The expression of women’s anger has traditionally been considered a transgression in our culture. Television’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer has several key female characters that each offer a separate perspective on the way that anger can and should be expressed within the confines of a moral world. Buffy Summers is posited in the spectrum of morality as the "good" norm, though this position does not come without some complication, and each character is discussed in relation to that norm that Buffy presents. The paper discusses the typical modes of anger-expression exhibited by Joyce Summers (protective, motherly anger), Willow (shifting from "nice girl syndrome" to uncontrollable grief-fueled rage and back again), Cordelia (the "bitch", who often has a point), Kendra (emotionally repressed in all aspects), Faith (uncontrolled rage and self loathing), Anya (former vengeance demon/critic, albeit sometimes unwittingly, of accepted social norms), and Dawn (immature expression of anger). Issues that are considered in the discussion include effectively of expression, personal gratification, the ability to feel entitled to express anger, verbal versus physical expression, critiquing social norms, and how the expression of anger finds its place in the balance of good and evil. The paper draws on criticism and theory regarding the expression of anger from James Averill, Gwynne Kennedy, Harriet Lerner, Catherine Lutz, Elizabeth V. Spelman, Carol Tarvis, and Barbara Welter. (In the revision, I’m hoping to incorporate some of the criticism found in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy.)

Necessary equipment: Television with VCR