kateordie:

Joss Whedon’s Equality Now speech (by TheHey)

I’ve blogged this before and maybe you’ve watched it, but I’ve been spending a lot of time lately (ever since someone described me by saying “she’s really hot, but she’s a feminist”) thinking about how I see myself, how I’m perceived and how I’ve become so interested in how women are treated. It’s something that can completely pass you by if you don’t pay attention to it. If you watch popular movies and music videos and never question the things presented to you. If you think ‘I believe in equality, but I’m not a feminist’ is an acceptable attitude.

I never expected have the label stickered on my forehead, but I guess it is. You couldn’t have said it about me a few years back. Maybe it was comics, or the internet, but part of me still sort of believes it was Buffy.

I grew up with this show and I loved it like nothing before or since. I always thought that Willow was my favourite character, what with the lesbianism and quirky nerdiness, but I relate more and more to Buffy as I get older. She was such an amazing protagonist. Buffy was strong, independent, willful and brash. She was faulted, she had terrible luck with men, she was a bit flaky. She was also a warrior, but she wasn’t just a girl playing a man’s role. She wasn’t Tomb Raider. She didn’t fight in her underwear. I remember so strongly an episode in which she’s wearing this long dress and rips it into a miniskirt - but not to be sexy, just to be able to kick harder and move more freely. I loved that even when I was too young to understand why.

Joss created these women from a place of love, respect and total devotion. Yes, Buffy’s a dorky show about vampires and monsters, but it also gave me the best role model I could have possibly asked for.

I kind of love this man.  And I certainly love the women he creates.