Joss Whedon wouldn't have had to do or say anything else after producing the second season of Buffy. Really. As far as I was concerned, he had utterly proven his genius and could have retired to a nice cottage in the hills and his reputation would have been secure. It would have been sad to think of a world that didn't include Hush and the musical episode--not to mention Firefly--but he was already golden for me.
Which is why I find it incredibly moving that he would take the time to write this, a blog post that indicts American society and the world at large for institutionalized misogyny:
I try to think how we got here. The theory I developed in college (shared by many I’m sure) is one I have yet to beat: Womb Envy. Biology: women are generally smaller and weaker than men. But they’re also much tougher. Put simply, men are strong enough to overpower a woman and propagate. Women are tough enough to have and nurture children, with or without the aid of a man. Oh, and they’ve also got the equipment to do that, to be part of the life cycle, to create and bond in a way no man ever really will. Somewhere a long time ago a bunch of men got together and said, “If all we do is hunt and gather, let’s make hunting and gathering the awesomest achievement, and let’s make childbirth kinda weak and shameful.” It’s a rather silly simplification, but I believe on a mass, unconscious level, it’s entirely true. How else to explain the fact that cultures who would die to eradicate each other have always agreed on one issue? That every popular religion puts restrictions on women’s behavior that are practically untenable? That the act of being a free, attractive, self-assertive woman is punishable by torture and death? In the case of this upcoming torture-porn, fictional. In the case of Dua Khalil, mundanely, unthinkably real. And both available for your viewing pleasure.
The full post is well worth reading, and his recommendations are well worth heeding.