Posts tagged done right

Joss Whedon’s made himself famous for his extraordinarily strong female characters. But those females aren’t strong just because they kick every ass known to mankind, although that’s true (Zoe and River for the win). Their main difference is the way they use their femininity.
Most female characters in TV, books, and films will use her sexuality as a means to an end. She’ll manipulate men using the fact that she’s a woman. But these characters don’t do that. Even Inara, a seducer by trade, treats her clients first as business partners. During her sessions, she and her client share an emotional connection similar to a friendship.There’s only one character who uses sexual manipulation, and that’s Saffron. In each episode she’s in, she serves as an antagonist. Her blatant sexuality’s a foil against the attitudes of every other woman on Serenity.
If a Joss Whedon woman wants something, she does one of two things: she asks for it or go gets it herself. And the men do the same.