{"id":18574,"date":"2021-06-18T14:00:01","date_gmt":"2021-06-18T13:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=18574"},"modified":"2021-06-18T14:00:01","modified_gmt":"2021-06-18T13:00:01","slug":"amazons-and-warrior-princesses-on-screen-the-legacy-of-xena-20-years-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/arts-social-sciences\/amazons-and-warrior-princesses-on-screen-the-legacy-of-xena-20-years-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazons and warrior princesses on screen \u2013 the legacy of Xena 20 years on"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Written by <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/amanda-potter-246833\">Dr Amanda Potter<\/a>, Visiting Research Fellow,\u00a0 at <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/the-open-university-748\">The Open University<\/a> .<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Xena the warrior princess, played by Lucy Lawless, captivated audiences around the world for six series with her high kicks, sword skills and distinctive war cry. The series followed her as she fought her way through armies, monsters and gods, alongside her soul mate and moral compass, Gabrielle (Renee O&#8217;Connor).<\/p>\n<p>Xena travelled across space and time, taking us from ancient Greece to Rome, Egypt, Britain, China, India, Scandinavia and finally to Japan, where it all came to an end 20 years ago on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/watch?v=zwsIUZELIJM\">June 18 2001<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Starting life as an antagonist of Hercules in three episodes of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0111999\/\">Hercules: The Legendary Journeys<\/a>, Xena was so popular as a character that she was given her spin-off series that ran from 1995 to 2001. At the time, Xena: Warrior Princess was considered groundbreaking as it started a strong female action heroine and was the only popular adventure, action, science fiction or fantasy show that featured female leads without male counterparts.<\/p>\n<p>On the 20th anniversary of the final episode, it worth revisiting this great show and exploring why it was loved by a truly broad spectrum of viewers, from young girls drawn in by an active female role model and ancient history buffs to sci-fi fans and the LGBTQ community.<\/p>\n<div class=\"slot clear\" data-id=\"17\">\n<div class=\"promo\">\n<div class=\"MuiBox-root-95 jss96 jss94\">\n<div>\n<h5 class=\"MuiTypography-root-111 jss97 MuiTypography-h5-120 jss102 MuiTypography-colorInherit-133\">Fight back against disinformation. Get your news here, direct from experts<\/h5>\n<p><button class=\"MuiButtonBase-root-172 MuiButton-root-144 jss142 MuiButton-contained-152 jss141 MuiButton-containedPrimary-153\" tabindex=\"0\" type=\"button\"><span class=\"MuiButton-label-145\">Get newsletter<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Xena and the Amazons<\/h2>\n<p>A reformed warlord from ancient Greece, Xena was not an Amazon but a friend to the tribes of warrior women. To ancient Greek writers, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thersites-journal.de\/index.php\/thr\/article\/view\/85\">Amazons<\/a>\u00a0were women who fought and behaved like men and were unnatural barbarians. They have since been adopted as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/aaia.sydney.edu.au\/amazons-ancient-warrior-women-as-powerful-role-models-for-women-today\/\">positive female role models<\/a>\u00a0who break with misogynistic stereotypes of womanhood \u2013 they live in a self-sufficient, female-dominated society as warriors and intellects. The term\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/beingfeministblog.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/26\/amazon-feminism-erasing-biology-as-a-barrier-to-equality\/\">Amazon feminism<\/a>\u00a0is now used to describe a branch of feminism that promotes female physical prowess as a way to achieve gender equality.<\/p>\n<p>Before Xena, the Amazons featured in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/watch?v=iRo4SJ2ck_s\">1970s Wonder Woman series<\/a>. Not quite the feminist icons we expect today, these women wore pastel-coloured negligees as they adopted a peaceful life without men on Paradise Island.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"fluidvids\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"fluidvids-item\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/iRo4SJ2ck_s?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0\" width=\"440\" height=\"260\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-fluidvids=\"loaded\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In Xena, while the Amazons may also have been attired in revealing costumes made of furs and skins, their separatist society values martial as well as academic skills. An Amazon tells Gabrielle that the Amazon world is based on \u201ctruth and an individual woman\u2019s strength\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The Amazons from Greek mythology lived apart from men, at the edge of the known world, and fought bravely against male heroes such as Hercules, Theseus and Achilles. In Xena, the Amazons also live in a matriarchal society and are skilled fighters who can hold their own against men.