Revisiting Buffy the Vampire Slayer : Intersectional Feminism in 2019

By Allison Hoag

Over twenty years after the series first premiered, Buffy the Vampire Slayer remains not only as a popular show in the public consciousness, but also as a hotly debated text in the academic sphere. What exactly is it about this demon-fighting, vampire-slaying, teenage girl that has captivated audiences for so long, and why has Buffy spawned so much controversy both publicly and academically? Most importantly, how should Buffy and its various implications about gender, race, and “otherness” be read in 2019?

It is undeniable that Buffy is a somewhat exclusionary narrative that directs our sympathies solely towards its overwhelmingly white and privileged characters. Any feminist inclinations this series espouses are emblematic of the equally exclusionary white feminism. However, even within these constraints—focusing only on feminism impactful to socioeconomically privileged white women—Buffy scholarship continually debates the extent of feminist messaging in the series. In 2019, surface-level white feminism alone is often not seen as enough to define a text as feminist. More and more, people are embracing Kimberle Crenshaw’s notions of intersectionality as a lens through which to evaluate texts. Crenshaw suggested that both feminist and anti-racist movements exclude black women, who face the most discrimination because of the intersection of their race and gender, arguing that “feminism must include an analysis of race if it hopes to express the aspirations of non-white women” (166). This term has since expanded to include class, ability, gender identity, and sexuality in feminist critiques.

Recently, the feminist debate over Buffy has been revisited after a somewhat shocking blog post by Buffy creator Joss Whedon’s ex-wife, Kai Cole, that suggested Whedon is not the “loveable geek-feminist” he presents himself as (Cole). Despite the flaws of its creator, is there still a way for Buffy to be viewed as a feminist show? Is this a matter of separating the artist from the art, or, because his intentions while making this art are being called into question, are the two inextricably linked? In light of these revelations, I intend to reexamine Buffy through Crenshaw’s intersectional lens, focusing less on surface-level feminist readings of this series, but instead shifting the focus onto specific storylines to explore how Whedon addresses topics of gender, race, love, and rape.

***

It is not without reason that critics and fans alike have showered Buffy with feminist praise since its debut in 1997. Not only does this series make Buffy the “subject of traditionally masculine storytelling tropes…, [but] she does it all as a tiny, blonde former cheerleader…the embodiment of the girl her genre usually kills first” (Grady). Buffy takes the idea of a “strong” woman quite literally and manifests a teenage girl with superhuman strength who “must stand against the vampires, demons, and forces of darkness,” as the introduction to each episode reminds us (Whedon). Buffy seems to be a show rife with positive female role models for the impressionable teen and pre-teen girls that make up its audience: Buffy is selfless and strong (physically and emotionally); Willow is kind, intelligent, and stands up for what she believes is right; Cordelia is bold and unafraid to go after what she wants; Tara is loving and is constantly helping and caring for her friends.

Buffy often addresses topics that many members of this teen audience may face, largely through its (sometimes heavy handed) metaphorical use of vampires and demons, as well as online predators (“I Robot…You, Jane”), drinking at parties (“Beer Bad”), and drug addiction (“Wrecked”). Seemingly less metaphorical, however, is its feminism. Throughout the series, Buffy repeatedly defends the whole of humanity against vampires, demons, and the like, maintains positive relationships with the other women in her life, is independent, and has (mostly) healthy romantic relationships. The overt “girl-power” theme of this show is quite clear. However, in its final season, Buffy “raises the explicit feminist stakes of the series considerably” (Pender). While in previous seasons, the metaphorical misogyny of the villains Buffy faces could be debated, season seven’s “big bad” is, “of all the show’s myriad manifestations of evil, the most recognizably misogynist” (Pender). Dubbed “Reverend-I-Hate-Women” by Xander (“Touched”), Caleb can only be defeated if Buffy teams up with and shares her power with all potential Slayers across the globe, an act that takes “female empowerment” quite literally in the series finale.

But how did Buffy get to this point? Buffy wasn’t even initially intended for the pre-teen and teenage girl demographic who would become its main audience. Knowing that this show was originally aimed at a male demographic, “it seems evident that producers did not intend to market a feminist show” (Riordan 292). Not only do some of the feminist statements in Buffy feel painfully forced, but upon deeper exploration, much of this show’s “feminism” is only surface-level and disregards Crenshaw’s notions of intersectionality.

Mary Magoulick, a folklorist and Professor of English, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Women’s Studies at Georgia College (“Mary Magoulick”), explores some of the downfalls of “feminist” shows that were primarily created by men for predominantly male audiences in her article, “Frustrating Female Heroism: Mixed Messages in Xena, Nikita, and Buffy.” Magoulick argues that female heroes like Buffy that are “conceived of and written mostly by men in a still male-dominated world…project the status quo more than they fulfill feminist hopes” (729). An integral part of Magoulick’s argument is the idea that “Buffy [is] less concerned with building or celebrating a world than surviving a hostile one” (745). Although Magoulick acknowledges that recognizing the hostility women face in the world is an important part of feminist conversations, Buffy is widely praised for its progressive presentation of women, not for “presenting the troubling reality women live in” (750). Buffy continually expresses her desire to escape from her responsibilities as the Slayer and lead an average life; yet, she continues fighting vampires and demons, largely due to the pressure from her Watcher, Giles. The idea that Buffy cannot escape her situation because of a social institution—the Watcher’s Council, dominated by men and put in place to control women—provides strong textual support for Magoulick’s claim that Buffy is “reflective of current social inequities and gender roles” (750).

Ultimately Buffy escapes her duties as Slayer, sacrificing herself in the season five finale, only for her friends to later resurrect her, bringing her back from what they believe to be a hell dimension. However, Buffy confesses to Spike, “I think I was in heaven. And now I'm not…this is hell” (“After Life”), making him promise to never tell her friends. After coming back to life, Buffy almost immediately returns to her predetermined social position and initially deals with being brought back into her personal version of hell alone, wanting to protect her friends from the truth. Not only does this arc present the feminist concept of emotional labor as something inherently expected of women, but it also more directly begs the question Magoulick poses regarding the entirety of the series: “Is survival in hell, albeit with occasional victories and humor, the best [women] can imagine?” (748).

***

Magoulick promotes an argument first raised by Elyce Rae Helford that “[Buffy] is laudable for allowing women unusual space to voice and act out anger” while also sending strong implications about what kind of women are allowed to express anger (733). Of the Slayers introduced throughout the series, Buffy is the only one who is allowed to act upon her anger, and most of the time this anger is expressed towards the vampires and demons she fights, not people in her personal life. However, Kendra—a Slayer who is also a woman of color—has her anger framed in a much more negative way. Despite the lack of people of color in Buffy—or possibly because of the show’s few characters played by people of color—race and racism have become prominent topics in Buffy scholarship. A closer examination of direct and indirect racist implications in Buffy reinforces the idea that any feminist tendencies in Buffy fall strictly into the category of white feminism, and the show cannot be considered an example of the intersectional feminism pushed for in 2019.

The intersectional failings of Buffy are further explored by Kent A. Ono, a Professor and former Chair of the Department of Communication at the University of Utah who researches representations of race, gender, sexuality, class, and nation in print, film, and television media (“Kent A. Ono”). In his article, “To Be a Vampire on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Race and (‘Other’) Socially Marginalizing Positions on Horror TV,” Ono argues that Buffy “conveys debilitating images of and ideas about people of color” (163), claiming that “the valorization and heroification [sic] of a white feminist protagonist is constructed through an associated villainization and demonization of people of color” (164). Here, Ono quite literally means demonization. Most of the vampires and demons that appear on this show are played by white actors, so it is not necessarily a question of casting people of color as villains, so much as it is a question of who these villains are intended to be.

