Athena’s Daughters: Television’s New Women Warriors

Edited by Frances Early and Kathleen Kennedy

With a Foreword by Rhonda Wilcox, co-editor, Fighting the Forces

Order from Syracuse University Press Television Studies Series ($19.95 paper; April 2003; 1-800-365-8929, orders only) | Order from Amazon.com

“Athena’s Daughters offers an exciting feminist exploration of the intersection between the turn-of-the-century millennium’s new war culture and the figure of the prime-time woman warrior.  The collection is particularly compelling for its interrogation of fan fiction, critical/academic discourse, and internet communities as well as television episodes.  Also a treat are its multiple chapters on Xena: Warrior Princess (who has yet to earn her own scholarly book) and introduction to each program for the uninitiated.”  Elyce Rae Helford, editor of Fantasy Girls: Gender in the New Universe of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television and Professor of English at Middle Tennessee State University.

“Co-editors Frances Early and Kathleen Kennedy are to be commended for this lively, energetic anthology.  The essays are always thought provoking.  Whether discussing males fans’ reactions to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xena as an archetypal hero, or women warriors in La Femme Nikita, the essays discuss a wide range of topics related to how women warriors are depicted on television.  Athena’s Daughters is an important new addition to the fields of media studies and popular culture studies.”  Sherrie Inness, author of Tough Girls:  Women Warriors and Wonder Women in Popular Culture and Associate Professor of English, Miami University.

Table of Contents

  • Foreword:  Out Far Or In Deep by Rhonda Wilcox

  • Introduction: Athena’s Daughters by Frances Early and Kathleen Kennedy

  • The Baby, The Mother, and the Empire: Xena as Ancient Hero by Alison Futrell

  •  Xena, the Quest and the Wielding of Violence in Xena On-line Fan Fiction by Helen Caudill

  • The Making and Unmaking of the Just Warrior in Xena, Warrior Princess by Kathleen Kennedy

  • The Female Just Warrior Reimagined: From Boudicca to Buffy by Frances Early

  • Textual and Viewer Constructions of Faith, the Vampire Slayer by Sue Tjardes

  • On-line Interviews with Male Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Lee Parpart

  • Buffy? She’s Like Me, She’s Not Like Me, She’s Rad by Vivian Chin

  • Warriors and Gender in La Femme Nikita by Laura Ng

  • We Who Are Borg, Are We Borg? by Edrie Sobstyl