Warrior Women in Thongs

Emily Simski

April 3, 2015

Blog Post

Warrior Women in Thongs

            Before the 90s, women in television and movies were associated with being the “damsels in distress” who had to rely on a man to save her. However in the mid-90s, we were introduced to TV shows that started these women who could “swoon and kick your butt if you messed with them” (Douglas). Some examples of these shows included Xena: Warrior Princess, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charlie’s Angels just to name a few.

            Xena: Warrior Princess was the first to star the tough no nonsense women roles. The main character Xena, played by Lucy Lawless, who was trying to change her ways after changing from a villain into a warrior. Xena was different because although she was a princess, she didn't act like a princess as she went out and beat up villains. One example of action scenes is Xena swinging from a rope and would make her body horizontal in order to kick-box guys to the ground. Her outfit was similar to Wonder Women in a way of the “knee-high leather boots, leather miniskirt and a leather bustier emphasizing her breasts” (Douglas). However the outfit didn't take away from the action as well as Xena having a no-nonsense attitude who barely cracked a smile. She was, in my opinion, one women you didn't want to mess with.

            Following Xena came another show about a women who could pile drive you into the ground called Buffy the Vampire Slayer which “TV Guide critics included as one of the fifty greatest TV shows of all time” (Douglas). In this show, the title character Buffy, played by the beautiful Sarah Michelle Gellar, was a sixteen year old girl who was predestined to be “the Slayer” or the chosen one who could save the day. Unlike Lawless, Gellar has training in taekwondo which helped her perform many of the stunts on the show. One example of this was Buffy did a handstand on a bar and swung down to the floor and kicked the vampire to the ground with her feet. Just like Xena, Buffy also wore clothing such as “diaper-sized miniskirts, knee-high boots and skintight cardigans” (Douglas).

            Xena and Buffy are just two of many examples of women in the 90s who could look beautiful on the eyes, but smash you to the ground if you mess with them. This gave women the chance to feel that they don’t always have to be saved by the men, but in fact they could defend themselves and even save males. TV shows later on would typecast women in this “butt-kicking” roles and show the men that women could save themselves instead of depending on the men.