Whedon was surely aware of the concept when he produced Buffy.

One would certainly hope. I don't know that we can make that leap, though; you'd think that if his feminist mother's influence had really made a difference, he wouldn't so often resort to issues of questionable consent in his writings? Or perhaps he's just so secure in his identity as a "feminist guy" that he thinks he's incapable of writing anything that isn't feminist? I don't know. It's really hard to talk about him because we of course don't know what he's thinking.

I'm very glad that he left it in because it makes the characters more realistic. I dislike morality plays. Whedon definitely had a feminist theme going for the show, on the whole, but he didn't weigh it down in after school special-esque didactics.

Yeah, this was one of the things I was trying to get at. I agree, for the most part, and I absolutely think those kinds of characters are necessary.

so his general boorishness in the first few seasons mainly leaves me with a shrug.

I get really angry on behalf of the women in his life. When he's not actively pissing me off, I mostly am apathetic, too.