MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

Does the law have gender? How do Joss Whedon‘s strong female characters embody a female approach to the law? In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy is bound by the rules of the Watcher’s Council, and Buffy and Willow are bound by the laws of man. Similarly, in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Skye and Melinda May must adhere to the rules of S.H.I.E.L.D. In both television shows, these characters often confront the tension between the obligation to blindly follow the rules and the need to disregard the rules when justice and fairness demands. This mirrors the struggle between the law and equity faced by both literary characters and real people. These four female characters are much more than co-workers or even friends. They also function like a family. Buffy, Willow, Skye and May subvert the law and rules in order to protect members of this “family.” In both television shows, the “family” becomes both the law and a court of equity. In both cases, this is due to Buffy, Willow, May and Skye. The goal of this presentation is to explore the ways four of the female characters created by Joss Whedon in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D represent a female approach to law. This presentation will examine the idea that equity and community function to enhance and at times replace, law. This presentation will also examine the way the female approach to the law, as embodied by these characters, uses community, love and equity to administer the law in a violent world. This topic will be examined from the perspective of law and popular culture and the presenter has a background in both.