I think the point that I agree with most (and that defines the issues I have with Joss) is he doesn't check his privilege at the door. He's so concerned with making this awesome female hero character and this nice dude that is totally fine with her being the leader that he doesn't realize the privilege he gives the nice dude and how the nice dude abuses it. After reading your post I did a search on the nice guy trope, and found this post from Feministing about nice guys that describes Xander perfectly. In reading Gabs' BBB post I got physically sick at the fact that Buffy thanks Xander for not raping her, showing what a good guy he is.
The "nice guy" in the Feministing article does the same thing - he thinks that just because he wouldn't take advantage of a drunk girl he should get a cookie, as if taking advantage of drunk girls was a default behavior in men and he's so wonderful to deviate from it. NO. NOT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF DRUNK GIRLS SHOULD BE THE DEFAULT BEHAVIOR. You do not get a cookie for doing something you should be doing anyways, and this is where Xander comes in. His reputation as the "nice guy" means he gets cookies of praise from the other characters (a pet peeve of mine is when he slut-shames Buffy for having sex with Spike and then in the next episode is thanked by her for being such a good friend while she apologizes for keeping her sex life a secret from him. HER SEX LIFE IS NONE OF HIS FUCKING BUSINESS!) when he's really just doing what should be the default behavior. It speaks of how prevalent rape culture is that not raping Buffy in BBB is seen as exemplary behavior.
To shift to another topic, Anya, Spike and Cordelia are brilliantly constructed characters because they do call the protagonists out on their privilege at some points, and it feels natural and in-character. In that Spike series thing I created a socially aware, bitterly sarcastic character just so any privilege Spike gets from being the white male protagonist in a multicultural city gets called into question. I think from a writing standpoint having an outside character who can see privilege in the protagonists is the way to go, but have it embedded in characterization instead of a trait thrust upon an existing character.
I may have other thoughts later, but I have to go to the financial aid office to get some money now.
Edited: Here's an interesting Slayage article on Xander that might interest you. From the first paragraph: "But beneath the show’s progressive exterior exist situations enforcing the patriarchal society that created it. What effect does this patriarchy have, and does its mere existence prevent a text such as Buffy from representing a genuine feminist ideology? This paper will show how difficult it is, even with the best of intentions, to escape the prevailing hegemony, and more importantly, will seek to prove how the show’s apparent failings make it a better feminist text." And it's all about how Xander undermines the feminist reading while having Xander there makes a feminist reading more realistic.
no subject
The "nice guy" in the Feministing article does the same thing - he thinks that just because he wouldn't take advantage of a drunk girl he should get a cookie, as if taking advantage of drunk girls was a default behavior in men and he's so wonderful to deviate from it. NO. NOT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF DRUNK GIRLS SHOULD BE THE DEFAULT BEHAVIOR. You do not get a cookie for doing something you should be doing anyways, and this is where Xander comes in. His reputation as the "nice guy" means he gets cookies of praise from the other characters (a pet peeve of mine is when he slut-shames Buffy for having sex with Spike and then in the next episode is thanked by her for being such a good friend while she apologizes for keeping her sex life a secret from him. HER SEX LIFE IS NONE OF HIS FUCKING BUSINESS!) when he's really just doing what should be the default behavior. It speaks of how prevalent rape culture is that not raping Buffy in BBB is seen as exemplary behavior.
To shift to another topic, Anya, Spike and Cordelia are brilliantly constructed characters because they do call the protagonists out on their privilege at some points, and it feels natural and in-character. In that Spike series thing I created a socially aware, bitterly sarcastic character just so any privilege Spike gets from being the white male protagonist in a multicultural city gets called into question. I think from a writing standpoint having an outside character who can see privilege in the protagonists is the way to go, but have it embedded in characterization instead of a trait thrust upon an existing character.
I may have other thoughts later, but I have to go to the financial aid office to get some money now.
Edited: Here's an interesting Slayage article on Xander that might interest you. From the first paragraph: "But beneath the show’s progressive exterior exist situations enforcing the patriarchal society that created it. What effect does this patriarchy have, and does its mere existence prevent a text such as Buffy from representing a genuine feminist ideology? This paper will show how difficult it is, even with the best of intentions, to escape the prevailing hegemony, and more importantly, will seek to prove how the show’s apparent failings make it a better feminist text."
And it's all about how Xander undermines the feminist reading while having Xander there makes a feminist reading more realistic.