As previously established, the writers of Buffy can be somewhat aggressive with their use of metaphor; therefore, it is inarguable that, on Buffy, a vampire isn’t just a vampire. Ono argues that “the marginalization of vampires on the show takes the place of racial marginalization in the world outside the show” (172). In contrast, Magoulick presents a non-racial reading of the teenage vampires as “representative of gangs” (745). Considering the show’s overarching plot, especially the first few seasons Magoulick references when Buffy is still in high school, both of these interpretations are equally valid, and both can be supported by textual evidence. Given the history of representation of people of color on television, it is particularly disturbing that two of the major metaphorical interpretations of vampires on this show are as people of color and as gang members. It is not unreasonable to believe that Whedon and his writers were familiar with racist representations on television that were prominent in the 60s and early 70s, especially because some of these representations still exist twenty years after the show was created. With this understanding, it could be argued that vampires were equally intended to represent people who were racially marginalized and gangs. Ono argues that because the villains of Buffy were the ones chosen to represent people of color, “Buffy…indirectly and directly shows violence by primarily white vigilante youths against people of color in the name of civilization” (168), evoking images of violent white supremacy that are present throughout American history and to the present day.

However, there is a reason Ono describes the “vigilante youths” as only primarily white (168). Kendra, the previously mentioned second Slayer portrayed by Bianca Lawson who is featured in three episodes over the course of Buffy’s second season, is a black woman. Although only appearing in three episodes, Kendra is credited as “offer[ing] the most complex development of a black female character in Buffy” (Edwards 95). While this is technically true, it is important to note that her arc was fairly straightforward, and any character development is as a result of a somewhat racist narrative of acceptance only after assimilation. However, because she is one of the few examples of a prominent character who is a person of color and essentially the only person of color who works with Buffy, I will be examining her in some detail.

Ono argues that because she takes the responsibility of being the Slayer far more seriously, Kendra is a threat to Buffy, causing Buffy’s own racism to emerge. Ono specifically cites “[Buffy’s] discomfort with Kendra’s language…When Buffy uses the word wiggy and Kendra asks what that means, Buffy responds with a racist comment…‘You know, no kicko, no fighto’” (174). However, Buffy’s comment is indicative of a much larger issue in the show’s production team. “By casting Bianca Lawson, a black actress, in the role of Kendra, the second Slayer, [Whedon] makes character a sign imbued with cultural meanings about gender, race, and race relations” (Edwards 87). Kendra is marked as other not only by her skin color, but also by her heavy Jamaican accent, and she is not accepted by Buffy and her friends until she begins to assimilate, sending the message that people of color are responsible for changing themselves if they want to be accepted by white America.

It is important to note that Bianca Lawson’s casting wasn’t accidental. The script specifically delineates Kendra as an “ethnic young woman” (Edwards 91). Whedon has admitted that he did not make any efforts to hire people of color behind the scenes (Busis), so there is a possibility that the overwhelmingly white writers’ room and crew did not detect the racist treatment of Kendra. However, that in itself poses a major issue, not only socially, but also with how we’re supposed to understand the treatment of the few people of color and the metaphorical “people of color”/vampires throughout the series. The absence of people of color behind the scenes could also at least partially account for the Ono’s observation that “no person of color acknowledged as such on the series has been able to remain a significant character. All characters of color…have either died or have failed to reappear” (177).

Although she was killed off after only three episodes, as a black woman, Kendra represents the black women facing discrimination based on both race and gender that Crenshaw advocated for in developing her theory of intersectional feminism. Kendra’s treatment in Buffy is indicative of both the white feminism that will often ignore racist representations in a text because of its slight feminist messaging, and the necessity of including intersectionality in the evaluation and creation of feminist texts.

***

Buffy is filled with incredibly disturbing scenes. We watch Willow get skinned alive by a demon (“Same Time, Same Place”), Buffy’s own mother attempt to burn her at the stake (“Gingerbread”), and a demon stalk and murder sickly children in their hospital beds (“Killed by Death”). However, “Seeing Red” (2002) remains one of Buffy’s most upsetting episodes. Spike corners an injured Buffy in her bathroom and violently attempts to rape her until she is finally able to fight him off. In a recent interview, James Marsters (Spike) described his opposition to the scene, inadvertently pinpointing the reason this scene is so difficult to watch: “My argument was that, actually, when anyone is watching Buffy, they are Buffy…the audience, especially the female audience, they are not superheroes, but they are Buffy” (Marsters). This scene is particularly upsetting not only because of the content, but also because it presents many women’s worst fears—if an injured Buffy, who is still exponentially stronger than an average woman, can barely fight off Spike, what hope do they have of fighting off their attacker? Additionally, Spike is not presented as a violent vampire here: he is presented as human, making this scene more realistic and horrifying.

Wendy Fall, a doctoral candidate at Marquette University and editor of Marquette’s Gothic Archive (“Graduate Research”), discusses this scene at length in her article “Spike Is Forgiven: The Sympathetic Vampire's Resonance with Rape Culture.” She suggests that because James Malcolm Rymer’s Varney the Vampire (1845) is the first English-language vampire narrative that conflates an attack and rape scene, it established a “three-part strategy [gaslighting, silencing the victim, and emphasizing the assailant’s goodness] which encouraged readers to overlook Varney’s sexual violence, and thereby increased their sympathy for him” (Fall 76). She argues that although Spike’s attempted rape technically avoids Rymer’s narrative because he does not attempt to bite Buffy and is never even seen as a vampire, “The more problematic nature of this attack…is in what happens next, when the show adopts similar narrative schemes to Rymer’s to reinforce sympathy for Spike after his attempted sexual assault” (Fall 76).

Fall points out that there are only three more episodes in season six following Spike’s attempted rape, followed by a four-month gap between seasons, prompting the audience to forget how violent and serious it was (77). Not only are Spike and Buffy not seen together for the rest of the season, but they are separated because attempting to rape Buffy acts as a catalyst for Spike’s quest to get his soul back. This gives the audience time to develop sympathy for Spike as they watch him go through painful trials as he tries to recover his soul, while diminishing the severity of the attempted rape in their minds—because, surely, someone willing to go to this extent to obtain their soul and be a better person would never have acted as violently as he did.

Fall argues that Buffy also follows Varney’s narrative strategy of silencing the victim because “the show’s writers seem unwilling to allow the characters to have further discussion on the topic; Buffy never tells anyone the full story, and after this scene, she rarely mentions it again” (78). Fall further claims that “they had access to a strong female character and the opportunity to address her experience of trauma, but they opt not to pursue it” (78). Surely, at least part of the reason we never see Buffy attempting to deal with the emotional aftermath of someone she trusted trying to rape her is because the larger narrative suggests a degree of victim blaming that cannot coexist with holding Spike accountable for his actions. Prior to this scene, Buffy and Spike had been having a consensual sexual relationship, and Buffy attributes the start of this relationship to her “bad kissing decisions” (“Smashed”), so “when Spike attempts to rape her, it seems like an inevitable consequence of her poor decisions” (Nichol).

