Or, The United Nations Just Doesn’t Get it.
By CHRISTY BLANCH
Growing up in a world full of boys, watching Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman on television gave me hope.
She made me realize that there were other girls like me who did not let boys boss them around. Girls who could take care of themselves. It made me feel not alone. Wonder Woman was my hero, my role model, and she empowered me. Not because she was beautiful and scantily clad, but because of who she was on the inside. She made me want to be like her — to care for people, to do good, and to take care of myself.
Now, less than two months after being named a United Nations Honorary Ambassador, Wonder Woman’s title has been stripped due to protests and an online petition with 45,000 signatures. The petition said that “Although the original creators may have intended Wonder Woman to represent a strong and independent ‘warrior’ woman with a feminist message, the reality is that the character’s current iteration is that of a large breasted, white woman of impossible proportions, scantily clad in a shimmery, thigh-baring body suit.”
Hold on a second.
Read what Trina Robbins, one of comics’ most notable pioneers for women, says about this:
“Wonder Woman has, alas, since the death of her feminist creator, William Moulton Marston, been the slave of whoever wrote and drew her. All too many of her writers and artists, all male, have been threatened by the aspect of such a strong woman or have simply not liked her, so they have disempowered her, been unable to keep their hands off her costume, and turned her into a hyper-sexualized pinup.
“I fear the many people who have objected to Wonder Woman being selected an ambassador by the United Nations are seeing the years of unfortunate baggage she carries with her. But there’s been a sea change in mainstream comics since the Bad Old Days, and I urge her critics to read the current Wonder Woman comics — respectfully and sensitively written and beautifully drawn — and think again.”
Trina Robbins
It’s hard to put it any better.
Wonder Woman, who has endured sitting in the third (or farther down) seat at the DC dinner table, has been sexualized in the past, no question. But she keeps fighting — and has has come full circle as a symbol of female empowerment — starting, you could argue, with Gloria Steinem’s famous Ms. cover from 1972. She is now more popular than ever.
Murphy Anderson
All of these protesters are doing exactly the opposite of what they claim to believe. They are judging a woman for her looks and not for herself. That doesn’t make you an advocate for women. That makes you an uninformed jerk.
Have any of these people who protested read The Circle, by Gail Simone, Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson? Or the most recent run by Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott and Liam Sharp?
Sharp on the left. Terry and Rachel Dodson in the center. Nicola Scott on the right.
In all likelihood, no.
Here’s hoping that when the new Wonder Woman movie comes out starring the amazing Gal Gadot, the people who protested look back and see how ridiculous they were. I don’t need Wonder Woman to be an ambassador to know how amazing she is.
So to all you Wonder Women out there — keep spinning, knowing that there are those that believe in you and together we can “change their minds and change the world.”
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Columnist Christy Blanch writes LAST WEEK’S COMICS TODAY for 13th Dimension. She also operates Aw Yeah Comics in Muncie, Ind.
December 13, 2016
Amazing article! The ones who truly know Diana, know how they are wrong! Love to read this
December 13, 2016
Thanks for taking on so nicely this bizzare decision. Issues that were brought up deserved consideration. But the discussion should have occurred in a more systematic give and take reflective manner then was done. Things could have had a different outcome if WW in a comic took on the very concerns one by one of the people that had misgivings etc about her ambassadorship.Doing that would have more clearly informed others who were only on the surface familiar with the character more to think about.
December 13, 2016
Interesting to note. Marston never intended Diana to be a “warrior” woman. But rather a fighter who fought for peace and a better way. The entire warrior concept of Wonder Woman came after Marston was gone and people wanted to pigeon hold her into the Amazon myth.. which they weirdly don’t seem as interested in doing with Thor who ya know.. is an actual god.
Perez’s run definitely began a more violent Diana.. Azzarello’s being the biggest with her actually becoming the God of War (for no apparent reason other than.. it sounded cool?). Glad Rucka is getting her back on track. Though Renae De Liz (not mentioned here) has probably the best modern interpretation of Wonder Woman ever.
December 13, 2016
“They are judging a woman for her looks and not for herself.”
Wonder Woman is not a person. She is a fictional character drawn by artists, most of them men, often in a sexualized way. Is no one allowed to criticize sexist portrayals of women for fear of being told “Actually I think you will find it is YOU who are sexist”?
December 13, 2016
Nothing wrong with being sexy. Unless you think it’s a “bad” thing.Should there be criticisms about women being “not sexy”? I don’t see any, Maybe these critics think sexy is “bad”, but not sexy is “good”. Wonder Woman is not a mere sex object, she’s strong and independent. that’s all.There are clear differences between being sexy and overly-sexualized. Maybe the right subject is to increase diversity in superheroine scene, but that’s another story.
December 14, 2016
I don’t think anyone is saying her outfit couldn’t be improved but dismissing her personality because of that outfit is more sexist that her outfit.
Wonder Woman means a huge amount to people around the world, particularly women. In most of her stories she is standing up to sexism or making peace with her enemies. When she first joined the Justice League, due to sexism at the time, she was their secretary, now she is one of DCs most popular characters.
Her journey through comics is the journey of women in the real world & to dismiss all of that, all of what she means to people & what she represents because she wears a low cut top, is kinda horrible.