Response to Kathleen Sweeney's "Supernatural Girls"

In “Supernatural Girls” Kathleen Sweeney focuses on the growing role of women as power figures in recent pop culture. Women have until recently been portrayed as the “damsel in distress,” always needing to be rescued or saved. Recent shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Kim Possible have helped shape the newer idea that girls and woman are independent and don’t need to be saved. Sweeney brings up a good point that in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy even had men that acted as her sidekicks. The men in the show were sometimes portrayed as “insecure” which in my opinion is a good thing. I feel like as much as women are portrayed as helpless, men are portrayed as always being able to fix everything. Men need help sometimes too. Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series and Harry have an interesting relationship. Sweeney says, “she is the brains of the operation,” meaning that without her knowledge Harry wouldn’t accomplish such great things. They are dependent on one another; they rely on each other. TV shows today are spreading a much healthier idea of the relationships and roles that men and women fit into. “Supernatural Girls” are the role models of girls growing up in the current generation.