Finally, Fall suggests that Buffy completes this pattern when it “adopts a narrative strategy that redirects attention away from sexual violence by emphasizing the assailant’s positive contributions” (80). Not only does the rest of season six focus on Spike’s attempt to regain a soul, but the early episodes of season seven also show Spike as psychologically damaged as he comes to terms with the harm he caused as a vampire, putting Buffy and the audience in a position to want to pity Spike when we next see Spike and Buffy interact. Fall suggests that this plotline goes further than simply asking the audience to excuse the fact that this character tried to rape someone. She argues that “the vampire narrative’s memory-altering strategies are also deployed to reinforce rape culture, mostly in the cases of assailants who have sufficient financial power to reframe their own narratives to emphasize their better deeds” (Fall 83). This narrative is everywhere, especially after it became widely acceptable, even expected, to report on the #MeToo movement. It’s unfortunate that this supposedly feminist show perpetuates and validates this narrative that has successfully allowed so many rapists to escape legal scrutiny; Brock Turner’s swimming career comes to mind as a relatively recent example. While Fall ends her article on a relatively hopeful note, providing research stating that articles—like hers—that challenge rape myths can make people more likely to believe survivors than assailants (83), arguments for forgiving Spike still abound.

In 2017, Alyssa Rosenberg, an opinion writer for the Washington Post who covers culture and politics (“Alyssa Rosenberg”), made a case for why both Buffy and the audience should have a more forgiving view of Spike. In her article, “On ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” we fell for the Slayer along with Angel, Riley and Spike," Rosenberg specifically addresses this scene as a “horrifying…illustration that Spike’s gestures are not the same as moral reform” (Rosenberg); however, she identifies it as “the catalyst for a quest that ends with Spike…earning back his soul and sacrificing himself to save the world” (Rosenberg). Rosenberg’s argument falls flat in a way many rapist-apology narratives do. She directly acknowledges the horror of the narrative, both literally in the scene and also in the audience’s minds as they grapple with the fact that this character who is supposedly trying to reform himself can still do something this violent; yet, she quickly glosses over it. Rosenberg immediately dives into how trying to rape Buffy influenced Spike to become a better person, without addressing how it affected Buffy—the actual victim. She highlights that Whedon’s integration of the narrative tactics Rymer introduced to get the audience to want to forgive Spike were effective.

Rosenberg argues that although Spike “commits some of the show’s cruelest acts…he sacrifices the most in an attempt to atone for his sins” (Rosenberg). She additionally characterizes his arc following his attempted rape of Buffy as “a journey that encourages us to think about the conditions under which even someone guilty of heinous acts can perform genuine penance and achieve real redemption” (Rosenberg). Interestingly, her choice of the word “penance” invokes a religious underscoring that implies that once he has performed this penance, Buffy, and by extension, the audience who identifies with her, have no choice but to forgive him. Additionally, none of the “penance” Rosenberg describes is directed towards Buffy. Spike undoubtedly goes through physically and emotionally painful trials as he attempts to regain his soul; however, this is not so much penance as it is a self-centered act. Spike believes that getting a soul might make Buffy finally love him, eventually “becom[ing] a legitimate romantic interest after the near-rape incident” (Nichol).

Rosenberg claims that Buffy “explored where evil and misogyny come from and urged us to fight them,” while simultaneously “ask[ing] those of us who loved Buffy and identified with her to contemplate grace and forgiveness” (Rosenberg). She technically is not wrong here, Whedon absolutely positions us to want to forgive Spike. However, I would venture to argue that the question up for debate is not so much the question Rosenberg poses of are we put in a position to forgive him, as it is, should we be put in a position to forgive him. Buffy is intended to be a role model for the pre-teen and teenage girls who watch the series. Yet, here, it sends a very damaging message: if you have a consensual sexual relationship with someone without loving them, you’re responsible if they attempt to rape you; but even if someone tries to rape you, you should easily forgive them and possibly begin a romantic relationship with them because they may change.

***

In the past few years, the public feminist conversation has shifted towards embracing Crenshaw’s idea of intersectionality. This has therefore influenced the ways we read all texts, even texts such as Buffy that were created after Crenshaw’s paper was first published but before intersectionality was a major concern of the feminist movement. Additionally, the #MeToo movement has revealed the prevalence of the abuse of power by men in all sectors, but notably in Hollywood. Joss Whedon admittedly “didn’t make a point of hiring female directors…[or] people of color’” (Busis); explicitly equated a woman unable to have children with the Hulk—yes, that Hulk (Yang); and, as recently as 2015, refused to call himself a feminist (Busis). The combination of these two public paradigm shifts, closer examinations of Whedon both personally and as a creator, as well as Kai Cole’s disturbing essay about her ex-husband has many people questioning what Whedon’s work can add to the cultural conversation surrounding feminism in 2019. Is the problematic nature of Joss Whedon a matter of separating the artist from the art, or, because his intentions while making this art are being called into question, are the two inextricably linked?

Joss Whedon has made his name creating and writing shows featuring strong female characters. However, he does not seem to understand that “having a girl beat up guys is not equivalent to a strong female character when they always, constantly depend on men” (Simons). Yet, he has still managed to create a career and profit off of television’s lack of actual strong female characters, catering to a largely underserved audience who hoped to see any sort of feminist ideas in fictional television. “Whedon’s openly feminist agenda, frequently mentioned in interviews, has provided an interpretive framework for much Buffy scholarship” (Berridge 478). Whedon pushes this narrative and the public’s perception of him as a well-meaning feminist, while refusing to be labeled as such “because suddenly that’s the litmus test for everything you do…if you don’t live up to the litmus test of feminism in this one instance, then you’re a misogynist” (Busis). It’s upsetting for fans of Buffy to realize that its creator feels that unless he is overtly espousing feminist ideas, his writing will be seen as misogynistic—which, it has been, he’s been criticized for both his Avengers: Age of Ultron script (Yang) and his rejected Wonder Woman script (White).

Although his public persona is that of a feminist, a closer look at his work and his personal life tells a very different story. In a commentary DVD extra for the second season of Buffy, Whedon discusses writing the script for the initial confrontation between Buffy and Angelus, saying “It felt icky that I could make him say these things. It felt icky and kind of powerful. It was very uncomfortable and very exciting for me to do it” (Nichol). This short piece of commentary is a perfect metaphor for Whedon’s career. He’s trying to be seen as “more” of a feminist by claiming he had no idea how he could write a scene where his heroine is eviscerated by her (newly-evil) boyfriend after having sex with him. However, he’s actually taking what could’ve been a moment to discuss the prevalence of slut shaming in our culture and refocusing it on himself.

Not only has his work contained misogynistic and offensive language toward women, but according to his ex-wife, Kai Cole’s, guest blog on The Wrap, he has also had several inappropriate affairs “with his actresses, co-workers, fans, and friends” (Cole). Aside from cheating on his wife, as creator and producer of several prominent series—at least in terms of his actresses, co-workers, and fans—it could be argued that he objectively had more power in these situations. This begs the question of exactly how consensual these affairs were and how much, if any, (possibly unintentional) coercion may have been involved. Furthermore, Cole says he wrote her a letter trying to excuse these affairs, explaining that he “was surrounded by beautiful, needy, aggressive young women” (Cole), and blaming them, rather than taking responsibility for his actions. This pattern of blame is unsettlingly close to the blame Buffy endures for her relationship with Spike.

***

Despite the shortcomings of both this show and its creator, Buffy was, and remains, a prominent series in the lives of many of the pre-teen and teenage girls who have watched and grown with Buffy and her friends since its 1997 premiere—this author included. However, as we become more educated on certain cultural topics, we—especially those of us in positions of power and privilege—are often forced to reconcile our love of certain texts with their more problematic aspects.

