Female vs. Male in Television Shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural

The research question I intend to look into is how female driven narratives differ from male centric shows, and how critics and fans have reacted to shows in turn. Two of the shows I would like to focus on are Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which ran from 1997 until 2003 with a total of seven seasons, and Supernatural, which started in 2005 and is still going strong, having just been renewed for its tenth season. Buffy, which was created by Joss Whedon, is lauded as one of the greatest pieces of feminist television in recent times. It focuses on Buffy, a seemingly normal high school girl who is actually a “slayer” (a chosen one of sorts) who fights vampires and other supernatural creatures, keeping her town safe. This is in contrast to Supernatural, created by Eric Kripke, which goes through female characters like tissues, and focuses on the relationship between Dean and Sam Winchester, two brothers who also fight against the supernatural (hence the title). Both shows aired on The WB, which is now known as The CW and have rabid, borderline obsessive, young fan bases that have kept Supernatural going, as well as make sure that Buffy remains a pop culture staple. Supernatural has even paid homage to Buffy, bringing in some of the actors from the show to guest star in one of the season seven episodes.

However, the numbers don’t lie. Besides the fact that Buffy ran for seven years as opposed to the nine years and counting that Supernatural has been on air, Buffy has more of an ensemble cast, with other characters supporting and helping Buffy, while Supernatural relies only on Sam and Dean, with the majority of the supporting cast dying throughout the season, or never being mentioned again. Part of this comes from the difference in...

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...f the women who have a significant relationship with the Winchesters (i.e. last more than one episode) are often able to hold their own in a male dominated storyline. It is because of this, and because traditional gender roles are sometimes villainized by the writers, putting women who portray these qualities at odds with the other primary female characters, painting them as a rivalry rather than the coexisting groups that they should be.

With the research I would be doing, I would be comparing the leading characters of the shows, and comparing the supporting casts, and trying to see where they overlap and what difference there are. In the case of Buffy and Supernatural, I would be trying to see how a woman doing some of the same things that the men are leads to her needing strong emotional response, and how the stoicism of the men is played as heroic.