Beauty as "Feminism"

In Inca Mummy Girl, every female character is conventionally attractive. Even Willow, who is characterized as the “nerd,” is able to catch an approving masculine eye. In Michele’s Byers peer-reviewed article, she argues that Buffy the Vampire Slayer does present a feminist agenda, despite the character’s “conformity to the Hollywood norm” (Byers, 75). Like Byers, I disagree with Rachel Fudge’s sentiment that Sarah Michelle Gellar’s low cut shirts and midriff-bearing tank tops detract from the feminist power that the show wields. In today’s episode, there was an undeniable parallelism between Impata, the mummy princess and Buffy. Not only are both the “chosen” sacrifices for their people, but they are also traditionally beautiful. In fact, one of the ways in which both women use power is through their beauty. Impata not only employs her literal strength to suck the life out of men, but is almost successful in exercising her beauty to seduce a random boy at the school dance, had Xander not intervened. I think that it is important to acknowledge that beauty, in its own right, is a feminine power. We live in a world in which being attractive, especially if female, allows one to make gains in a way that she might not if she were not pretty. I was a bit bothered by the argument that beautiful female characters cannot exemplify feminism. This argument is almost anti-feminist, in a way, because it buys into the stereotype that in order for one to embody feminism, she must be unattractive and especially, unappealing to men. Beauty is no different from wit. Some of us are born with it, others not. But does one advise an intelligent person not to use a gift that could serve to be incredibly advantageous to his or her personal advancement? Certainly not. In the same way, Buffy and Impata are powerful in that they both not only successfully exploit their physical strength, but that they deftly promote their beauty as a weapon in their feminist arsenal.