Are Guys More Likely to Like Dawn than Girls?

How do you feel about the character of Dawn

  • I'm female and I like her

    Votes: 33 41.8%

  • I'm female and I don't like her

    Votes: 12 15.2%

  • I'm male and I like her

    Votes: 22 27.8%

  • I'm male and I don't like her

    Votes: 12 15.2%
  • Total voters
    79
nerd4hire

nerd4hire

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I've followed a lot of these threads where people speak their grievances with Dawn.

It's always seemed to me like more males are pro-Dawn, than anti-Dawn, but most of the real vehement loathers of Dawn are female.

I thought I'd try a poll to see if there's anything to it.
 
Well this poll isn't going to work is it, because the only people who are going to vote are the ones who disagree with me. Keep your eyes open the next time you see the anti-Dawn comments though. You'll see I'm right.
 
I actually like dawn i mean i've liked her since she first came on to a point there were times when i thought she was annoying but other then those few times i've liked her
 
I liked Dawn, she was the annoying teenager at first but that's how sisters are supposed to think of each other. I didn't hate her because she never did something that bad.
 
I like Dawn even though she's had some annoying moments. I never noticed that more guys like her than girls though. That was a good observation. 🙂
 
Actually, I'm not sure it's a numbers thing. I'm not sure more guys like Dawn than girls. What I have noticed though, is when someone comes out raging against Dawn it's more likely to be a female voice.

That's just an impression. There's no real way to prove it. If it was true though I wonder what might explain it.

Have you noticed in real life, when your buddies take an irrational dislike to someone, quite often the person they have the hate on for will possess qualities you'll notice in your friend? Another possibly bogus theory, but if there were some truth to that one I can offer an easy explanation for it - subconscious self-loathing.

It works for guys too. Like I don't care much for Xander, or Andrew, which makes me worry about myself. 😉
 
I think you might be onto something.

I do think it's harder for the female part of the fans to accept and appreciate Dawn than the male one. The reason I think is because when Dawn first appeared she was everything a female character wasn't on Buffy.

The reason so many women/girls love the show is because of Whedon's strong portrayal of female characters without making them into stereotypical heroines. Then Dawn came along and got to play the victim too and even greater extent than Willow ever did and without Willow's sorta subdued kickarse attitude.

Dawn was more what girls are supposed to be at that age, and I think many girls/women have a problem with just accepting that, whereas the male audience just sees her as another female character without perhaps fully understanding the negative aspects of her and the somewhat negative vibes she sends out.

Or I might just be rambling.
 
at first i didn't like dawn at all, and i was known to dawn-bash. but as i've watched the series more and more, she become more tolerant to the extent that you can like her. true, you go back to season 5 and might feel she's still ridiculously annoying (which i still do), but she does grow, and by season 7 she's definitely matured, to the point where she doesn't need to be sheltered from things that go bump in the nite, and she can even partially take care of herself.

i think that most people come out hating her in season 5 because she IS so different from all the other female roles. but viewers have to remember, she's a teenager (in which case, they all act out and behave like that quite often), sister's do have their squabbles & fights, and plus she may feel like she's somewhat inadequate compared to buffy. buffy is given all this responsibilty and respect, and treated like an adult, and like any teen, dawn feels she isn't given the same. and of course she isn't an adult and hasn't been through what buffy has, but it's still the mindset of every teenager. also, people find it hard to like, in my opinion, because when buffy was dawn's age, she was pretty much already facing off with vamps and making hard adult decisions, but that's because her calling forced her to. sometimes i just think people just ease of dawn a little. she's kind of allowed that sort of behavior for that age...
 
she looks fine, so you'd expect more men than women to like her simply because of that aspect, but personality-wise she's still annoying as hell... are guys more okay with the whole annoying little teenage sister cliché than girls?

i wonder how the series would have worked out had they made her into a cool badass little sis instead... what if instead of a kleptomaniac Buffy would have had to deal with drug/alcohol-(ab)using, promiscuous sex having and at times violent little sis?
 
Maybe more males like Dawn than females because they don't really care or buy into that whiny brat period in life. Males do not typically go through that era of life being emotionally charged and PMS-y. They deal with it in other ways.

I absolutely cannot stand teenagers when they are in this mode. It drives me completely crazy; grates on my nerves. However, my husband just ignores it and doesn't really seem to notice. I think it's just our genetics.
 
I voted "I'm male and I don't like her" even though that's not exactly true. In the beginning I used to hate her, but now I've grown sort of indifferent to her. I just don't really care too much about her.
 
JollyApe said:
The reason so many women/girls love the show is because of Whedon's strong portrayal of female characters without making them into stereotypical heroines. Then Dawn came along and got to play the victim too and even greater extent than Willow ever did and without Willow's sorta subdued kickarse attitude.

Dawn was more what girls are supposed to be at that age, and I think many girls/women have a problem with just accepting that, whereas the male audience just sees her as another female character without perhaps fully understanding the negative aspects of her and the somewhat negative vibes she sends out.

Or I might just be rambling.
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Not at all, I'm with you Apie.. I think she disappointed me at first. She's just a girl (like most girls on most shows). But after a while I appreciated the contrast to all the strong women. Because really, she isn't less capable that Xander "“ if they just let her try. She isn't stupid or weak "“ she's just not like a superhero or something.
 
It was hard for me to answer. The more I watch, well the more 'nothing' changes. I did not like season 5 or 6 Dawn. But I really like season 7 Dawn. Well I wont say REALLY. I just liked her a lot better. More part of the team, grown up etc.
I just marked female, do not like...oh well.
 
I'm a female and I've always liked Dawn's character. To me, she was a great addition to the show.
 
I never *hated* Dawn; she just used to annoy the hell out of me. I think it was because she was suddenly here and e felt she was invading all the memories *we'd* had with Buffy and she wasn't even there. Plus she was the typical annoying little sister, ya know? But I didn't hate her. I always felt kinda sorry for her, especially in Blood Ties when she finds out everything. You just want to hug her so much when she comes in the living room after cutting her arms. t I preferred her in season because she stopped being the annoying little sister and instead grew up
 
Ok I admit I can get a bit...psycho about Dawn but she just really bugged me. When she first arrived it was because she reminded me of my own little sister and I suddely felt like there was two of them and it was too much to take!! She kinda started to grow on me as season 7 progressed and then she went and threw Buffy out. Bad move. It really pissed me off so I went back to disliking her immensley which has continued with season 8 and her being a giant, which now makes her a MILLION more times irratating!!!
 
I have to admit in season 5 I hated Dawn. She drove me insane! But as soon as we reached season 6 she soon became my favourite character in the entire show!!!!!
 
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