Buffy Season 1, Episode 3: "Witch"

In the episode "Witch", Buffy tries out for the cheerleading team to hopefully regain some semblance of normalcy in her life. Unfortunately for her, a witch desperate for a spot on the team ensures that Buffy's experience will be anything but normal. Amy, after being listed as an alternate, begins casting spells to disable other cheerleaders in hopes of getting to take their place on the team. Buffy joins the team after Cordelia is temporarily blinded and unable to perform. Amy then puts an immunity destroying spell on Buffy so Giles sets out on a mission to find her spell book to reverse the witchcraft. Upon going to her home, they discover that Amy is actually her mother, who switched bodies with her daughter to relive her youth and cheerlead again. Giles retrieves the spell book and begins working to reverse the spells. Once he has succeeded, Amy's mother, now in her original body, attacks Buffy. She casts a spell intended to banish Buffy but it is ultimately reflected back on her. The episode ends with the implication that Amy's mother is trapped in a trophy from her glory days.

Amy's mother attempting to cast a spell on Buffy

This episode is full of supernatural elements and discussions of gender, but one of the most important gender considerations is actually a quite mundane topic compared to the major conflicts in the episode: the discourse surrounding the sport of cheerleading. The episode "Witch" reinforces gender stereotypes through its portrayal of cheerleading and the attitudes characters have surrounding it.

The episode paints cheerleading as a fruitless endeavor. In the very beginning scene, when Buffy expresses her intent to try out for the team, Giles is vehemently opposed. He states the Buffy cannot take up cheerleading on account of her role as the slayer, implying that it would be a waste of her precious time.  In popular culture and everyday life, it is a common theme to see interests that are stereotypically held by women shown as unimportant and unproductive. This is especially true of cheerleading. Whereas other, male-dominated sports are mostly portrayed as helpful in developing teamwork and communication skills, cheerleading, a female-dominated sport, is often viewed as an activity that does not spur personal growth.

This point is again emphasized near the end of the episode when Amy sarcastically remarks that she will miss the intellectual stimulation that comes from spelling out words with her arms. This statement implies that cheerleading does not require any advanced cognition. In fact, the memorization of all of the moves and chants is certainly intellectually engaging. The women in the show most invested in the cheer squad are arguably also the most shallow characters in the show up to this point. Cordelia has been established as the shallow mean girl in the first two episodes. Amy's mom's obsession with her youth, weight, and appearance throughout the episode implies the same. The association of cheerleading with women, specifically those who may be lacking depth, is a contributing factor to the preconceived notion surrounding the lack of intellect involved in the sport.

Not only does the discussion about cheerleading reinforce ideas about women's interest, but it also reinforces stereotypes about men. When Zander enters the gym where the girls are practicing, he stares at the girls doing stretches and comments on their flexibility. Willow even remarks that he is attempting to guise the pleasure he finds in looking at women in revealing clothes as a spiritual experience. There are long-held stereotypes about men being constantly interested in and thinking about sex. This scene reinforces that idea by devoting most of Zander's dialogue, the only male character in this female-dominated scene, to making comments with sexual implications.
The negative attitudes surrounding cheerleading in this episode coupled with Zander's commentary contribute to existing gender roles by reducing women's interests to futile activities and communicating the sexual nature of male thinking.