Wonder Woman Movie: Femininity in Feminism Is A Must See

We are at what is presumably the peak for superhero movies. Every third film in theaters is now a member of some sort of hero extended universe of Marvel or DC, and it’s been that way for years. With that being true, it really is sort of messed up that the first solo movie about a female superhero took until 2017 then, huh?

It’s no wonder then, that Wonder Woman (2017) has been being presumed to be some sort of feminist beacon for 3rd wave, modern feminists. Does she live up to the hype-though?

Ultimately, while the 2017 Wonder Woman film doesn’t represent all of the current discourses discussed in practiced feminism, the movie still represents many feminist ideals in a way that can be looked up to by the feminist community and all. While Wonder Woman’s character isn’t depicted obviously as clear “rah, rah, feminism!” it could still be heralded as a feminist beacon within the comic book realm.

The superhero extended universe was started and seemingly perfected by Marvel with DC struggling to keep up. While the first films in these worlds was started by Iron Man (2008), DC hadn’t really had an extended universe success until Wonder Woman. (Marvel, with 16 hero EU movies out, still has not had one with a female lead.)

In the film, Wonder Woman is everything that you would want her to be. She grew up on an island with only warrior women, she is just a badass character at every turn, and she doesn’t let anyone talk down to her about what she can and cannot do. She is a textbook strong female character who don’t need no man. At every turn, her male counterpart is telling her she can’t do something, and by the time he has turned around to mansplain, she’s already completed the action in question in scenes that feel full of glass ceiling shattering metaphor.

To me, it seems obvious that Wonder Woman should be considered a feminist icon, because she is literally the single strongest woman in the world. But like with any opinion, Wonder Woman has her critics.

Some more die-hard and radical feminists critique the new movie, saying that she doesn’t represent feminism at all. Critics say she is too emotional and that the story line is driven by her being a woman. They also say she is too attractive to be a beacon for feminism. Somehow, they also complained that her being attractive and also “hyper-competent” began to get old. And they say that the design of the clothes worn by the Amazons are too sexualized.

However, perhaps not everything has to address every single current discourse of feminism in every single movie to be feminist, and perhaps we should look at the characters themselves as individuals and people before trying to thrust being representatives of entire ideologies upon them.

Wonder Woman is emotional and it is not to her detriment. It makes her be able to save people more effectively and ultimately gives her the strength to defeat the characters villain (in a moment that is very self aware that employs a role reversal of the trope of man-pain). Wonder Woman is attractive, and people notice, but she doesn’t let them take her less seriously because of it because she is also competent. And her outfit is that way because it is the armor of her people that protects her torso with leather but frees her limbs for the movements the Amazons always do. (And superhero costumes don’t make sense for anyone, except maybe Iron Man.)

My problem with Wonder Woman’s feminist critics is that, and this should come as no shock, women exist that are emotional, beautiful, competent women who like wearing pretty outfits who still support the ideals of equality and feminism, and these women shouldn’t be discounted for who they are. Perhaps her critics should just let women be the women they want to be and not tear them down for their temperament and preference. By saying Wonder Woman can’t be a feminist idol because she is all of those things is to suggest that women like Wonder Woman can’t be effective feminists. This concept ends up being exclusionary.

Ultimately, we should just let Wonder Woman be a character and take the equality that Wonder Woman was given to represent at face value instead of suggesting there is only one way to represent feminism and equality in superhero movies. I am not going to applaud a company for making a female-led superhero movie because it should have been done by now, but even that is a feminist victory despite being long overdue.

Wonder Woman represents an important facet of feminism and a problem that feminism faces today. That is that somehow, in modern feminism, if you aren’t rejecting all gender norms like being an emotionally intelligent woman with a nurturing side and an enjoyment for looking pretty, then you aren’t being a feminist correctly. However, Wonder Woman, who continues to be a feminist icon and should continue to be for all, just proves that you can be a strong woman and love equality and strength while also being “conventionally” feminine because being a conventionally feminine woman is okay too.

In feminism, women should be bolstering other women up, no matter their choices, and I think Wonder Woman, though not representing all the ideals that some would like, represents that severely important ideal that modern feminists need to cling to more, especially in media.