Buffy's "Castration" - Do Men Really Dominate Her?



We have already considered greatly the fact that Buffy is the only female slayer in the entire Buffyverse - therefore, she is the only one who can fight against the demons of the world. However, we haven't discussed the fact that she isn't the only one who can fight. Not only this, but we must also consider that "although Buffy is male-identified, she and her friends also partake of traditionally perceived female-gendered ways of thinking and behaving" (Early, 8). Therefore, it seems safe to say that Buffy's role doesn't seem to be one which is supposed to break the boundaries between typical male and female roles - she may be the only one granted magical powers, but she certainly isn't the only one capable of fighting. For the sake of this section, I would argue that Buffy does not fulfill a pro-feminist role, and also (as the previous section discussed) has the tendency to let males dominate her life - particularly in regards to Angel. Going back to the fact that Buffy thinks in a female-gendered way, we see this numerous times throughout Surprise and Becoming, Part 1. Particularly in the instance where Buffy goes to visit Angel.

This encounter between the two characters is highly sexualized. For Buffy, it's morning, and for Angel, it's bedtime (he is, after all, a vampire). We are seeing much of the male gaze here, a term developed by Mulvey that can essentially describe the way males view women - as objectified objects who are visually pleasing (Rose, 121). We see many cuts and eye-line matches from Angel to Buffy, who is conventionally attractive and also ready for the day (in other words, a full face of make up, perfectly groomed hair, a nice outfit, etc). This also leads to fetishistic scopophilia, another term coined by Mulvey. It is "when the female figure is represented simply as a beautiful object of display" -- "her beauty is so overwhelming, often pictured in huge close-ups, so perfect, that the threat of castration is assuaged as she is turned into a reassuring object in an intimate relation to the spectator" (Rose, 118). And, indeed, this scene is almost shot entirely using close-ups. We are certainly seeing Buffy as merely a beautiful object, and not the empowered female who continually saves the world.

The encounter eventually leads to the two kissing. As Buffy confesses all of her concerns to Angel about his possible death (referring to her dream sequence, in which she sees him dusted), he promptly stops her by kissing her. In other words, we not only see a female being silenced by a male, but this silence is also enacted by means of a sexual encounter. Even when Buffy tries to leave, Angel stops her; "this interaction eventually ends with Buffy consenting to the activity" (Kim, 7). Not only do we see our female heroine, who is supposed to be fulfilling a "masculine" role, let a masculine power dominate her judgment, but we are also subjected to a highly sexualized view by means of the male gaze and fetishistic scopophilia - these things greatly diminish the idea of Buffy fulfilling the role of breaking phallocentrism. We will also eventually see Buffy giving in completely, and having sex with Angel - but that is a complex subject which I will return shortly.

Before that, it is important to look towards the way in which Buffy fulfills her slayer role around Angel. That is to say, in these two episodes, there are a few different instances in which Buffy is either attacked or fights against bad guys with Angel in very close proximity - there are also scenes where she fights without Angel near. The scenes in which Angel isn't near Buffy, she easily takes out the bad guys. However, when Angel is there, she struggles. In Surprise, Buffy is at her birthday party and opens a box which the vampires she had just dusted left behind. Inside the box is a hand, which immediately grabs onto Buffy's throat and starts strangling her. Unable to pull the hand off herself, it is Angel who comes to the rescue; she immediately hugs Angel for comfort after the hand is locked up. In this scene, we see Buffy performing a typical "damsel in distress" role - she is unable to be the heroine when Angel is involved.

Similarly, there is another scene in which Angel and Buffy fight off vampires together. Whereas we have previously seen Buffy fight off vampires without any trouble, she is suddenly getting beaten up here and eventually is pushed into water, inviting Angel to come save her (once again). This, again, lends to the fact that Buffy cannot perform her "masculine" duties with Angel around. These examples of Buffy's inability to fulfill her role as a "masculine" slayer manifest themselves later in Buffy's consensus to have sex with Angel. In other words, Buffy becomes helpless when Angel is around, and essentially gives in to him/his desires.

