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ETD Abstract Container

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Patriarchy Strikes Back: Power and Perception In Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Farghaly, Nadine
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1241804608

Abstract Details

2009, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, English/Literature.
Primetime heroine Buffy Summers conquered the hearts of layman and scholars alike.For years audience members have debated about almost everything that happens in Buffy the Vampire Slayer; from opening credits to wardrobes over music choices to gender issues. This thesis focuses on patriarchal power structures inside Buffy the Vampire Slayer. On the surface, BtVS proposes all the ingredients for a truly matriarchal show; it could have been the perfect series to offer a glimpse at what a female-dominated society could look like. Unfortunately, however, the series creator, Joss Whedon, fails to create a female character liberated from patriarchal influences. He not only reintroduces patriarchal figures and apparatuses again and again, but he also constrains his heroine to adopt the same power structures his male characters employ. Despite the fact that almost every member of the patriarchy embodies certain flaws, that make it possible to partially dismantle their authority, Whedon continues to introduce these problematic figures. This thesis illustrates how patriarchal institutions and their members assert power over the female body in BtVS by synthesizing examples from both the television series and the graphic novel series with the critical cultural theories of Michel Foucault, Max Weber, and John Bowlby.
Maisha Wester, PhD (Committee Chair)
Piya Pal Lapinski, PhD (Committee Member)
85 p.
American Studies
Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Patriarchy; Matriarchy; Sexuality; Power; Authority; Power relations;

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Farghaly, N. (2009). Patriarchy Strikes Back: Power and Perception In Buffy the Vampire Slayer [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1241804608

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Farghaly, Nadine. Patriarchy Strikes Back: Power and Perception In Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 2009. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1241804608.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Farghaly, Nadine. "Patriarchy Strikes Back: Power and Perception In Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1241804608

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2009, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.