Strong female characters and femininity : Exploring feminine language in Buffy the vampire slayer

It is widely accepted that gender is actively performed and a part of identity rather than biology, and that this is where gender differences in language stem from. Researchers have attempted to define what constitutes men and women’s language, and this paper uses some of these definitions to analyse the speech of the main character in the first season of the television show Buffy the vampire slayer. This research project investigates Buffy’s use of feminine language as well as whether her language changes when her performance is otherwise more masculine in the role of the slayer. This is done by comparing conversations between Buffy and her friends with conversations between Buffy and her enemies. The results show that Buffy uses some feminine linguistic features but that her speech is not distinctly feminine in general. Her language also does not change significantly when performing the role of the slayer.