A love letter to Xena: Warrior Princess

It’s Valentine’s Day, so why not pay homage to the New Zealand icon herself, Xena: Warrior Princess (the first three seasons drop on Lightbox tomorrow). Sam Rutledge writes a love letter to the woman herself. Question: was anyone who was alive in the 90s in New Zealand ever NOT watching Xena? I was only born in the … Read more

Throwback Thursday: How it felt to watch The L Word as a lesbian teen

Felix Desmarais rewatches The L Word, one of the first mainstream TV shows to put queer voices on the small screen. The year is 2005. In the dark – past midnight – in the lounge, I am lit by the glow of The L Word on TV and I am feeling things. They are very teenage things. … Read more

The Mervyn Thompson Affair: It stunk of the same kind of witch hunt they’d been subject to their whole lives

All week we’ve revisited the Mervyn Thompson Affair – the strange, powerful 1984 incident when six women abducted an Auckland university lecturer, chained him to a tree in Western Springs, and labelled him a rapist. We conclude the series with a personal essay by Talia Marshall. A while ago Steve Braunias at The Spinoff emailed … Read more

Television: How Xena Became a Lesbian Icon

Xena: Warrior Princess showed 90’s kids that girls could kick ass just like boys. An alternative reading implies they could do much more than that besides.  If you were to design a feminist superhero, you could do a lot worse than just copying Xena. Righteous, strong and ready to kick a pervert right in his Ancient … Read more