"The Heading of Ironic"

It seems Joss Whedon has taken his feminist images a little farther down the stereotypical path. Buffy the Vampire Slayer has finally associated the idea of female strength with lesbianism. Although the message might have carried a little more strength if the slayer herself had been involved, there probably would have been audience rebellion if the hot, pathetic man aspect was eliminated from Buffy’s list of struggles.

Still, the slayer may not be lesbian, but her best friend/side kick has acknowledged a deeper feeling for another woman. In her search for power, Willow found that Wiccan strength is intensified all the more with the help of another woman, and it all began with holding hands in a moment of desperation. Even Oz is inferior to the female strength, because he cannot master his power to change. He can control it more than most, but in moments of intense feeling, he looses his strength over the forces. As he says, “it turns out... the one thing that brings it out in me is you... which falls under the heading of ironic in my book.”

For Willow and Tara, a strong female relationship on a deeper emotional level only serves to strengthen their power, allowing the two to complete complicated spells that neither would be able to master on their own. It is the female relationship that provides the support that lends itself to Buffy’s power. I have already mentioned in a previous blog that Buffy derives her real strength from those around her. Buffy is not the kind of slayer who can stand alone (perhaps that’s why she’s lived longer than most); we learned previously that her real strength is her support system. Willow and Buffy’s relationship is stronger than Buffy and Riley, and with Angel gone, Buffy’s strongest relationship is with Willow. This was emphasized at the beginning of season four when the two young women originally roomed separately; the Scooby gang began to suspect Buffy of insanity, and the slayer was left without anyone to support her theories. Now, Willow and Buffy live together, and we have seen a lot less of the random chaos and a lot more of the big picture episodes. They are stronger together.

So far, Willow and Buffy are the most powerful characters in the series. Now, Tara has joined, and things seem to be suggesting that she too will now feed through Willow on the slayer’s power. (It is important to not that the power of the slayer is restricted to females; this is ironic because power is usually thought of as masculine.) This feeding is not parasitic but symbiotic as Buffy receives just as much benefit from their strength as they do from hers.

The only question now is where will this power take the two lovebirds?