The chances of you seeing someone dressed as Wonder Woman this Hallowe’en is inevitable. 2016 is the legendary female superhero’s 75th anniversary, which will no doubt increase costume’s popularity.
It’s been revealed that Wonder Woman is the new UN ambassador for gender equality, a decision which puzzles me for a number of reasons.
Wonder Woman has indeed been a feminist icon for decades. Her backstory claims that she was sculpted from clay by the mythical Queen Hippolyta and given superhuman powers by the Greek Gods. Many of her plotlines involve her rescuing herself, subverting the “damsel in distress” archetype which was rife during the 1940s and ‘50s.
She is certainly what many people see as a (forgive my use of the clichéd and patronising term) “strong woman”. But making her an ambassador for gender equality is not just inappropriate, but foolish.
For starters, she is ultimately a sex symbol. The massive breasts, impossibly tiny waist, leotard and thigh high boots screams objectification. Her appearance glamorises and sexualises the serious gender issues at hand, education, female genital mutilation and child marriage to name a few.
(Image: The Guardian)
Now before you start complaining and telling me to “lighten up” because she’s “just a cartoon”, hear me out.
For someone to be an effective ambassador for gender equality, they have to be real! They have to be someone who can be interviewed, have an opinion, reply to criticism, travel the world, meet with world leaders and be a serious agent of change. What we have instead is a symbol of the American comic and film industries.
Wonder Woman, originally created by DC Comics, is a Western male construct of female heroism, a fantasy depicting a fetishised “sexy” and “independent” woman.
This brings me onto my next point. The UN is made up of 193 states from across the globe and therefore should be promoting intersectional feminism and gender equality. I find it bizarre that they would choose a white woman with an American flag on her outfit to represent such a broad scope of nationalities. This is white feminism at its most arrogant.
The tagline “think of all the wonders we can do” makes me think “well what actually can she do?”
In response to the UN’s decision, a petition was raised by its staff. “Real women deserve a real ambassador” was one of the messages written on placards and I couldn’t agree more.
The world has greatly changed in the 75 years since DC’s conception of Wonder Woman. She is an outdated, alienating and irrelevant figure. The ambassador should be someone who can make men and women engage with gender equality in the way that Emma Watson’s “HeforShe” campaign attempted. Linking gender equality to a cartoon figure, in my opinion, trivialises the matter at hand. It reflects that gender equality is not worthy of human representation or effort. Not having an autonomous figure, male or female, as a spokesperson seems to contradict the efforts to deconstruct oppressive structures and give people equal voices.
So whether you’re dressing up as Harley Quinn (initially created as a symbol of domestic violence, then distorted into a Hollywood sex icon – but that’s another article), or a pumpkin, just don’t be Wonder Woman – I’m sick of her already.