Before I discuss the scene in which Buffy and Angel have sex, it is first important to note the scene right before this in which Angel gives Buffy a ring for her birthday. Not only does this ring once again establish the masculine/feminine roles between the two characters (the one who should be receiving jewelry is the female; the one who should be giving it is the male), but it also shows that Buffy now "belongs" to him - similar to the idea of marriage, which the ring very well may represent. Angel tells Buffy that the ring is a sign of devotion and to "wear it with the heart pointing towards you" as it means that she "belongs to somebody." This ring also becomes important because, as I have stated, it potentially represents marriage - which is even further proved in the very next scene, where Buffy agrees to have sex with Angel (if he has "claimed" her through giving her the ring, there is nothing wrong with consenting to sex).

This scene plays out similarly to the one at the beginning of Surprise, with many eye-line matches, close ups, dark lighting, etc. We are again brought back into a world where the male gaze dominates as well as fetishistic scopophilia. For this scene, we must again look to Mulvey; "In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly" (Rose, 115). This is particularly true in this scene between Angel and Buffy, where we see Angel initiate most of the looks, while Buffy sits passively on his bed, hardly making eye contact with Angel, but allowing herself to be watched.

Mulvey also says that "the representation of the female form speaks castration and nothing else [...] women cannot be represented in [film] on their own terms, but only in patriarchal terms, as castrated non-men" (Rose, 115). This idea leads to phallocentrism, which basically describes the way in which masculinity dominates society. We can see all of these things resonate in the scene where Buffy agrees to have sex with Angel. Because Angel perhaps feels threatened by her (especially considering she is the slayer and can fight almost as equally as him, and can also be the one to kill him since it is her duty to kill vampires), he feels the need to dominate her. And we have seen, as I've previously talked about, that Buffy tends to be submissive when Angel is involved, essentially allowing him to control or save her.

We eventually learn that this sexual encounter has caused Angel to lose his soul - returning him back to a "normal" and evil vampire, who is now called Angelus. Not only did Buffy allow a man to dominate her, but she is also the cause of him becoming evil. Because of this, Buffy has become "the Eve-like temptress an seducer who precipitates [Angel's] fall into hell - in fact she literally sends him there" (Magoulick, 9). We greatly see a transformation in Angel, especially regarding his gaze towards Buffy. Where once we were subjected to his "male gaze," we now see voyeurism being used - which is "a way of seeing that is active; it distances and objectifies what is looked at. It is controlling and even sadistic, says Mulvey. It is a look that is only given to men by films (whether as characters in the film or as the film's audience). It deals with castration anxiety by investigating the woman and then punishing or saving her" (Rose, 117). While perhaps Mulvey didn't mean that voyeurism was "controlling and sadistic" in a literal sense, it certainly becomes literal when it involves Angelus.

At the end of Surprise and in Becoming, Part I, we see Angelus physically, verbally, and mentally torture Buffy and her friends. He is essentially punishing her for his fears of castration - Buffy is now an even greater threat to him because, unlike before, she now has nothing stopping her from killing him. Therefore, the castration complex becomes an even greater threat to Angel. And while Angelus' torturing of Buffy is certainly consequence enough for fulfilling her "feminine" role of letting Angel dominate and have sex with her, she must also face other consequences. "She eventually has no option but to kill the person she loves, just one of a range of sacrifices she must make" (Wilks, 1).

In Becoming, Part I we see Buffy being called out by Angelus for a final fight. As she and Angelus are getting ready for the showdown, he reveals that calling her out was merely a ploy to leave her best friends harmless - so that his minions could kill them. This brings us to an idea brought up by Lotz - "male characters also function as sidekicks and heterosexual romantic interests who complicate the heroines' ability to prioritize 'work' and personal desire" (78). Indeed, Angel has complicated Buffy's life completely - from the beginning when he was good, she was unable to fulfill her heroine role of "working" (killing evil), and even when he is evil he is still complicating her life (her personal desire to keep him alive and not kill him before this point has caused her friends to be in danger). As Buffy finally realizes all of these complications; it is too late - one of her friends is already dead. These are merely the repercussions of straying from a typical female role in order to try to fulfill a more "masculine" one. Up to this point, it certainly seems as though Buffy is fulfilling a much more anti-feminist role, instead of the pro-feminist one everyone loves. But let's not completely dismiss the show as anti-feminist just yet. Continue to the next section.

Previous Section: Female Heroism | Home | Bibliography