Comments on: And this is one of the many, MANY reasons I heart Joss Whedon

By: Natalie Damschroder

Natalie Damschroder — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 02:30:00 +0000

I agree with Phyllis, that the fact that there are people who don’t think sexism is an issue means that for a lot of us, it’s not. I mean, I can cite instances where I was affected by it (my guidance counselor telling me not to take high ability science even though I took HA everything else, or my boss at National Geographic praising my coworker for being an “expert” at the exact same job I did). But those are tiny things. Yes, they add up to something bigger, but I never was held back in anything I wanted to do because of my gender.

I’m not saying it’s not a fight that needs to be fought–I’m just agreeing that it’s better than it was.

eatrawfish, I betcha anything that the plots in Firefly that you thought were subpar were not written by Joss Whedon. The Train Job doesn’t count, that was a Fox network fiasco. I also have found that after watching some of those episodes that were my non-favorites, I found subtexts and relationship elements that transcended my initial lack of enthusiasm.

Anyway, that’s getting too far off topic. If Joss Whedon hadn’t been my god before I saw that clip, he sure is now.

By: Diana Peterfreund

Diana Peterfreund — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 22:31:00 +0000

Thanks, Breca. Sadly, to protect my bloodpressure, I stopped going back to that argument. It had a stupid set-up and then just went downhill from there. I’ve got deadlines to meet. I can’t spend time on this.

By: Breca Halley

Breca Halley — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 20:38:00 +0000

Off topic: I would like to inform you of how much I enjoyed reading what you had to say on “The Elegant Variation” blog. Well said.

And I love Joss Whedon too. Firefly.

By: Allison Brennan

Allison Brennan — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 17:17:00 +0000

I didn’t have 8 minutes today, but that was worth spending the time to watch. I write strong female characters because I’m a strong female. Just ask my husband. And I do owe it to my mother as well, because she always told me I could be anything and do anything I set my mind to. Including writing a book and getting it published.

By: Jo Leigh

Jo Leigh — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 16:12:00 +0000

Thanks for bringing this to us, Diana. Wonderful!

By: Julie Leto

Julie Leto — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 15:09:00 +0000

Shameless, I know…but for those who want a kickass heroine story…DIRTY LITTLE LIES ships today.

Yes, I have no fingernails left.

By: eatrawfish

eatrawfish — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 00:13:00 +0000

I honestly thought a lot of the plots in Buffy and Firefly could have been better (seriously I'm like that annoying kid in High School - "you're favorite band sucks") but that just means you won't see me in a "Joss Whedon is God" T-shirt at comic con. His women characters, all his characters, and the witty banter are pretty awesome. That speech was wonderful.

I think Veronica Mars, Season 1, is the pinnacle of kick-ass heroines on television.

I also think Hayao Miyazaki's (Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke) heroines are awesome. All the more impressive since Japan is behind the US as far as that goes.

Of course it is unfortunate that these tend to be the exceptions rather than the rules. And then there was that Forbes article...

By: Marley Gibson

Marley Gibson — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 18:29:00 +0000

I actually heard one of our sales guys today (25 years old) say that he prefers not to do business with women. That women should stay home and cook and clean and have dinner waiting for him when he got home. I couldn’t take it and yelled out, “Have you been watching re-runs of LEAVE IT TO BEAVER? What’s your problem?” He was stunned. He had NO idea how it came out. None at all. Should have seen the backpedaling when all the sales women came down on him. LOL!!

By: Maureen McGowan

Maureen McGowan — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 18:13:00 +0000

No… I don’t like that they label women’s fiction, either. But I’m coming to terms with it. Perhaps I need therapy

Re: hearting Joss Whedon. I recently wathed Firefly on DVD. OMG. LOVED it. And the “first mate” on that show was a woman and was definitely the second in command above the other men and you never questioned how good she was at her job. Neither did he ever make the fact she was female come into her job or the risks she takes.
Joss rocks.

And sexism is so not dead. I was a teen in the 70’s and really believed that because of women’s lib, my gender wouldn’t matter when I started work. Deluded. I can’t count the number of times my gender held me back professionally or at least affected how I was treated.

Amy’s struggle in your book was very realistic for me.

By: Diana Peterfreund

Diana Peterfreund — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 18:01:00 +0000

LOL, Phyllis. I think I know your blog voice too well. I thought, “well, that anonymous commenter sounds so much like Phyllis! Wonder why she didn’t sign her name?”

Gina, you gotta keep going with Buffy. I didn’t start watching until season four, but season three is my fave. But now that I’ve watched the whole thing, I don’t think it really started picking up speed until the VERY end of that (short) first season. Like, the last episode, when Xander, trying to mobilize the stupid lunk of a vampire into saving his friend’s life, responds to Angel’s snarky, “You’re in love with Buffy, aren’t you?” with, “Aren’t you?” OMG… *love*. May be my favorite line in a series full of favorite lines. And you sit there and think about moments like that when you hear Whedon speak like this. It’s a movie about a woman leader who is such a natural leader that her soldiers (Xander) don’t think twice about it, don’t get into a power struggle as part of loving her, but can love her, knowing that she’s so much stronger than they are, not even stressing about it, just being like, “and what can *I* do?”

Ahem, anyway. Yay Buffy.