Tamy Burnett, associate director for the University Honors Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, writes about popular culture, especially television, often with a focus on gender and sexuality. She has previously written about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, The X-Files, and Veronica Mars. AmiJo Comeford, professor of English at Utah Tech University, writes primarily about popular culture and television and also serves as a university ombudsman. She has previously written about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and American Civil War poetry.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionTamy Burnett and AmiJo ComefordPart I. Theorizing (Dis)Ability, Medicine, and WellnessDefining the Whedonverse Disability Narrative Ethic: Examining Impairment Arcs in Dollhouse, Angel, and Buffy the Vampire SlayerMary Ellen IatropoulosSlaying the Deficit in Disability: Exploring Buffy and Firefly/SerenityCynthia HeadleyAngel’s Female Freaks: (Dis)Abilties, Professional, and Personal Life LimitationsLorna Jowett“The Cliff Notes version? I want a normal life”: Slayerhood as ­Social-Model DisabilityElizabeth K. SwitajDollhouse and Intellectual DisabilityBarbara Stock“I want to be healthy again”: Mental Health and Normality in Buffy the Vampire SlayerRoslyn WeaverDr. Simon Tam, Healer and Humanist: Medical Models of Health Care in Firefly and SerenityBrett S. StifflemireSuffering, Strength, and the Soul of the SlayerMadeline MuntersbjornPart II: Bodies, Trauma, and Recovery“Off with their heads!—Kidding!” The Beheading Topos in Angel’s PyleaCynthea MassonRegarding Torture in Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s “Hush”Erin Hollis“You’re the one who sees everything!” Xander’s Eye Patch and Visible Disability in Buffy the Vampire SlayerBrian CoganBritish Vampire, “American Disease”: William the Bloody as Victorian NeurasthenicJ. BowersTrauma, Technology, and the Affective Body in Firefly and DollhouseEmily James Hansen and Katheryn WrightThe Token Fatty: Three Whedon Series in Search of a “­Normal-Sized” WomanSherry Ginn“It’s about power”: New Bodies, Connection, and Healing in Seasons Six and Seven of Buffy the Vampire SlayerKelly L. Richardson“Sweetie, your epidermis is showing”: Theorizing Skin in and Through Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire SlayerFrances Sprout“I’ve got these evil hand issues”: Amputation, Identity, and Agency in AngelTamy BurnettEpisode GuideWorks CitedAbout the ContributorsIndex

Tamy Burnett, associate director for the University Honors Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, writes about popular culture, especially television, often with a focus on gender and sexuality. She has previously written about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, The X-Files, and Veronica Mars. AmiJo Comeford, professor of English at Utah Tech University, writes primarily about popular culture and television and also serves as a university ombudsman. She has previously written about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and American Civil War poetry.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionTamy Burnett and AmiJo ComefordPart I. Theorizing (Dis)Ability, Medicine, and WellnessDefining the Whedonverse Disability Narrative Ethic: Examining Impairment Arcs in Dollhouse, Angel, and Buffy the Vampire SlayerMary Ellen IatropoulosSlaying the Deficit in Disability: Exploring Buffy and Firefly/SerenityCynthia HeadleyAngel’s Female Freaks: (Dis)Abilties, Professional, and Personal Life LimitationsLorna Jowett“The Cliff Notes version? I want a normal life”: Slayerhood as ­Social-Model DisabilityElizabeth K. SwitajDollhouse and Intellectual DisabilityBarbara Stock“I want to be healthy again”: Mental Health and Normality in Buffy the Vampire SlayerRoslyn WeaverDr. Simon Tam, Healer and Humanist: Medical Models of Health Care in Firefly and SerenityBrett S. StifflemireSuffering, Strength, and the Soul of the SlayerMadeline MuntersbjornPart II: Bodies, Trauma, and Recovery“Off with their heads!—Kidding!” The Beheading Topos in Angel’s PyleaCynthea MassonRegarding Torture in Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s “Hush”Erin Hollis“You’re the one who sees everything!” Xander’s Eye Patch and Visible Disability in Buffy the Vampire SlayerBrian CoganBritish Vampire, “American Disease”: William the Bloody as Victorian NeurasthenicJ. BowersTrauma, Technology, and the Affective Body in Firefly and DollhouseEmily James Hansen and Katheryn WrightThe Token Fatty: Three Whedon Series in Search of a “­Normal-Sized” WomanSherry Ginn“It’s about power”: New Bodies, Connection, and Healing in Seasons Six and Seven of Buffy the Vampire SlayerKelly L. Richardson“Sweetie, your epidermis is showing”: Theorizing Skin in and Through Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire SlayerFrances Sprout“I’ve got these evil hand issues”: Amputation, Identity, and Agency in AngelTamy BurnettEpisode GuideWorks CitedAbout the ContributorsIndex

Tamy Burnett, associate director for the University Honors Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, writes about popular culture, especially television, often with a focus on gender and sexuality. She has previously written about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, The X-Files, and Veronica Mars. AmiJo Comeford, professor of English at Utah Tech University, writes primarily about popular culture and television and also serves as a university ombudsman. She has previously written about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and American Civil War poetry.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionTamy Burnett and AmiJo ComefordPart I. Theorizing (Dis)Ability, Medicine, and WellnessDefining the Whedonverse Disability Narrative Ethic: Examining Impairment Arcs in Dollhouse, Angel, and Buffy the Vampire SlayerMary Ellen IatropoulosSlaying the Deficit in Disability: Exploring Buffy and Firefly/SerenityCynthia HeadleyAngel’s Female Freaks: (Dis)Abilties, Professional, and Personal Life LimitationsLorna Jowett“The Cliff Notes version? I want a normal life”: Slayerhood as ­Social-Model DisabilityElizabeth K. SwitajDollhouse and Intellectual DisabilityBarbara Stock“I want to be healthy again”: Mental Health and Normality in Buffy the Vampire SlayerRoslyn WeaverDr. Simon Tam, Healer and Humanist: Medical Models of Health Care in Firefly and SerenityBrett S. StifflemireSuffering, Strength, and the Soul of the SlayerMadeline MuntersbjornPart II: Bodies, Trauma, and Recovery“Off with their heads!—Kidding!” The Beheading Topos in Angel’s PyleaCynthea MassonRegarding Torture in Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s “Hush”Erin Hollis“You’re the one who sees everything!” Xander’s Eye Patch and Visible Disability in Buffy the Vampire SlayerBrian CoganBritish Vampire, “American Disease”: William the Bloody as Victorian NeurasthenicJ. BowersTrauma, Technology, and the Affective Body in Firefly and DollhouseEmily James Hansen and Katheryn WrightThe Token Fatty: Three Whedon Series in Search of a “­Normal-Sized” WomanSherry Ginn“It’s about power”: New Bodies, Connection, and Healing in Seasons Six and Seven of Buffy the Vampire SlayerKelly L. Richardson“Sweetie, your epidermis is showing”: Theorizing Skin in and Through Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire SlayerFrances Sprout“I’ve got these evil hand issues”: Amputation, Identity, and Agency in AngelTamy BurnettEpisode GuideWorks CitedAbout the ContributorsIndex