I don't think the writers did recognize how bad his behavior was, and they often used other characters, usually female characters, to affirm/assure the audience that he was, in fact, a good guy.
What you said.
One of my main problems with Jossian feminism is that it's often Not My Nigel feminism. Misogyny is always perpretrated by "those other guys" - Warren, Caleb, the other watchers (not Giles) - whose actions are shown as pure evil. But not our Xander - he's a good guy!
What this fails to take into account is that in real life, women rarely have to deal with people like Caleb. Most of the time, it's the smaller actions of well-meaning people like Xander that hurt most. But because in Jossverse misogyny is definied by what "those other guys" do, the good guys never get called out for the things they do.
(this reminds me, I need to post that rant/essay I wrote about "Billy" when I rewatched AtS...)
no subject
What you said.
One of my main problems with Jossian feminism is that it's often Not My Nigel feminism. Misogyny is always perpretrated by "those other guys" - Warren, Caleb, the other watchers (not Giles) - whose actions are shown as pure evil. But not our Xander - he's a good guy!
What this fails to take into account is that in real life, women rarely have to deal with people like Caleb. Most of the time, it's the smaller actions of well-meaning people like Xander that hurt most. But because in Jossverse misogyny is definied by what "those other guys" do, the good guys never get called out for the things they do.
(this reminds me, I need to post that rant/essay I wrote about "Billy" when I rewatched AtS...)