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# The reason women love Xena, the warrior princess
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/the-reason-women-love-xena-the-warrior-princess/
- Published: 2002-08-05T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:35:26.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

“So I think we need to do something to kick start the column,” said my editor, Nancy, at Women’s World Monthly.

“You mean, the women aren’t digging it?” I asked sheepishly.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, noooooo … everybody LOVES it,” she lied. “It’s just, um, maybe you need to get out and write about something … you know, get ‘into the field,’ as they used to say in Vietnam.”

“You were in Vietnam, Nancy?” “No,” she said, “but you see my point, right?” “No.” “I want to send you on a journey, Hog. Give you an assignment you can really sink your teeth into.”

“Like, football, or something?” I asked. “Close,” she said. “Xena.” “Xena?” “Yes … Xena.” “You want me to sink my teeth into Xena?” “So to speak. Women love her.” “They do?” “Yes.” “Really?” “Absolutely!” “But isn’t Xena, like, sooo 1999?” I asked. “She’s only in syndication at this point, but the Movement is stronger than ever.”

“The Movement?” “Yep. The Xena Movement!” And so on, and so on… I didn’t know a damn thing about Xena, the man-whomping heroine of a syndicated TV show, but I am, after all, a PROFESSIONAL JOURNALIST. And an assignment is an assignment. So it was time for me to “get into the field,” and tap the keg that is Xena-mania. To that end, I dusted off years of investigative reporting experience, whipped out my trusty notepad and pen, and resolutely set out in search of The Story … well, actually, I just logged on to the Internet.

Judging from the excessive number of labyrinthine Web sites produced by women and chock full of scantily clad female warriors photographed together in provocative positions, one might conclude that the majority of “Xena: Warrior Princess” fanatics are lesbian computer geeks.

I, for one, would have truly loved to have concluded that and drifted into cyber-fantasyland. However, my keen journalistic instincts told me there was more to this story than meets the eye. After all, men love lesbians, too.

I’ve never actually watched the show, although I’ve passed it in progress countless times while machine-gunning through the channels in search of more educational programming, like “Sportscenter.” The Bottomfeeder, however, is a HUGE fan … even went so far as to have Xena’s name tattooed on his forearm. Unfortunately, the tattoo artist was hard of hearing. Ever since then, Bottomfeeder’s had one hell of a time explaining to the guys down at the docks – yes, he hangs at the docks … don’t ask! – why in the hell he became such a fan of “Zima.”

During my initial foray into Xena-ville, I counted no fewer than 127 Xena-related home pages. What I discovered while submerged in the depths of this peculiar subculture was both shocking and, quite frankly, arousing.

For instance, check out the site “Angie’s Cure For Xena Withdrawal Syndrome.” On the very first page you’ll find not one, not two, but five photos of Xena (Lucy Lawless) playing rub-a-dub-dub in the medieval tub with her devoted valet, Gabrielle (Renee O’Connor). According to Angie, the characters met when Xena saved Gabrielle and her sister from the men of the warlord Draco. Gabrielle became “enthralled with the excitement of Xena’s life” and left home to follow Xena and “see the mighty deeds for herself.”

I can’t tell you a whole hell of a lot about Xena’s lifestyle -- be it alternative, regular or unleaded -- but, oh, what mighty “deeds” she’s got! Perhaps the most enchanting pair on television.

“My Humble Xena Page,” which isn’t mine at all, offers two racy images of Xena set to disarm a band of scalawags, presumably using nothing more than her Herculean breasts. Now, any red-blooded male or flannel-shirted lesbian will attest that women using their breasts as weapons certainly makes for good television -- note the former popularity of shows such as “Wonder Woman” and (hee, hee) “Twin Peaks”— but that still doesn’t explain Xena’s enormous popularity with the heterosexual female audience.

On a site called “Whoosh!” I came across an essay by Melissa Meister titled “Xena: Warrior Princess Through the Lenses of Feminism,” that argues Xena is one of the world’s preeminent feminist role models -- the boob tube’s answer to Gloria Steinem.

Meister opines that modern television revolves around the man: “No matter how many leading female characters might be on television, their show or the culture that grows up around the show is male-centered.” Obviously, this chick’s never seen “The Gilmore Girls.”

Meister cites programs such as “Friends,” in which damn near every episode deals with one of the three female characters’ interactions with men, and “Ellen” (hello, LAST century!), who once had the entire country obsessed with why she did not need a man. Not to mention, why she had a need for Anne Heche.

“Xena,” Meister writes, is a woman without male signifiers. “The text of the show does not revolve in any way around Xena’s interpersonal interactions with men. In fact... it is Xena and Gabrielle who have become each other’s signifiers (read: playthings).”

Meister concludes her essay mulling over “how the heck such a show was ever allowed into television pro-gramming, because a deep examination of its inner workings provides society with some very incredible, novel, and spectacular ways of portraying women.” I can think of at least two very big, partially exposed reasons why the show’s got play, but that’s another matter … The women of “Xena: Warrior Princess” are spectacular, all right, but I’m not buying any of Meister’s “signifier” mumbo-jumbo. I’m still pretty sure it’s a lesbian thing, but the only way to really determine the driving force behind Xena-mania is to walk among the show’s faithful and see what makes them tick.

That said, I’m off to the convention! (NEXT WEEK: Me and Bottomfeeder check out chain mail and mullets at the Xena convention.) (Dan Dunn is a Santa Monica resident and writes for Warner Bros. Online For more FunHog fun, check out the-funhog.com)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 5, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/080502.pdf?ref=smdp.com)