I began this essay with a very different conception of Buffy than I have now. Admittedly, I bought into the allure of this series’ surface-level feminism and girl power when I was watching it for the first time. Sure, it was sometimes overtly problematic, but the positive aspects seemed to outweigh the negatives. I thought that this essay would reveal the surface-level feminism of Buffy ran much deeper than I originally realized—not the opposite. A closer examination of Buffy has revealed that the issues with this series are far more serious than its creator’s personal failings. Reading Buffy as a cultural text exposes a series of disturbing messages. Moreover, even when it does put forth feminist ideas, they often fall under the more exclusionary sect of white feminism, completely ignoring Crenshaw’s proposed intersectionality, which had been published nearly a decade before Buffy’s premiere.

The question of how Buffy should be read in 2019 is a question that has been repeated a lot recently: Can the Harvey Weinstein’s films still be appreciated? What about The Cosby Show? Or shows affiliated with Fox Broadcasting, and, therefore, Roger Ailes? While some argue that these men and any texts or media associated with them should be “cancelled,” others call for a separation between the artist and the art. However, I would argue that, at least for Buffy, it is not so much about separating the artist from the art as it is about recognizing the art for what it is—its limits included.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my mom for proofreading all 4,500-odd words of this and catching the many mistakes I missed. I would also like to profusely thank Mary Kovaleski Byrnes for her support, guidance, and the much-needed periodic confidence boosts.

Works Cited

“After Life.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 6, episode 3, UPN, 9 Oct. 2001. Hulu, www.hulu.com/watch/70c15619-2955-499f-b1ca-48bb650ad68f.

"Alyssa Rosenberg." The Washington Post, The Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com/people/alyssa-rosenberg/?utm_term=.29211618cb7b. Accessed 30 Mar. 2019.

“Beer Bad.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 4, episode 5, The WB, 2 Nov. 1999. Hulu,www.hulu.com/watch/6ce16885-24ba-48b0-b729-b01c3b52213d.

Berridge, Susan. "Teen heroine TV: narrative complexity and sexual violence in female-fronted teen drama series." New Review of Film & Television Studies, vol. 11, no. 4, Dec. 2013, pp. 477-96. ESCOhost, doi:10.1080/17400309.2013.809565.

“Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 2, episode 16, The WB, 10 Feb. 1998. Hulu, www.hulu.com/watch/4569c5ed-aebc-4cea-86ce-8e05f2fbef4f.

Busis, Hillary. "Joss Whedon Declares Himself a "Woke Bae"." Vanity Fair, 10 Mar. 2017, www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/03/joss-whedon-woke-bae-feminism-buffy-the-vampire-slayer.

Crenshaw, Kimberle. "Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist

Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics." University of Chicago Legal Forum, vol. 1989, no. 1, 1989, pp. 139-67, chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf/vol1989/iss1/8.

Cole, Kai. "Joss Whedon Is a ‘Hypocrite Preaching Feminist Ideals,’ Ex-Wife Kai Cole Says (Guest Blog)." The Wrap, Aug. 2017, www.thewrap.com/joss-whedon-feminist-hypocrite-infidelity-affairs-ex-wife-kai-cole-says/.

Edwards, Lynne. “Slaying in Black and White: Kendra as Tragic Mulatta in Buffy.” Fighting the Forces: What's at Stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, edited by Rhonda V. Wilcox and

David Lavery, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002, pp. 85–97.

Elison, Meg. "The Non-Toxic Masculinity of Rupert Giles." Syfy Wire, 17 June 2018, www.syfy.com/syfywire/the-non-toxic-masculinity-of-rupert-giles.

Fall, Wendy. "Spike Is Forgiven: The Sympathetic Vampire's Resonance with Rape Culture." Slayage, vol. 48, Summer/Fall 2018, pp. 68-86. EBSCOhost, proxy.emerson.edu/login?url=search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f3h&AN=133526410&site=eds-live.

“Gingerbread.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 3, episode 11, The WB, 12 Jan. 1999. Hulu,www.hulu.com/watch/666ff3b9-c7d6-4f5f-adaf-3483ce8add76.

"Graduate Research." Marquette University, Marquette University, 2018, www.marquette.edu/english/research-graduate.php. Accessed 30 Mar. 2019.

Grady, Constane. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer's feminism is still subversive, 20 years later." Vox, 10 Mar. 2017, www.vox.com/culture/2017/3/10/14868588/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-feminism-20th-anniversary.

“I Robot…You, Jane.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 1, episode 8, The WB, 28 Apr. 1997. Hulu, www.hulu.com/watch/6232c153-896e-4d99-b152-9feed2f99fd1.

"Kent A. Ono." University of Utah Profiles, University of Utah, faculty.utah.edu/u0849982-Kent_A._Ono/hm/index.hml.

“Killed by Death.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 2, episode 18, The WB, 3 Mar. 1998. Hulu, www.hulu.com/watch/75cb8a45-13ec-4b44-91a3-920d85cc6908.

Luria, Rachel. “Nothing Left but Skin and Cartilage: The Body and Toxic Masculinity.” Sexual Rhetoric in the Works of Joss Whedon: New Essays, edited by Erin B. Waggoner,

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2010, pp. 185-193.

Magoulick, Mary. "Frustrating female heroism: Mixed messages in Xena. Nikita, and Buffy." Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 39, no. 5, Oct. 2006, pp. 729-55. EBSCOhost, proxy.emerson.edu/login?url=search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgao& AN=edsgcl.153778141&site=eds-live.

Marsters, James. “Buffy’s James Marsters on the hardest day of his professional life.” The A.V. Club, 9 Mar. 2017, https://tv.avclub.com/buffy-s-james-marsters-on-the-hardest-day-of-his-profes-1798258915.

"Mary Macgoulick." Folklore Connections, Georgia College & State University, 1 Apr. 2001, faculty.gcsu.edu/custom-website/mary-magoulick/.

Nicol, Rhonda. “When You Kiss Me, I Want to Die”: Arrested Feminism in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Twilight Series. Gale, Cengage Learning. EBSCOhost, proxy.emerson.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e dsglr&AN=edsgcl.H1100110197&site=eds-live.

Ono, Kent A. “To Be a Vampire on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Race and (‘Other’) Socially Marginalizing Positions on Horror TV.” Fantasy Girls: Gender in the New Universe of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television, edited by Elyce Rae Helford, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2000, pp. 163–186.

Pender, Patricia. "Buffy Summers: Third-Wave Feminist Icon." The Atlantic, 31 July 2016, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/07/how-buffy-became-a-third-wave-feminist-icon/493154/.

Riordan, Ellen. "Commodified agents and empowered girls: consuming and producing feminism." Journal of Communication Inquiry, vol. 25, no. 3, July 2001, pp. 279-97. EBSCOhost, proxy.emerson.edu/login?url=search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx direct=true&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl.78260548&site=eds-live.

Rosenberg, Alyssa. "On ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer,’ we fell for the Slayer along with Angel,Riley and Spike." Editorial. The Washington Post, 10 Mar. 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2017/03/10/on-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-we-fell-for-the-slayer-along-with-angel-riley-and-spike/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.90b458f0de94.

“Same Time, Same Place.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 7, episode 3, UPN, 8 Oct. 2002. Hulu, www.hulu.com/watch/f9a3b884-b72b-4bef-81e4-bcd95b002608.

Simons, Natasha. "Reconsidering the Feminism of Joss Whedon." The Mary Sue, edited by Kaila

Hale-Stern and Dan Van Winkle, Dan Abrams, 10 Apr. 2011, www.themarysue.com/ reconsidering-the-feminism-of-joss-whedon/.

“Smashed.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 6, episode 9, UPN, 20 Nov. 2001. Hulu, www.hulu.com/watch/7728e9d5-e05d-4be3-ac93-d8792a018e54.

