Are You Ready To Be Strong?

Student Name
Morgan Macri
Student Email
Supervised by
Amy R. Peloff

The Strong Female Character is a popular trope, and is applied to only onetype of female character. This focus group aims to look beyond this simplified idea. Through watching and discussing episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we will look at the different types of strength of women. This part of the discussion will be informed by research and knowledge of popular tropes and types of women in media, including the videos of Anita Sarkeesian.

In addition to discussing the type of strength shown, which character presents it and what meaning it has to the narrative, we will discuss themeaning these depictions have on the viewer. To do this we will also be looking at why varied positive representation of women is so important to have in the media. To do this we will examine a variety of texts about the conscious consumption of pop culture, representation, as well as develing into the work of those involved in the academic field of Buffy Studies, examining the themes and symbols and representation of the show itself.

After this class, students should have an understanding of the popular tropes used for female characters in media, how to critically examine them, and what it means to go beyond the single vision of the Strong Female Character.

Academic Term
Winter 2015