Artwork (with permission of the artist evandromenezes) of Xena: Warrior Princess (2022-12-08).
Yesterday I stumbled across the artwork of evandromenezes and felt a bit like coming home: His artwork is a lot about (strong) women of popular culture and therefore, I asked for permission of recoloring which I got real fast.
As I skipped through his 700+ picture-gallery, I was unsure with which strong woman I should start but then I stumbled across a childhood/teen-puberty icon - Xena, the Warrior Princess *_*
My relationship with Xena - and the series of Hercules, where Xena is a kind of spin-off-series - was such a one that my brother and me watched both serieses every weekend on RTL, not really recognizing but having fun that 'the Herc- and Xenaverse was a silly, sexy world of American slang, fast food, leather and whips where anything was possible' (in: Diak, 2018: 130).
Xena "can come along with great cleavage and beautiful legs and we can enjoy lustig after her“ - and as me being a boy in puberty I did it -; she had a „lithe, muscular body“ and "is entirely comfortable living, fighting, and loving inside of it“ (see in: Helford, 2000: 137, 139). She was beautiful, sexy-strong, smart, a fascinating character and she could kick as* :)
She was/is one of the 'new heroines' sensu in Inness (2004: 97ff.) and as such a one she "is depicted as both muscular and (hyper-)sexualized, while maintaining her emotional vulnerability". These heroines can fight back but in aggression or muscularity they are not like earlier heroines with regard to 'masculinity'; they "often display 'cut' physiques with 'just enough' muscle definition".
With regard to her muscularity I wish I had been able to learn more about different muscular females like the 'real modern Amazon' (see: Frueh et al, 2000: 13ff., esp. 16) - most likely in combination with Weinrichs (in: Bullough & Bullough, 2013: 544) concepts of „‘Limerent and Lusty‘ Theory of Sexual Orientation“. This would had made my teenage years far more easier/clear, I believe, but it wasn't the case and so I had a real small horizon in high school that even lay behind me (see the German Cobra Kai: S03E10)...
But back to important things: The recoloring was a lot of fun and I am getting better at coloring sky... :)