“Touched.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 7, episode 20, UPN, 6 May 2003. Hulu,www.hulu.com/watch/ba2c6e7c-b015-47d2-8c62-4f16be64c579.

Whedon, Joss. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The WB and UPN, 1997-2003.

White, Adam. "Five time Joss Whedon, self-proclaimed 'woke bae', blew his feminist credentials." The Telegraph, edited by Martin Chilton, The Daily Telegraph, 21 Aug. 2017, www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/joss-whedon-5-times-blew-feminist-credentials/.

“Wrecked.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 6, episode 10, UPN, 27 Nov. 2001. Hulu, www.hulu.com/watch/661f80ab-5cdc-426f-a494-283b03cf2ca6.

Yang, Jeff. "Is Joss Whedon a feminist?" Editorial. CNN Wire, 8 May 2015. EBSCOhost, www.cnn.com/2015/05/08/opinions/yang-joss-whedon-feminism/index.html.

New Young Adult Releases Coming Out Today! (January 21st, 2020) ___

Have I missed any new Young Adult releases? Have you added any of these books to your TBR? Let me know! ___

New Standalones/First in a Series:

The Circus Rose by Betsy Cornwell

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

Layoverland by gabby Noone

What I Carry by Jennifer Longo

Not So Pure & Simple by Lamar Giles

Gone by Nightfall by Dee Garretson

Wardens of Eternity by Courtney Allison Moulton

Ashlords by Scott Reintgen

Rogue Princess by B.R. Myers

The Good Hawk by Joseph Elliott

Spellhacker by M.K. England

Hungry Hearts by Julie Hoag

___

New Sequels: 

The Hand on the Wall (Truly Devious #3) by Maureen Johnson

This Vicious Cure (This Mortal Coil #3) by Emily Suvada

The Iron Will of Genie Lo (The Epic Crush of Genie Lo #2) by F.C. Yee

Devil Darling Spy (Orphan Monster Spy #2) by Matt Killeen

Off Script (Seeking Mansfield #3) by Kate Watson

___

Happy reading!

Chargers and Hoag Orthopedic Institute Come Together to Inspire Athletic Training Students

Representatives from Hoag along with Chargers Head Athletic Trainer Damon Mitchell and Assistant Athletic Trainer/Physical Therapist Allison Miner ... from Google Alert - Physical Therapist http://bit.ly/2HXuIar

Bad Words

Food As Medicine: It's Not Just A Fringe Idea Anymore

Several times a month, you can find a doctor in the aisles of Ralph's market in Huntington Beach, Calif., wearing a white coat and helping people learn about food. On one recent day, this doctor was Daniel Nadeau, wandering the cereal aisle with Allison Scott, giving her some ideas on how to feed kids who studiously avoid anything that tastes healthy. "Have you thought about trying smoothies in the morning?" he asks her. "The frozen blueberries and raspberries are a little cheaper, and berries are really good for the brain." Scott is delighted to get food advice from a physician who is program director of the nearby Mary and Dick Allen Diabetes Center, part of the St. Joseph Hoag Health alliance. The center's "Shop with Your Doc" program sends doctors to the grocery store to meet with any patients who sign up for the service, plus any other shoppers who happen by with questions. Nadeau notices the macaroni-and-cheese boxes in Scott's shopping cart and suggests she switch to whole grain pasta and real cheese. "So I'd have to make it?" she asks, her enthusiasm waning at the thought of how long that might take, just to have her kids reject it. "I'm not sure they'd eat it. They just won't eat it." Nadeau says sugar and processed foods are big contributors to the rising diabetes rates among children. "In America, over 50 percent of our food is processed food," Nadeau tells her. "And only 5 percent of our food is plant-based food. I think we should try to reverse that." Scott agrees to try more smoothies for the kids and to make real macaroni and cheese. Rack up one point for the doctor, zero for diabetes. A small revolution brewing Nadeau is part of a small revolution brewing across California. The food-as-medicine movement has been around for decades, but it's making inroads as physicians and medical institutions make food a formal part of treatment, rather than relying solely on medications. By prescribing nutritional changes or launching programs such as "Shop with Your Doc," they're trying to prevent, limit or even reverse disease by changing what patients eat. "There's no question people can take things a long way toward reversing diabetes, reversing hypertension, even preventing cancer by food choices," Nadeau says. In the big picture, says Dr. Richard Afable, CEO and president of St. Joseph Hoag Health, medical institutions across the state are starting to make a philosophical switch to becoming a health organization, not just a health care organization. That sentiment echoes the tenets of the Therapeutic Food Pantry program at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, which completed its pilot phase and is about to expand on an ongoing basis to five clinic sites throughout the city. The program will offer patients several bags of food prescribed for their condition, along with intensive training in how to cook it. "We really want to link food and medicine, and not just give away food," says Dr. Rita Nguyen, the hospital's medical director of Healthy Food Initiatives. "We want people to understand what they're eating, how to prepare it, the role food plays in their lives." In Southern California, Loma Linda University School of Medicine is offering specialized training for its resident physicians in Lifestyle Medicine — that's a formal subspecialty in using food to treat disease. Research on the power of food to treat or reverse disease is beginning to accumulate, but that doesn't mean diet alone is always the solution, or that every illness can benefit substantially from dietary changes. Nonetheless, physicians say they look at the cumulative data and a clear picture emerges: that the salt, sugar, fat and processed foods in the American diet contribute to the nation's high rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. According to the World Health Organization, 80 percent of deaths from heart disease and stroke are caused by high blood pressure, tobacco use, elevated cholesterol and low consumption of fruits and vegetables. "It's a different paradigm of how to treat disease," says Dr. Brenda Rea, who helps run the family and preventive medicine residency program at Loma Linda University School of Medicine. Choosing which foods to prescribe The lifestyle medicine subspecialty is designed to train doctors in how to prevent and treat disease, in part, by changing patients' nutritional habits. The medical center and school at Loma Linda also has a food pantry and kitchen for patients. Many people don't know how to cook, Rea says; they only know how to heat things up. That means depending on packaged food with high salt and sugar content. So teaching people about which foods are nutritious and how to prepare them, she says, can actually transform a patient's life. And beyond that, it might transform the health and lives of that patient's family. "What people eat can be medicine or poison," Rea says. "As a physician, nutrition is one of the most powerful things you can change to reverse the effects of chronic disease." Studies have explored evidence that dietary changes can slow inflammation, for example, or make the body inhospitable to cancer cells. In general, many lifestyle medicine physicians recommend a plant-based diet — particularly for people with diabetes or other inflammatory conditions. "As what happened with tobacco, this will require a cultural shift, but that can happen," says Nguyen. "In the same way physicians used to smoke, and then stopped smoking and were able to talk to patients about it, I think physicians can have a bigger voice in it." Do visit to get your article posted on http://seotrafficsite.com/services/digital-marketing/ This story originally appeared on the website of member station KQED in California. Source: Food As Medicine: It's Not Just A Fringe Idea Anymore first published in http://www.npr.org

Events We're Attending...

New Post has been published on http://type2diabetestreatment.net/diabetes-mellitus/events-were-attending/

Events We're Attending...

The DiabetesMine team travels around the country attending and speaking at diabetes and health conferences, briefings and meet-ups. If you are also attending one of these events, we would love to meet you!

2016

January 24: Amy presented and participated in a discussion panel at the TypeOne Nation Summit JDRF Los Angeles - Central Coast, held in Santa Barbara, CA.

January 31: Amy was the featured closing speaker at the T1Day conference in Berlin, Germany, via Skype. This was her first-ever presentation done in the German language!

