I know that line can be used sarcastically/comedically - in the song itself it has a bitter quality - so I never quite thought of that. Once I paired it with the images. (the irony is that if the word were "queen" instead it would have very different meanings.)

when I read people who bash Buffy because of what she did in Chosen I really can't believe my eyes: she broke the chain that brought so much death on so many people.

I've been thinking about the slayer spell recently and come to terms with it personally. Because I can see both sides of the issue - I felt both sides when I watched the episode for the first time; there are definitely some creepy implications, thanks mostly to Get it Done. Once we're told that the original Slayer was "raped" by a demon, it's hard to unsee that. OTOH - as far as I can tell, Buffy and co thought that all the surviving potentials were there in the living room with them.

But the thing is - even with the problemmatic aspects, undoing the spell entirely doesn't seem like the solution to me and doesn't sit well with me, when I see it in the comics or in fanfic. So you're going to take away what was given? That "takeaway" is also a "violation". Plus in terms of power dynamics, why is it "bad" that a bunch of young women gain power? Why is it assumed that they can't handle it, or that it will shift the dynamics of the entire universe in a bad way and thus should be avoided? Because - only the boys can handle it? That's not good enough for me.

It seems to me that what's needed is communication, getting the word out, letting the girls know that they're not freaks, not alone -which is exactly the situation I faced growing up, not feeling "normal", not caring about boys, but having never heard the words "lesbian" "gay" "homosexual" except as a slur on the playground, as something shameful and sinful. I didn't come out until I was in my mid-twenties which makes me luckier than a lot of other people have been. That sort of shame and ignorance and silence are a fucking waste of time, a waste of life and possibility.

So I guess I see it like my sexual orientation - I wouldn't wish that stupid struggle with a most basic part of my own being upon anybody.

ozma914 writes a post-Chosen Four Friends series and in one, his OC Slayer, Kara, reflects on how she is glad to have been "chosen" and to chose, to have a chance to make a real difference in life, to have these friends and sense of community. And I like that way of looking at it because it makes a lot of sense to me. (I can't find the exact link here's the four friends tag http://ozma914.livejournal.com/tag/four%20friends) OTOH he also wrote "She would be 13" a beautiful story in which Xander reflects on the downsides of the slayer spell to the girls it affects http://good--evil.livejournal.com/176650.html So, everything in balance.