WILLIAMSBURG - To a crowd of 140 vampire-slayer and Gilmore-Girl junkies, professors and students, writer and producer Jane Espenson said she has used TV to advance a feminist agenda for a long time.

"It was with me from the very beginning," she said at Tucker Theater.

When she was 13, she tried to write an episode of MASH.

Her plot line had Charles Winchester’s fiancee become a war photographer so she can join him in Korea.

But she has an epiphany.

" ’I really like doing this,’ " said Espenson, describing the fiancee’s thought process. " ’What am I doing with this guy?’ "

Espenson is a writer and co-executive producer for WB’s dramedy "The Gilmore Girls" and is perhaps best known for her work as writer and co-producer on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

During a speech Friday night at the College of William & Mary, she talked about one of her favorite topics: empowered women.

"Showing a character making mistakes is the most powerful thing you can do," she said.

"When she makes a mistake, not only does she learn from it, but the audience learns from it."

She later described how those watching the shows learn more from someone they identify with than perfect role models.

"It’s the way Sesame Street tricks you," she said later.

"When Grover says, ’1,2, 4,’ kids yell out ’3.’ It empowers the watchers."

She noted that much ink has been spilled over the slayer.

Google "Buffy and feminism" and more than 20,000 entries show up.

But Google "The Gilmore Girls and feminism" and fewer than 2,000 listings pop up. One listing mentions that the show is "not infected with feminism as many shows are today."

Espenson would beg to differ.

"It’s there, but quite subtle," she said.

The empowered woman is just more explicit on Buffy, she said.

She always leads the charge and orders others around.

For most of the series, no one questions her right to command others, even men.

But like Buffy, the Gilmore girls are able to speak quickly and wittily, another kind of superpower.

The daughter’s superpower consists of book learning and intelligence.

On "The Gilmore Girls," all the men are shown as substantially slower and more peripheral than the women, said Espenson.

"You could argue that "The Gilmore Girls" is much more about a power differential than Buffy ever was," she said.

After her talk, questions from the audience touched on story development that didn’t seem consistent with characters. Heads nodded as those among Espenson’s cult following piped up, rebuilding episodes.

Jamie Zeiters, a senior at Randolph-Macon College, said she could really relate to the talk.

"When she described a scene, I could see it playing," she said. Zeiters’ key chain says, "WWBD," which stands for "what would Buffy do."