February 24: Amy spoke at the JDRF Los Angeles T1D Tightrope event, to be held at the the Mary & Dick Allen Diabetes Center at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach.

March 13: Amy spoke at the JDRF TypeOne Nation Summit in Los Angeles.

May 14: Mike attended the 9th annual TypeOne Nation Summit in Metro Detroit, put on by the JDRF Southeast Michigan chapter. This is one of the largest longest-running events of its kind that the JDRF chapters have held nationwide. One of this year's featured keynote speakers was Dr. Francine Kaufman of Medtronic.

June 10-14: Both Mike and Amy were on the ground at the American Diabetes Association's annual Scientific Sessions, which brings in about 17,000 people from across the world and was held this year in New Orleans. You can see our coverage on The Science and the Technology News from this conference.

July 6: Mike attended the third annual MasterLab hosted by the Diabetes Hands Foundation and held in conjunction with the CWD Friends For Life conference in Orlando, FL. Read our coverage here.

July 6-10: Our own Wil Dubois experienced his first time at the annual Children With Diabetes Friends For Life conference in Orlando, FL. You can read about his time at FFL here.

August 12-15: Amy attended this year's American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) annual meeting, in San Diego.

August 29: Our team will be tuning in for the live webcast of a public workshop being held by the U.S. FDA, to look at diabetes outcomes beyond A1C. You can tune in for live social media coverage by following the hashtags #BeyondA1C and #DOCasksFDA on Twitter. Read our recent news coverage on this, also.

September 9-11: Mike will be attending the Diabetes UnConferece, which is being held for the first time on the East Coast in Atlantic City.

2015

February 5: Amy spoke at the MedX San Francisco chapter on Advocating for Patient-Centric Design.

February 27: Amy attended the Sanofi Partners in Patient Care Diabetes Advocacy Summit in Washington, D.C.

April 16: Amy participated in a patient panel at the American Journal of Managed Care meeting on "Patient-Centered Diabetes Care" in Boston.

April 29: Digital Hollywood Summit in Marina del Rey, CA. Amy participated in two panels in the Health Media and Technology track.

June 5: We hosted our fourth-ever DiabetesMine D-Data ExChange #WeAreNotWaiting event in Boston, MA.

June 5-7: The American Diabetes Association's 75th Scientific Sessions in Boston, MA. The 'Mine team was there, covering the action. Amy delivered a session talk on "Social Media: Part of the Diabetes Prescription?"

July 6-10: The annual Children with Diabetes Friends for Life Conference in Orlando, FL. Our team participated and covered the conference.

August 5-8: The AADE annual conference was held in New Orleans. Our correspondent Wil Dubois was in attendance, covering the action for our readers.

September 9: Amy gave the Patient Keynote address at the 5th annual MedTech Vision conference in Palo Alto, which focuses on Women in Health.

September 30: Amy spoke on her work in diabetes innovation at Stanford University's Biodesign for Mobile Health program.

October 14: Amy to spoke virtually (via Skype) to the T1D Lounge group in Chicago, on how patients are becoming more integral to the medical design and innovation process.

November 19: We hosted the Fall 2015 DiabetesMine D-Data ExChange #WeAreNotWaiting event at Stanford University.

November 20: We hosted our 2015 DiabetesMine Innovation Summit at Stanford University School of Medicine.

2014

January 9-11: Our team was waylaid, but we did our best to "virtually cover" the 3rd annual Medtronic Diabetes Advocates Forum in Northern California.

February 10-13: Amy spoke on a panel at Medtech World West in Anaheim, CA — topic was the patient perspective on comfort and aesthetics of medical devices that must be worn every day.

March 30: Amy delivered the lunchtime keynote talk at the Carb DM mother-daughter diabetes weekend in Dublin, CA.

April 11: American Journal of Managed Care meeting on "Patient-Centered Diabetes Care: Putting Theory Into Practice" in New Jersey. Amy participated in one panel about ways to improve "adherence" and overcome disparities to enable better access to care, and a second panel about "the role of payers in diabetes care."

May 19: Amy presented in the 2014 DigiHealth Pulse Virtual conference, on advances in digital health solutions.

May 29: Amy presented in Stanford University's Design for Health class, run by Drs. Larry Chu and Kyra Bobinet.

June 13-17: ADA 74th Scientific Sessions were held in Amy's backyard in San Francisco, CA, for 2014; we were all over the big diabetes conference with "the latest and greatest" in all things diabetes for the medical and scientific community.

June 13: We hosted our Summer DiabetesMine D-Data ExChange event at a venue just blocks from San Francisco's Moscone Center.

August 6-9: The AADE annual conference was held in Orlando, FL. Our correspondent Wil Dubois was in attendance, covering the action for our readers.

September 5-7: Amy was excited to be part of MedX Stanford 2014, "a catalyst for new ideas about the future of medicine and emerging technologies."

October 1: Amy participated in a panel on "Mobile Health Applications" at Stanford University's Biodesign for Mobile Health program.

October 29: Amy spoke in a Stanford University course on Medical Device Design, addressing "The Patient Perspective."

November 5: The Diabetes Technology Society held a Payers' Meeting in Bethesda, MD, to discuss their new after-market surveillance program; Amy presented alongside other advocates on "Patient Perspectives."

November 20: We hosted the Fall 2014 DiabetesMine D-Data ExChange event in Palo Alto, CA — a half-day gathering of key innovators creating applications and platforms that leverage diabetes data to produce healthier outcomes. #WeAreNotWaiting

November 21: We hosted the 2014 DiabetesMine Innovation Summit at Stanford School of Medicine; see our Advisory Board here. And see our event coverage here!

2013

March 23, 2013: TCOYD conference in Santa Clara, CA. Amy was involved in the new Type 1 Track!

April 13, 2013: Amy was a judge in the Health Technology Forum Code-a-Thon in San Francisco, CA, where developers, patients, clinical providers, artists and designers will compete to create the most useful health product.

April 19, 2013: Health Technology Forum innovations for the underserved event at UC San Francisco. Amy participated in the Patient Engagement panel.

April 29-30, 2013: Lilly Diabetes Bloggers Summit in Indianapolis, IN. Mike was one of many diabetes advocates attending and covering this second annual event at the company's headquarters.

May 3-5, 2013: The Diabetes Sisters Weekend for Women conference in Raleigh, NC. Amy presented on Diabetes Technology, and also appeared at one of 5 downtown Raleigh restaurants on Saturday night as part of the Sisters' new "Night on the Town" program.

May 18, 2013: The 6th annual JDRF Today and Tomorrow Conference in the suburbs of Detroit, MI. Held by the Southeast Michigan chapter. Mike attended and gave a presentation about the Diabetes Online Community (DOC).

May 21, 2013: The first-ever Diabetes Hope Conference was held online, gathering a number of D-bloggers and advocates along with medical experts, to discuss diabetes complications, and how we can share stories in the online community without feeling discouraged or losing hope.

June 21-25, 2013: The American Diabetes Association's 73nd Scientific Sessions in Chicago, IL. The 'Mine team was there, covering the action!

July 9-14, 2013: The international Children with Diabetes Friends for Life Conference in Lake Buena Vista, FL. Mike was on hand to participate in new tracks for Adults with Type 1 Diabetes, and cover the conference (along with his wife, Suzi!).

August 7-10, 2013: The American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA. Amy helped run a program to train diabetes educators in understanding and engaging with social media, and others from the 'Mine team were there to cover the conference!

September 8-10, 2013: Mayo Transform symposium at the legendary Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Amy participated in a feature panel on Healthcare Design.

