Are Guys More Likely to Like Dawn than Girls?

[nerd4hire]

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.

[Panda]

i really like dawn post season 5

[nerd4hire]

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.

[Angels baby101]

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

[spuffy]

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.

[VisionGuy]

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. :)

[nerd4hire]

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. ;)

[JollyApe]

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.

[BuffBuff]

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...

[Mortal]

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?

[SpikedBuffy]

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.

[Syu]

I'm a guy, and I always loved Dawn. A lot.

[Allycat]

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.

[eponinethen]

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.
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.

[TabulaRasa]

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.

[codyw1]

I'm a guy, and I always loved Dawn. A lot.


Ditto. Can't imagine the later seasons of Buffy without her. Don't want to, either!

Only thing wrong with Dawn is that they didn't bring her in earlier!

[Mirage]

I'm a female and I've always liked Dawn's character. To me, she was a great addition to the show.

[Joyce Summers]

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

[Keanoite]

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!!!

[Wanabee-slayer]

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!!!!!

[GATEGOD]

I finally finished rewatching season 4 tomorrow i'm starting season 5 ^_^ I'll tell you if i hate her or not lol!!

[Buffy obsessed fan]

Dawn's my third favourite character and I'm a girrl. She annoyed me slightly at the begginging of season 5, but she's cool :)

[InsaneMystic]

I'll take a rain check on the gender aspect, but I can say I didn't overly like her during first viewing of S5 (that Reality 1.1 patch just didn't fit to well for me, originally), but really loved her the second time around, right from the first moment. And it's not just MT's looks, mind you (though I admit, they do help - she's a cutie :) ). I don't even find her annoying - don't really get why so many people freak out over "get out Get Out GET OUT", push my wrong buttons for too long and I'd give you 100% the same reaction, and I'm neither 14 nor fully female...

[The Kinslayer]

I like Dawn. Ok, she was a little annoying but not that much. But if I had watched the show while my lil sis followed me around everywhere just being a great pain in my a** I´d probably been more reluctant towards her. But to tell you the truth, while this was going on I was the one shouting "Get out, get out, GET OUT!!! And yes, I was in my teens then.


The biggest "problem" I had, except the shock of her being there in the first place, was the writing. She was supposed to be younger and it´s not difficult to notice.

[chiigusa]

I used to wish for Dawn's violent death to come every episode when I first watched the show, especially during Season 6. Poor Dawn, lol. But, now that I've watched it a million times with a different, more fun, attitude, I like her a lot more. I think she's fun in the beginning of Season 5 when we're still learning about her character. Not so much in Season 6 when she's being a complete....well, attention starved brat to Buffy (which I can see where she's coming from, but still), but she redeems herself in Season 7, I think.

So, I'm kinda on the fence where Dawn's concerned. I like her and dislike her depending on the season or episode.

[white avenger]

I'm a man, and I had no use for Dawn from her first little temper tantrum on. She was a self centered, irresponsible, whining brat from Season 5 through Season 6, and she had her bad moments in Season 7. I really had hopes for her by Season 7, but when she joined in with the others to betray Buffy and throw her out of her own home after all of the sacrifices she's made... She seems to be on the way to growing up in Season 8 (no pun intended), but the season's not over yet.

About the only really good thing that I can say about her is that she was the first (well, the second, counting Joyce) person to see the deeply buried good in Spike and set him on his path to becoming that a true hero and champion. Beyond that, she could have faded away into mist along with all memory of her at the end of Season 5 and I would never have missed her.

[Aethra]

I never really liked Dawn. I started not to dislike her as much toward the end of the series, which is possibly because she'd matured or because I'd gotten used to her. Not sure though. And I know a lot of people like her more with more viewings of the show. So maybe my view would change.

Also, I was never able to relate to the whole Buffy/Dawn dynamic, because though I am a little sister, my older sisters were my age now when I was little, and they lived with their mom most of the time. Then they moved out on their own, so I still never got the teasing, fighting, annoying relationship that they had with each other, and that Dawn had with Buffy.

I just don't know.

[littlewilly]

Hmmm, the poll results dont seem to match the comments.

[Fake Shemp]

femal and like her (at the moment lol, in the past i never have but yeah i really do now)

[eponinethen]

femal and like her (at the moment lol, in the past i never have but yeah i really do now)
Yeah I'm the same. I think that Dawn – like season 7 – is one of those things you generally don't like the first time you watch the show... But they grow on you, and you start understanding them, the point of them, and why they're there...

[Starlet]

I liked Dawn. She's really annoying at first but she's a little sister she's supposed to be like that. Despite this her character really grew in later seasons especially in season7.
And this is a thing about siblings: there is always teasing and fighting but also big love. I can relate to that because I have little brother and between us is exactly the same age gap as between Buffy&Dawn.
I have also two cousins- sisters and sometimes it really looks like if they were playing scenes from Buffy.

[Melon]

I've never been to keen on Dawn.
She's a bit bratty.

[Buffanator]

Ack. She was an annoying little whiney twit. (altho, I think M.T. did a wonderful job portraying her)

I did like "the key" storyline, however. I still wish they'd kill'd her off at the end of S-5.

[littlewilly]

so, guys are more likely to like dawn

[Cangel]

Well, according to this poll, girls are more likely to like Dawn. Don't know jow reliable that is thoug.
Well I like Dawn. I could always understand her pretty well, being the younger sis and everything.

Somebody has written about noticing how people dislike something in characters that they themselves have. I think that's why I don't really like Fred that much, and to some degree also Willow. I've noticed this before.
If femlaes loathe Dawn more, this might also be the reason. Maybe they feel too reminded of their own bitca attacks.

[Bangelxx]

I liked Dawn after season 5.She was sooo annoying in season 5 but after that I got used to her.

[fly on the wall]

Season Five, I really didn't like her.
And there are certainly moments post-S5 where she annoys me. But she clearly grew as a character and post-S5 she grew on me. I think S7 is where she blossoms and matures and stops being such a whiny little kid, so now I can say that I do like Dawn.

[Veyron]

There's nothing at all wrong with Dawn - she's an A-Typical teenager... they're rebellious (mostly), have their own opinions about life in general, think they've seen it all and probably done it all by the time they're 15 or 16 (most probably haven't even learnt how to clean their own teeth properly by that age in my view), etc etc... leave Dawn alone.. she's everything a teenager should be.