I'm surrounded tonight by people of extraordinary courage and I know a thing or two about courage myself because I read a book with some courage in it one time. And it sounds like a lot of work, so I'll just keep writing. I write. The most courageous thing that I've ever done is something called a press junket, which is actually pretty courageous, believe me, because they ask you the same questions over and over and over and over and over. I've done as many as forty-eight in a day of these interviews and they really, they don't come up with the fresh stuff. There is one question I've been asked almost every time I've been interviewed.

So I thought I would share with you tonight one question and a few of my responses, because when you're asked something five hundred times you really start to think about the answer. So now I will become a reporter.

"So, Joss, I, a reporter, would like to know, why do you always write these strong women characters?"

I think it's because of my mother. She really was an extraordinary, inspirational, tough, cool, sexy, funny woman and that's the kind of woman I've always surrounded myself with, my friends, particularly my wife, who is not only smarter and stronger than I am but occasionally taller, but only sometimes taller. I think it all goes back to my mother.

"So, why do you always write these strong women characters?"

Because of my father. My father and my step-father had a lot to do with it because they prized wit and resolve in the women they were with above all things. And they were among the rare men who understood that recognizing someone else's power does not diminish your own.

When I created Buffy I wanted to create a female icon but also wanted to surround her with men who not only had no problem with the idea of a strong female character but who were, in fact, engaged and even attracted to the idea. That came from my father and step-father, that the man who created this man who created those men, if you can follow them.

"Why do you always write these strong women characters?"

Well, because these stories give people strength and I've heard it from a number of people and I've felt it myself, it's not just women, it's men. And I think there is something particular about a female protagonist that allows a man to identify with her that opens up something that he might, an aspect of himself he might be unable to express. Hopes and desires he might be uncomfortable expressing through a male identification figure. So it really crosses across both and I think it helps in that way.

"So, why do you always write these strong women characters?"

Because they're hot.

"But these strong women characters-"

Why are you even asking me this? This is like interview number fifty in a row. How is it even possible that this is a question? Seriously, why did you write that down?
Why aren't you asking a hundred other guys why they don't write strong women characters. I believe that what I'm doing should not be remarked upon, let alone honored. And there are other people doing it, but seriously this question is ridiculous and you just gotta stop.

"So, why do you always write these strong women characters?"

Because equality is not a concept. It's not something we should be striving for. It's a necessity. Equality is like gravity. We need it to stand on this earth as men and women. And the misogyny that is in every culture is not a true part of the human condition. It is life out of balance and that imbalance is sucking something out of the soul of every man and woman who is confronted with it.

We need equality. Kinda now.

"So, why do you always write these strong women characters?"

Because you're still asking me that question.

Thank you.