<\/p>\n<p>The Amazons in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/watch?v=C9IYZrF4Eo8\">Wonder Woman (2017)<\/a>\u00a0can be seen as Xena\u2019s big-screen descendants. The costumes and fighting prowess of Penthesilea (Nina Milner) in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/profiles\/KSHHQYyjN5tStwhBqZgLWn\/penthesilea\">BBC drama Troy: Fall of a City (2018)<\/a>\u00a0has tinges of Xena. While the leadership ability of the immortal Amazon Andy (Charlize Theron) in the Netflix film\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/watch?v=aK-X2d0lJ_s\">The Old Guard<\/a>, can also be seen as inspired by Xena.<\/p>\n<p>But while Troy: Fall of a City and The Old Guard are aimed at older audiences, Xena was popular\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/article\/1997\/03\/07\/xena-warrior-princess-actions-new-heroine\/\">across all age groups<\/a>. For instance, episodes of Xena were broadcast in the UK on Channel Five\u2019s Milkshake! Saturday morning slot in the 90s and early noughties for young viewers. This led many young girls to adopt Xena as their role model.<\/p>\n<h2>The Xena subtext<\/h2>\n<p>Xena was also popular with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/watch?v=XWPmtV8ifFM\">gay and lesbian viewers<\/a>. In the 1990s, openly gay relationships were mostly missing from popular US television series. However, Xena\u2019s relationship with Gabrielle was interpreted as much as that of hero and sidekick as it was friends and lovers. Series producers began to play with this idea, for example, putting Xena and Gabrielle together in a sexy bath in season two\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/watch?v=lqMnCHSe3ig\">fan-favourite episode<\/a>\u00a0A Day in the Life, so that for many, the subtext became the main text.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"fluidvids\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"fluidvids-item\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/lqMnCHSe3ig?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0\" width=\"440\" height=\"260\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-fluidvids=\"loaded\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Although a lot of fans were dismayed that Xena died in the final episode they were treated to a long goodbye kiss between Gabrielle and Xena\u2019s ghost. Series producers never openly made\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/screenrant.com\/xena-gabrielle-lesbians-couple-no-why\/\">Xena and Gabrielle a lesbian couple<\/a>. But LGBTQ+ fans championed their relationship, which is believed to have\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20061019015939\/http:\/\/www.afterellen.com\/TV\/xena.html\">paved the way for openly gay relationships<\/a>\u00a0we see in television series today.<\/p>\n<p>One of the joys of looking back at Xena 20 years on is its playfulness when compared with dark fantasy sci-fi fantasies like Game of Thrones. It features seriously badass female characters, and at times offers a serious message about female solidarity and feminism, but doesn\u2019t take itself too seriously. Some of the special effects may now seem dated, but the storylines still ring true and the characters of Xena and Gabrielle can continue to be inspirational for a new generation of young female viewers.<\/p>\n<p><em> <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/amanda-potter-246833\">Dr Amanda Potter<\/a>, Visiting Research Fellow,\u00a0 at <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/the-open-university-748\">The Open University<\/a> .<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This article is republished from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/\">The Conversation<\/a>\u00a0under a Creative Commons license. Read the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/amazons-and-warrior-princesses-on-screen-the-legacy-of-xena-20-years-on-162814\">original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Written by Dr Amanda Potter, Visiting Research Fellow,\u00a0 at The Open University . Xena the warrior princess, played by Lucy Lawless, captivated audiences around the world for six series with her high kicks, sword skills and distinctive war cry. The series followed her as she fought her way through armies, monsters and gods, alongside her [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":18578,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[869,1525,1640,1643,2200],"class_list":["post-18574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-social-sciences","tag-fass","tag-news-home","tag-ou-home","tag-ou-news","tag-the-conversation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}