Gender Representation in Buffy vs. Dracula

     I was actually very surprised to see so many similarities between the Buffy the Vampire episode and Bam Stoker's novel. There were quite a few similarities within the characters alone. First, Xander had many of the characteristics of Renfield, such as seeing Dracula as his "master" and eating insects. Buffy also shared a lot of characteristics with Mina such as being seen as strong or falling under Dracula's thrall. Some storyline similarities include Dracula visiting Buffy in the middle of the night and her waking up to not remember anything, Dracula being seen as charming or seductive, and him using one of the group as his "eyes and ears" during the daylight. 

     In this episode I think that they really strip Buffy of her usual strong persona. She is typically a strong, independent bad ass, but she quickly is manipulated by Dracula's charm. Upon meeting Dracula she immediately is fixed on the idea of him actually knowing who she is. When she is back at the house she obsesses over him knowing her name and jokes with the others about how sexy he is. By obsessing over such minute details and ignoring the problem at hand, she becomes the stereotypical "boy-crazy" girl. The scene where he invades her bedroom in the middle of the night, she begins attempting to call him out on how charming he must think he is, but is cut off mid-sentence by his gaze. In the final scene when she is at house, she shows that she brought a stake she planned to kill him with, but as soon as he says "put the stake down," she complies. This relationship between Buffy and Dracula really emphasizes the helplessness that women are seen has having. Dracula initially having so much power over Buffy is much similar that of an abusive relationship; Buffy gives all control to him and he expects it, but as soon as she begins to rebel against his wants, he acts out against her. At the end of the episode she breaks all of the stereotypes by disobeying Dracula and killing him rather than agreeing to spend forever with him like he wants her to.

      The gender norm for men is flipped in this episode; rather than being seen as strong or brave, they are seen more as helpless. In the scene where Xander quickly becomes entranced, almost seduced, by Dracula he immediately gives all power to him and acts almost giddy from being around him. Xander loses any sense of loyalty and is happy to take Buffy to Dracula. The other two men seem to have no control over any of the situation and fail at their attempts to save Buffy from Dracula. When they arrive at Dracula's home, one of the men is seduced by three overly sexulaized women dressed in red; he has absolutely no control over the situation and is powerless against the women. By the time they actually reach Buffy, she has killed Dracula herself without any need of their assistance. 

     Throughout the series Buffy's appearance is over feminized. Even though she is out fighting vampires, she is constantly expected to look a certain way. It could be the middle of an intense fight scene and Buffy's hair and makeup would still be perfect. She is also dressed in way that is seen as feminine and accentuates the female body. This is all caused by the media's need to project this idea of the perfect woman. With this image is ingrained into girls' minds from an early age, Buffy shows them that you can look a certain way and still be strong and independent.