Other comments...

[triskellian]

Chrestomancy: Useful advice, thanks. I'm doing one course a term for the next two terms, to ease back in, and because one of them is a pre-requisite for later stuff I want to do, although both are at too low a level to 'count' for anything.

Bateleur I: Thanks!

Bateleur II: OK, I know practically nothing about feminist theory, but it seems to me that a girl taking control of her life, and doing the traditional male hero kinda things, rather than moping around in her underwear waiting for a man to save her is reasonably feminist? OK, I haven't read the article yet, so I may be entirely wrong. Or she may have been writing about why Buffy and other vampire fic isn't feminist. The article is here, if anyone wants to go look and post a summary?

Comments

Article

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Well, I won't attempt a summary because it's fairly well written and decently compact already.

I don't actually agree with most of what it says, mind you. The author points out what she describes as 'conservative' images of women from various periods of recent history and constrasts these with various alternatives from the same periods. Thing is, to me these 'conservative' images are simply popular sources. They are not so much holding women back or attempting to influence them as simply setting out to entertain ordinary people. Little girls read magazines about boys and makeup not because they think that's all women are good for but because they choose to. Choice is a facet of liberty, no ?

Buffy isn't mainstream, but within the subculture she belongs to she's as much a limiting female stereotype as (say) Posh Spice is within mainstream culture.

You want feminist icons ? I nominate Susan Ivanova from B5 !