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Xena's Feminine Mystique
by Marion Williams
Zadok Perspectives Issue No. 63
Autumn 1999
Introduction
Marion Williams
Marion Williams is a counsellor specialising
in sexuality and gender, and director of Women's Ministries at Exodus,
South Melbourne. She wishes to thank Xena-fan, Dr. Louise MacIntosh, for
her kind input into this article. e-mail: Maz_Williams@iname.com
Only in the '90s could the star of a children's
fantasy drama be invited to two successive Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
The star was Xena, the mythical Warrior Princess, with whom most of the
television viewing world has become acquainted.
THE MYSTICAL SPHERE OF the
"Xenaverse" has imbedded itself in the psyche of nearly 60 per
cent of Australia's children, not to mention those of the youth of Afghanistan,
Russia and Iran. In America, Xena: Warrior Princess has become the highest
rating syndicated drama on television. The internet also has more than
100 Xena sites with content ranging from lesbian fantasy to pseudo-intellectual
critique (http://whoosh.org).
In real time, people are attending conferences,
clubbing at venues with Xena theme nights, receiving newsletters and purchasing
a giddy array of paraphernalia. At Sydney's 1998 Gay and Lesbian Mardi
Gras, 122 Xena look-a-likes marched up Oxford Street to the delight of
the crowds. What's more, American universities offer Xena 101.
Even a cursory observer must ask what
is this fascination with Xena all about?
To: Creating
the Xenaverse
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