Television fantasy shows can be used to negotiate real-life experiences, with the
magical realm encouraging viewers to apply information learned about a fictional
universe to the events and occurrences taking place in their own lives (Feasey
39–48). It will come as no surprise, then, that a range of fighting female figures such as
Xena: Warrior Princess (1995–2001), Buffy: The Vampire Slayer (1997–2003), and the
women of Charmed (1998–present) regularly appears in works on gender and the politics
of contemporary culture. Theorists such as Elyce Rae Helford, Rachel Moseley, and Sharon
Ross routinely argue that these popular texts offer role models for a new “girl power”
feminism that is “at once powerful and undeniably girly” (Helford 137). However, while
such research is considering the ways in which these warrior women inspire “self reliance
in young female fans” (Kingwell 83), theorists have overlooked the ways in which these
empowered figures can be read by the women in the audience. With this in mind, I examine
the ways in which the woman in the fantasy audience can find meaning and pleasure
from a seemingly teenage text.