September 27-29, 2013: MedicineX at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA. Amy is a member of the event advisory board. See our guest report on all the action.

October 3-5, 2013: Joslin Diabetes Center Diabetes + Innovation 2013 conference in Washington, D.C. Amy took part in a panel on the value of social media for patients, and she's been invited to become a member of the Advisory Board for this event as well.

November 15, 2013: We hosted the 2013 DiabetesMine Innovation Summit at Stanford University.

2012

June 8-11, 2012: The American Diabetes Association's 72nd Scientific Sessions Philadelphia, PA. Amy, Mike + Allison were all there!

July 4-8, 2012: The international Children with Diabetes Friends for Life Conference in Orlando, FL. Allison was on hand to participate and cover the conference.

July 13, 2012: Diabetes Youth Foundation of Indiana's Ice Cream Social on the Circle in Indianapolis. Mike is a DYFI board member and was there scooping ice cream and volunteering his time.

July 29-31, 2012: Roche Diagnostics Social Media Summit in Indianapolis. Mike attended and covered this summit in his hometown.

August 1-4, 2012: The American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, IN. Amy spoke in a session on "Using Social Media to Power Your Practice," while Mike & Allison covered the action.

September 23-25, 2012: Joslin Diabetes Center Diabetes + Innovation 2012 event in Boston, MA. Amy participated in a panel on "App Support for Diabetes Self-Management."

September 28-30, 2012: MedicineX at Stanford University. Amy moderated a panel on the theme of the "Networked Patient," and Mike was there covering all the e-Patient action.

November 8-10, 2012: Diabetes Technology Society Meeting in Bethesda, MD. Amy presented on the topic "Using Social Media to Increase Awareness / Adoption of Diabetes Technology."

November 14-17, 2012: Global Diabetes Summit at Ohio State University in Columbus, OH. Mike was present to report on all the latest research news.

November 16, 2012: Our very own DiabetesMine Innovation Summit took place at Stanford University Medical School. Read the FDA's response post here.

See also, event updates on our twitter feed.

Disclaimer: Content created by the Diabetes Mine team. For more details click here.

Disclaimer

This content is created for Diabetes Mine, a consumer health blog focused on the diabetes community. The content is not medically reviewed and doesn't adhere to Healthline's editorial guidelines. For more information about Healthline's partnership with Diabetes Mine, please click here.

Type 2 Diabetes Treatment Type 2 Diabetes Diet Diabetes Destroyer Reviews Original Article

It Could’ve Been Me: An Essay in Five Locations

By Allison Hoag - 

I wasn’t allowed to watch horror movies growing up. When I begged my mom to let me see a horror movie with my best friend the summer before 7th grade, she recounted the plot of Silence of the Lambs. In an overconfident act of pre-teen rebellion, I proceeded to find The Human Centipede on Netflix, watched about twenty minutes, and was then unable to sleep for several days. Eventually, I was able to escape this fictional world and sleep soundly in the safe—and, admittedly, somewhat dull—suburb of Cherry Hill, New Jersey. It was a place where my parents only had to warn me to look both ways before crossing the street and watch out for potholes when I was on my bike. I felt safe, I had fun, and I was naïve: all the things you should be as a child.

I was blissfully unaware of the dangers that lurked in the shadows of cities and suburbs like mine across the country, rarely to be discussed openly. I’ve become more aware of human trafficking in recent years, but for a long time, I had no concept of how pervasive it was. Since 2007, the National Human Trafficking Hotline has received 3,331 calls regarding trafficking in New Jersey, and there have been a total of 1,012 cases confirmed by authorities, many of which included multiple victims. This year alone, there have already been 189 calls and 98 formal reports of sex trafficking in the state (“New Jersey”). Reading these statistics petrified me. I know I have not always been as careful as I perhaps should have been, and in many ways, I seem to have been lucky living so close to life-altering danger. 

However, once I entered high school, I felt like I was no longer able to go more than a few days without hearing frenzied warnings about personal safety, and these warnings only increased as my friends and I began driving. We whispered about trafficking in the halls, as if pretending not to speak about it would make it less real. My friend told me not to go to a Starbucks a few towns over. I heard that someone found a fake parking ticket on their windshield. A girl in my AP Gov class said that her parents stopped letting her drive to her job at the mall. Someone shared a post on Facebook that warned people about women posing as members of a religious group. My friend almost attended a Bible study group that could not be less interested in the words of Jesus. Suddenly, I realized that my very own dull state, my own sleepy suburb, held many more real terrors than any movie my mom prevented me from watching. 

 Although the convenience of I-95 makes my own state a hub for sex trafficking (Curry and Moticha), and I’ve been told places to avoid and tactics to look out for, I know very little about sex trafficking other than what I’ve heard about how to avoid it. Aside from a broad definition, I’m left with countless questions: Do I trust what I’ve been told about tactics of traffickers? Is there any way to share information to keep others safe without alerting these traffickers to change their tactics? How can victims be found? Are victims typically found? What can I do? Sex trafficking certainly isn’t confined to one area; however, stories of victims in New Jersey make me realize the proximity of my life to these victims of modern-day slavery who would give anything just to have the freedom I enjoy close by.

***

Tanger Outlets: Atlantic City, NJ

For the past several summers, I’ve looked forward to going to the outlets in Atlantic City with my mom, cousin, aunt, and grandmother. However, for many victims such as Holly Austin Smith, Atlantic City was not the exciting experience I looked forward to each year. When she was fourteen, Holly struggled with depression and feared her looming freshman year of high school. That summer, she met a man at the mall, and they exchanged numbers. He would call her at night while her parents sat in the next room watching television, utterly oblivious to the danger their daughter was putting herself in. Holly felt that this man was one of the only people in her life who took the time to get to know her, understand her fears, and ask about her dreams—which made the idea of escaping her life by running away from home to be with him alluring. As the summer dwindled and her fears about high school were coming to a head, Holly decided to run away from her home, her family, her friends, and her fears, straight into the arms of a sex trafficker. Within a few hours, she had been put to work as a prostitute in Atlantic City. Fortunately, the very next night she was seen by a police officer. He immediately realized she was underage and arrested her, only to later discover that she was a victim rescued from a future of sex trafficking (Smith). Depending on which study you cite and their data pool, the average age of entry into sex trafficking greatly varies; however, a 2015 DOJ study of minors sex trafficked in the U.S. reported an average age of fifteen years old (“Average Age”). These children’s lives are upended; they are unwillingly solicited for sex before they are even allowed to get their learner’s permit. Although it was only three years ago, the age of fifteen seems incredibly far away. I do, however, remember my sophomore year being a pivotal point for me. In many ways, I found this to be one of the more difficult years of high school. Much like Holly, I was incredibly self-conscious, worried about being liked, and certainly naïve. In many ways, it makes sense that many children are first trafficked at fifteen. These traffickers know to come for children when they are at their lowest point, establishing a seemingly caring and trusting relationship before taking advantage of them (Curry and Moticha).

