress ruthlessly seducing the innocent man who simply cannot resist her diabolical charms, and is therefore never to blame if he 'gives in'.
I can't recall with certainty: does Larry have other scenes with women in them after this episode (I only recall him speaking with Xander in "Earshot", and don't remember what his role was in "Graduation Day" aside from dying). Even if his open harassment was all an act, the fact that he's willing to place women and their mental well-being in the category of acceptable collateral damage in the war to remain in the closet would indicate that his thought processes come from a very sexist place. It's also not something that would necessarily go away, even once he's made peace with his sexuality; one doesn't follow from the other. If his post "Phases" appearances portray him as being "nice, harmless guy", without implying that he's taken steps to be less sexist separate from his steps to come to terms with his sexuality, then that very definitively is problematic, I'd say.
However, I can't recall if he has any substantial scenes with girls at any other point in the series. He's definitely portrayed as not being the raging douchebag he was in Halloween and Phases, though.
Great comment. :)
Interesting comment, and I think Andrew in S6 is perhaps the logical extension of this if it was never fixed - Andrew's desire to stay closeted (if we interpret him as gay) leads to him colluding in the attempted rape and murder of a woman. I think it's a really interesting comment on gay shame (and the relationship between homophobia and sexism).
The harmless-gay-man stereotype is a bit unpleasant, but I really like Larry's getting so much better - it shows what a construct his aggressive masculinity was, and it's a nice counter to those 'evil = sexually deviant' vibes.