Feminism: Girl Power

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Athletics is a positive development in a commercial atmosphere full of repackaged notions. Today a record 2.5 million girls compete on high school teams, compared with 300,000 in the early 1970s. "Sports has helped to hold me back from dieting," says Marielle Courtines, 17, who was on her school's varsity swim and softball teams. "Girls who don't eat literally almost faint, and you need energy for swimming." Companies like Nike are promoting a sports-activist attitude. Proudly emblazoned on its website is the slogan PLAY LIKE A GIRL. Buffy embodies that ethic on television: she often forgoes stake and garlic for the more modern method of kickboxing her pointy-toothed enemies. "The characters girls love seem to be in control of their own destinies," says Tara McPherson, an assistant professor at the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television. Akeisha Byer, 15, puts it more bluntly, "Buffy is, like, a girl kicking butt, and you don't usually see that."

Buffy, of course, rarely breaks a sweat. Reality is more like the WNBA, whose second season started on June 11. A ritual begins every game: the ball exchange. Each player hits the court with a basketball that she hands off to a girl from the stands, and it's hard to tell who is more thrilled--the fan, who gets to shake hands with her sports hero, or the player, who still can't quite believe that she is a sports hero. It's an inspiring tableau, one that apparently moved Mattel as well. The company plans to have its new WNBA Barbie doll in stores by the holidays.

--With reporting by Jeanne McDowell/Los Angeles and Alice Park/New York