***

Home: Cherry Hill, NJ; Rutgers Law School and Cathedral Kitchen: Camden, NJ  

Although I grew up in Cherry Hill, several of my formative experiences during high school—ranging from Mock Trial competitions to serving meals at a soup kitchen—took place only a few miles away in Camden, a city known for its poverty and crime. I have witnessed this poverty during school service trips, but never its crime. However, Monica*, a Camden resident, fell victim to sex trafficking in her own city when a man took advantage of her and several other women struggling with addiction. She was brought to live in a Cherry Hill motel where her addiction was exploited, and she was required to prostitute herself under threat of physical violence. He took pictures of her in lingerie and advertised her as a prostitute on Backpage.com. She was then taken across South Jersey to finance her trafficker’s lavish lifestyle. It was only when she was brought to meet with one of these solicitors, who was actually an undercover detective, that she was arrested and able to escape the vicious cycle of human trafficking (“Trenton Man”). Unfortunately, sex trafficking remains an issue that many people choose to ignore because they view it as something that “doesn’t happen here.” It’s almost as if we are given permission to dismiss this issue because our newscasters seem perfectly fine with doing the same in favor of more sensationalist news. We live in such a hectic and fast-paced news cycle that anything that is not considered breaking news receives little to no airtime—especially something as mundane as the House and Senate sending a bill to the president. However, this past March, the House and Senate did just that, when the Senate voted 97-2 to approve legislation that strengthens the policing of internet-based sex trafficking. This bill would allow law enforcement to go after Internet sites that allow traffickers to advertise, specifically Backpage.com, which is involved in 7 out of 10 instances of child sex trafficking (Kang and Stolberg).

***

Voorhees Middle School: Voorhees, NJ

When I was eleven, I first became involved with community theatre in Voorhees, the town next to mine. I have been involved with this theatre company ever since and spend a large portion of my summers in Voorhees. This company has provided me with friends, education, and opportunities I otherwise would not have had. Similarly, Olivia* believed that she would find new opportunity in Voorhees; however, her story shows that these dreams can make you vulnerable. While I anxiously awaited the release of cast lists, Olivia’s life began to crumble as her vulnerability was taken advantage of. She had wanted to create a career for herself and a life that she loved when she was contacted by a man from Voorhees who offered to buy her a plane ticket from her home in Texas to Philadelphia and help her launch a modeling career. At twenty years old, Olivia had her whole life ahead of her and decided to seize this opportunity. However, monstrosities she never expected began the moment she stepped off that plane. This man had no intentions of helping Olivia begin a career; rather, he intended to claim her as his property. He brought her back to his apartment, took her phone and all the money she had, and threatened her with physical violence if she attempted to escape. She was given a room at a Voorhees hotel and was told that it was constantly monitored and that she would be physically harmed if she tried to run. She was forced to dance at Club Cove, a Philadelphia strip club, where she met the other two people who ran this trafficking ring. She was forced to stay at their apartment for a period, but managed to escape and ran to a local bank and call the police (“Three Voorhees Residents”). In many ways, the issue of sex trafficking naturally leads to questioning what can be done to help the countless victims in our own communities and around the world. Familiarizing oneself with the signs of sex trafficking may help, although many victims are not necessarily rescued. Holly and Monica only escaped trafficking because they were arrested, and Olivia ran for her life until she could find a safe place to contact authorities. Holly and Monica’s stories in particular lead to an interesting line of questions—most of which don’t have answers. They both escaped trafficking because they were arrested for prostitution; however, there are many people who wish to decriminalize prostitution. What might that mean for the individuals whose only chance of escape is being arrested? I don’t know. I don’t have any concrete answers, and I won’t pretend to. However, I know that learning more about the sex trafficking industry, our government’s role, and, most importantly, reading the stories of victims has led to me thinking more critically about these issues, and has left me with more questions. Something as simple as having a conversation may even help bring awareness to these victims who too often are silenced. Sex trafficking remains a societal taboo that we refuse to acknowledge exists in our communities because we are afraid of accepting the implications it presents about our seemingly safe communities. In many ways, I think we don’t want to talk about it precisely because it does exist in our communities. If we acknowledge the reality of sex trafficking, we are forced to grapple with the idea that it could happen to us or our family member or our friend. However, I very deliberately chose instances that hit a little too close to home from the countless array of stories of sex trafficking survivors. I have been to all of these places. One of them is my hometown. I have always felt safe in these places. It wouldn’t happen to me—it couldn’t happen to me. But that’s exactly the crux of the issue: it could’ve been me, it just wasn’t. 

***

Coda: Emerson College: Boston, MA

As I sit in my dorm room writing this essay, I feel the same sense of absolute safety and security I felt at home. With that statement, I seem to have once again retreated to the naivety of my childhood, since I now live in a large city with its own dangers. Even as I nervously await the arrival of my first flight alone this Thanksgiving, I remain conscious of the fact that for many, the trip from Boston to Philadelphia is comprised of many more horrors than worrying whether a bag will fit in the overhead compartment. Betty’s* trip from Boston to Cherry Hill was not filled with family, friends, or holiday celebrations, but rather, it was the stuff of nightmares. Betty was abducted in Boston by a man from Dorchester and brought to Cherry Hill, where she was advertised on Backpage.com and forced to engage in prostitution under threats of physical violence. Fortunately, she was arrested for prostitution by an undercover officer at a Cherry Hill hotel after soliciting him. After her arrest, she was able to help police find and arrest her trafficker (“Man Pleads Guilty”). Discovering this unexpected link between my home and my new city was unnerving to say the least. I was not under any illusions that human trafficking was an issue confined to South Jersey. Still, the realization that these seemingly separate worlds of mine are so closely linked is simultaneously frustrating and sobering. Once again, I am reminded that my safe life is continually juxtaposed against a much more dangerous reality.

* indicates name assigned to victim who wished to remain anonymous.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Valeria Luiselli for inspiring this essay’s form, style, and content with her moving work about child immigration in Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions. However, more importantly, I would like to thank all the victims of human trafficking who had the courage to go to authorities and tell their stories. I would especially like to thank Holly Austin Smith for sharing the intricacies of her story with the world, showing us signs to look for in our own loved ones and proving that this is a crime that can affect anyone. Although trafficking remains a huge problem, these victims’ bravery made the world a safer place by taking their traffickers off the streets.

Works Cited

“The Average Age of Entry Myth.” Polaris Project, Polaris, 5 Jan. 2016, polarisproject.org/blog/2016/01/05/average-age-entry-myth.Curry, Nancy, and Sonia Moticha. “Human Trafficking in Our Schools: The Ugly Truth.” 

New Jersey Education Association, NJDOE Human Trafficking Collaborative, 1 Jan. 2017, www.njea.org/human-trafficking-schools-ugly-truth/.

Kang, Cecilia, and Sheryl Gay Stolberg. “Sex Trafficking Bill Heads to Trump, Over Silicon Valley Concerns.” 

The New York Times, 21 Mar. 2018.“Man Pleads Guilty in Cherry Hill Human Trafficking Case – 3/2/16.” Office of the Camden County Prosecutor, Office of the Camden County Prosecutor, 2 Mar. 2016, camdencountypros.org/man-pleads-guilty-cherry-hill-human-trafficking-case-3216.“New Jersey.” 

National Human Trafficking Hotline, Polaris, 2018, humantraffickinghotline.org/state/new-jersey.

Smith, Holly Austin. “Survival Stories: Holly Austin Smith.” Richmond Justice Initiative (RJI), Richmond Justice Initiative, richmondjusticeinitiative.com/human-trafficking/survival-stories/. 

“Three Voorhees esidents Charged in Connection with Human Trafficking Case – 7/20/15.” Office of the Camden County Prosecutor, Office of the Camden County Prosecutor, 20 July 2015, camdencountypros.org/three-voorhees-residents-charged-in-connection-with-human-trafficking-case-72015/.

“Trenton Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Cherry Hill Human Trafficking Case – 12/22/16.” Office of the Camden County Prosecutor, Office of the Camden County Prosecutor, 22 Dec. 2016, camdencountypros.org/trenton-man-sentenced-20-years-prison-cherry-hill-human-trafficking-case-122216/.