Buffy explores and challenges many assumptions about contemporary family life. Several writers have noted the inadequacy, indeed dysfunctionality, of ‘normal’ families in Buffy (Busse, 2002; Siemann, 2002; Wilcox, 1999; Williams, 2002) and their tendency toward patriarchal oppression (Owen, 1999; Jarvis, 2001). Some have suggested that the Scoobies effectively become the family in Buffy (Owen, 1999; Wilcox, 2002; Locklin, 2002) and Locklin’s analysis further suggests that this ‘alternative’ family challenges conventional family ideals, but does so more by reforming than by dismissing them.

Building upon these analyses, we will argue that the circumstances of central characters in Buffy represent recent societal changes in family forms and that Buffy does indeed offer a favourable vision of an ‘alternative family’. Although it presents a nostalgic longing for the certainties and securities of the contemporary nuclear family, Buffy reveals its dependency upon oppression and structural inequalities. The Scoobies represent an alternative model of the family based upon non-hierarchical structures and individual freedom of choice. However, Buffy refuses to paint a simplistic picture of real life and reveals that this alternative family also brings its own dangers. Focussing upon Dawn’s education and care, we show how Buffy explores its strengths and weaknesses. Although the Scooby family answers the call for the ‘democratisation’ of the family (Giddens, 1999), individual members may cause pain by leaving or by choosing not to meet the needs of another family member. Nevertheless, Buffy endorses the alternative family and offers the positive message that individuals cope with and survive its drawbacks.

Busse, Kristina (2002) Crossing the final taboo: family, sexuality and incest in Buffyverse fan fiction. In R.Wilcox and D. Lavery (Eds) Fighting the Forces: What’s at stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Lanham, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Giddens, A. (1999) The Director’s Lectures. Runaway World: The Reith Lectures Revisited. Lecture 4, 1^st December. http://www.lse.ac.uk/Giddens/pdf/1.Dec.99.pdf Accessed 3.3.03

Jarvis, Christine. ‘School is Hell: Gendered fears in teenage horror.’ Educational Studies 27.3 (2001):257-267.

Locklin, Reid B. ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Domestic Church:Revisioning family and the common good.’ Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies 6.2 (2002) www.slayage.tv

Owen, Susan A. ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Vampires, Postmodernity and Postfeminism, Journal of Popular Film and Television 27/2 (1999):24-31.

Siemann, Catherine (2002) Darkness Falls on the Endless Summer: Buffy as Gidget for the Fin de Siècle. In R.Wilcox and D. Lavery (Eds) Fighting the Forces: What’s at stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Lanham, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Wilcox, Rhonda V. ‘There will never be a "Very Special" Buffy’: Buffy and the Monsters of Teen Life.’ Journal of Popular Film and Television 27.2 (1999):16-23. Republished in Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies 1.2 (2001) www.slayage.tv

Wilcox, Rhonda V. (2002) "Who Died and made her the Boss?" Patterns of Mortality in Buffy. In Buffy in: R.Wilcox and D. Lavery (Eds) Fighting the Forces: What’s at stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Lanham, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Williams, J.P. (2002) Choosing your own mother: Mother-daughter conflicts. In Buffy in: R.Wilcox and D. Lavery (Eds) Fighting the Forces: What’s at stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Lanham, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.