I have to second everything Melissa Blake says here about Rob Tapert. Every time I have heard that man speak he is always proving himself to be the true feminist he is well known for in being the main showrunner of Xena. He is just constantly “You know what bugs me? There’s never any women-led…” and will just complain about the severe lack of women in everything in the TV art/entertainment industry. Or in any medium of public entertainment whatsoever. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him speak in an interview where he didn't say something about the lack of female representation in everything.
He is always championing and cheering for women and their hard work all over the world and it never ever comes off performative or like he is trying to appeal to a specific demographic. He genuinely supports women’s rights. He has spoken out so many times about how much he wishes there had been more female creators in Xena but that he just couldn’t convince all that many to give it a try and said that apart from Renée O’Connor, Liz Friedman, Chris Manheim and Nora Kay Foster, no female was really a regular on the set as a writer/director/producer and as much as he loved his entire team, it always bothered him that his show was male-dominant as far as the creative field went instead of female-dominant because, as far as he was concerned, that was how it was meant to be. A women-led show in every sense of the phrase. But that they just weren't interested in doing action/fantasy and preferred rom-coms. Donald Duncan - director of cinemaphotography on Xena - attested to that in the commentary he did for the episode ‘King Con’. He spoke about how there were very few female directors that directed for Xena and that it was a shame because that was really what the show was made for. To give women the opportunity they often do not get in the industry.
I’m not saying it’s got everything to do with her love for him but it’s no wonder why Lucy Lawless married Rob Tapert. It’s also no wonder why the Xenaverse fandom (Xenites) - which are predominantly gay or queer women - respect Rob so much as an executive producer. I mean as Melissa Blake said… you hear horror stories about the way women are treated by male showrunners (coughWhedoncough) and it’s something that I really think gets overlooked about the on-set experience of Xena. That it was a family environment even though it was male-dominated. Women had more opportunity and authority on the set of Xena than probably any other set because that’s how Rob wanted it to be. He didn’t just cater to the Xenaverse fandom - he catered to every woman on his team and never ever made any excuses for why anything couldn't be done for them at any point. It just genuinely ended up being that not many female creators wanted to stick around on the Xena set because the scope of it often meant leaving their families behind for a long time. But Rob and all the other showrunners or the leads of all the different departments working on Xena always made sure to make their environments as comforting as possible on the off-chance a woman wanted to join their team and stick it out for the long haul like them. That's what 'Xena: Warrior Princess' was about. It wasn't just an "in-show" representation thing with having two lead female characters in a romantically-heavy type of character dynamic. It was for female creators to get a foot in the door in TV art/entertainment amongst a plethora of male creators that were constantly catered to just because their sex chromosomes were XY. Rob and all of the male creators on Xena did not want that but they ultimately had no choice because few female creators were willing to take the risk on doing something that's outside their field.
Something that - at the time - was only ever expected for men to do.
I think we - as a fandom - take for granted what Xena was in this way. It was a very unique and groundbreaking experience on-set as well and if there were any horror stories, it never had anything to do with poor treatment from an abusive and oppressive male showrunner because that showrunner was the first person to offer his support.
Sure, Xena was his baby but he would have happily shared his baby with women if they were inclined to accept the offer of opportunity. I think Liz Friedman was probably the closest we had to a female showrunner on Xena. Especially since Babs left so god damn early. I do often wonder what Xena would have been if Babs stayed but then catch myself on that because that would've meant no Steven L. Sears since he is who joined the Xena team in replacement of Babs leaving.
Xena took the representation of women incredibly seriously and it's not given its due for that in my opinion. Not on the creative side at least. Rob Tapert isn't credited even half as much as he should be on this either. People remember Whedon, Moffat, Roddenberry, Murphy... the list goes on. But when you mention Tapert... it's just cricket sounds. I don't know. Maybe he prefers it that way because - like I said - he was never performative about it or seeking glory.
