Xena Goes to Camp: On Feminism, Anachronism, and Subversion

by Valerie Estelle Frankel

Overview

Part of the delight of Xena: Warrior Princess comes from its campiness – she duels with swordfish, beats thugs with a diaper, flips and spins without a thought for gravity. As she and Gabrielle spar with Santa Claus, Lao Tzu, Julius Caesar, Goliath, Beowulf, Homer, Ulysses, Caligula, Odin, and Genghis Khan, they exist in a historical mish-mash impossible to take seriously…even without the rock music and American slang. Yet hidden within the silly storylines is an immense dose of subversion. Xena rolls her eyes as she seduces warlords in a harem costume and is the first to admit her own leather dress is just as much of a performance. In each historic encounter, Xena takes no credit for revolutionizing history, toppling dictators and saving heroes. As she sneakily saves the day, her unrealistic world underscores an idealized reality – one in which women have always outperformed men.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940153944012
Publisher:	Valerie Estelle Frankel
Publication date:	01/02/2017
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	552 KB

About the Author

Valerie Estelle Frankel has won a Dream Realm Award, an Indie Excellence Award, and a USA Book News National Best Book Award for her Henry Potty parodies. She's the author of 75 books on pop culture, including Doctor Who - The What, Where, and How, History, Sherlock: Every Canon Reference You May Have Missed in BBC's Series 1-3, Homages and the Highlands: An Outlander Guide, and How Game of Thrones Will End. Many of her books focus on women's roles in fiction, from her heroine's journey guides From Girl to Goddess and Buffy and the Heroine's Journey to books like Women in Game of Thrones and The Many Faces of Katniss Everdeen. Once a lecturer at San Jose State University, she's a frequent speaker at conferences. Come explore her research at www.vefrankel.com.