# XENA fans: would the show have been better if the X/G relationship had been explicitly sexual? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 21, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291 "2010-05-21T19:38:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/1 "2010-05-21T19:38:49Z")
X/G, of course, refers to Xena/Gabrielle, as everyone who has any interest in the show at all should know. Please explain your reasoning. I will give my thoughts in the next post; first I have to post the poll. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/2 "2010-05-21T19:40:19Z")
Yes, if the show was on HBO or Skinemax. Otherwise, why bother? In before the poll! ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/3 "2010-05-21T19:42:15Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > X/G, of course, refers to Xena/Gabrielle, as everyone who has any interest in the show at all should know. > > Please explain your reasoning. I will give my thoughts in the next post; first I have to post the poll. No, they have to leave something for the porn parody. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/4 "2010-05-21T19:44:50Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > X/G, of course, refers to Xena/Gabrielle, as everyone who has any interest in the show at all should know. > > Please explain your reasoning. I will give my thoughts in the next post; first I have to post the poll. Nope. Treading the line is the way to go in this situation, 100%. See the old Jump the Shark trope, “They Did It”. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/5 "2010-05-21T19:52:21Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Yes, if the show was on HBO or Skinemax. Otherwise, why bother? > > In before the poll! The usual feckless sci-fi threats. I voted _No, but for reasons you did not name._ Specifically, I don’t think the leads were always physically intimate. And I don’t mean that they started off as friends and then grew to be more; I mean that they had sexual peaks and valleys, and that there were probably long stretches in which they simply didn’t have sex. Theirs was not an emotionally equal relationship, because Xena was passionate about Gabrielle both physically and emotionally, whereas Gabrielle shared the emotional bond and could take or leave the sex. Or, perhaps, she wasn’t really interested in monogamy, despite parroting what she was expected to feel. Gabrielle was never jealous of Xena’s relationships with men; she only got threatened by other women, and more about Xena’s emotional involvements than her physical activity. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/6 "2010-05-21T19:56:55Z")
Yes. Because I didn’t masturbate _enough_ as a child. ---
**Author:** ![Discipline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Discipline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Discipline)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/7 "2010-05-21T20:11:05Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Yes. Because I didn’t masturbate _enough_ as a child. Ditto this. I probably would’ve friction burned my dick off. Not cool. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/8 "2010-05-21T20:18:57Z")
I was under the understanding that, later in the show’s run, it was made explicit (as in, unambiguous, not as in seeing naughty bits)? And I also thought it was pretty clear at the time that the rumors started that Gabrielle was still a virgin, though most fans apparently didn’t see the same coded message I did. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/9 "2010-05-21T20:40:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I was under the understanding that, later in the show’s run, it was made explicit (as in, unambiguous, not as in seeing naughty bits)? And I also thought it was pretty clear at the time that the rumors started that Gabrielle was still a virgin, though most fans apparently didn’t see the same coded message I did. No, Gabrielle was married, briefly. (Psycho Barbie Callisto killed her husband.) She was also interested in a couple of male characters, although they never went far. “Coded” messages & rumors? Tons of them. The love between Xena & Gabrielle was a very strong theme, to the end of the show. But a sexual relationship was _never_ made explicit. Nor was it denied. (_Xena_ is available for downloading on Netflix; I’m slowly working my way through, although I saw most of the show during its original run.) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/10 "2010-05-21T20:42:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I was under the understanding that, later in the show’s run, it was made explicit (as in, unambiguous, not as in seeing naughty bits)? And I also thought it was pretty clear at the time that the rumors started that Gabrielle was still a virgin, though most fans apparently didn’t see the same coded message I did. I think you’re somewhat mistaken there. For one thing, Gabrielle’s dual virginities (both her lack of sexual experience and her blood innocence) were an issue during most of the first season. Moreover, it’s difficult to read the show as their ever being sexually exclusive to one another, even toward the end. When Xena is mysteriously pregnant, Gabrielle’s response is a casual “So when did you last see Hercules?”–meaning, to me, that she didn’t expect Xena to keep her knees crossed when they were apart. > [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Yes. Because I didn’t masturbate _enough_ as a child. Your records indicate otherwise. Are you telling me the NSA has it wrong? ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/11 "2010-05-21T20:52:15Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Your records indicate otherwise. Are you telling me the NSA has it wrong? Turn the page in my file. It mentions my penchant for sarcasm. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/12 "2010-05-21T20:56:42Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Turn the page in my file. It mentions my penchant for sarcasm. Page 12? That was in the “Reasons **AClockworkMelon** must be assassinated, preferably with fire” so I deleted that paragraph and redacted the whole section so that it said not to kill you. Want me to put it back the way it was? ---
**Author:** ![Gustav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Gustav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gustav)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/13 "2010-05-21T21:02:45Z")
Yes, because dumb kids like me never realized they were supposed to be anything but friends. Some people just need things spelled out for them. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/14 "2010-05-21T21:03:41Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Page 12? > > That was in the “Reasons **AClockworkMelon** must be assassinated, preferably with fire” so I deleted that paragraph and redacted the whole section so that it said not to kill you. Want me to put it back the way it was? I can take all comers. (Heh heh.) ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/15 "2010-05-21T21:05:38Z")
> [@Gustav](#): > > Yes, because dumb kids like me never realized they were supposed to be anything but friends. Some people just need things spelled out for them. You obviously haven’t seen every episode. There’s one that takes place in the real world (as in, they fuck the fourth wall) and a bunch of fans do nothing but talk about the two of them lezzing it out. They eventually summon Xena into the real world and hilarity ensues. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/16 "2010-05-21T21:18:07Z")
As a non-fan, I voted “No, but for a reason you did not name.” I tried watching the show once but didn’t like it, and knowing what I was missing out on by not watching it would have added insult to injury. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/17 "2010-05-21T21:21:23Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > As a non-fan, I voted “No, but for a reason you did not name.” > > I tried watching the show once but didn’t like it, and knowing what I was missing out on by not watching it would have added insult to injury. Excuse me while I wash these feces off my shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/18 "2010-05-21T21:58:22Z")
I voted “Yes for other reasons” because as a heterosexual male pig television viewer I think that every show would be better with more explicit lesbianism. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/19 "2010-05-21T22:01:38Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Excuse me while I wash these feces off my shoes. Sorry. Would you accept, “Yes, but not enough to become a fan”? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291/20 "2010-05-21T22:07:06Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I voted “Yes for other reasons” because as a heterosexual male pig television viewer I think that every show would be better with more explicit lesbianism. I have made a note of that, and the next time I pop over to Universal DVD Library world, I will get you the x-rated version of _The Golden Girls_. Same cast as we know from this world. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xena-fans-would-the-show-have-been-better-if-the-x-g-relationship-had-been-explicitly-sexual/540291.md?page=2)