During time of war, we can see the distinct roles that man and woman play. Men go to the battlefield as soldiers. They are “ ‘just warriors’ [who] fight and die for the greater good”. While women stay at homeland working in factories to produce the equipment necessary for the war. They are “ ‘beautiful souls’ epitomize the maternal war-support figure in need of male protection”. This image is reflected in the war movies where the male “just warriors” fight and die for their country.
In “Tabula Rasa”, we see a reversal of this role, where Buffy is a natural female “just warrior”. It’s natural because every character in this episode starts with their memory wiped, in other words each one of them starts with a blank slate. When the vampires attack the group, the men in the group should stand up and fight to protect the women. Because their memories are wiped, they don’t know about Buffy’s ability, thus by nature the men should be the ones to fight off the vampires. However, the men stood back and it was Buffy who stood up and protected the group. This reflects that she is chosen to be a slayer, a “just warrior”. As Early puts it, Buffy the TV show “brings women out of the shadows to center stage and permit protagonists to be disruptive and to challenge patriarchal values … in society”. Putting Buffy in other kind of shows, her appearance of high school girl would make her the first target to get protected, the first person to be scared. However, in Buffy, the female characters holds the center of stage, the ones whose powerful enough to cast spell to wipe everyone’s memory and the ones whose strong enough to protect the group in danger.
Early, Frances H. "Staking Her Claim: Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Transgressive Woman Warrior." Journal of Popular Culture 35.3 (2001): 11-28
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