Wonder Woman's Real Enemy
Wonder Woman has had many enemies over the years. She’s fought monsters, machines, and gods since her creation in 1941; however, Wonder Woman’s real enemy is the patriarchy.
From 2D drawings in old comics to Gal Gadot’s newest representation in the ‘Wonder Woman’ movie that hit theaters this week, Wonder Woman has been taking on sexism for years. Her willingness to be absolutely savage when it comes to gender roles and the patriarchy is a staple of her character and one that is continued in the newest film.
Despite the rigidity of the 20th Century when the original Wonder Woman comics were being made, the authors never held back in challenging the oppressive culture around them. This rejection of a sexist society that the original authors wrote into the comics set the stage for the Wonder Woman that we are seeing today in 2017.
A sexist and patriarchal society still exists. It may look slightly different than it did back in the 1950s, but it still exists and it still needs to be called out. Thankfully, we now have a new Wonder Woman to do just that. In honor of the new movie, here’s a look back at a few times that Wonder Woman was absolutely ruthless about sexism.
This ultimate take-down of fragile masculinity
This extremely important and relevant callout
Teaching the younger generation …
And of course, encouraging fellow women in their strength
What’s great about Wonder Woman as a character and a concept is that she is an outsider who is experiencing our society for the first time. Through her character, we are able to view our own society as an outsider as well. So much misogyny has become common and internalized among men and women; however, for an outsider such as Wonder Woman, it hasn’t. Through her, we are able to see more clearly the societal misogyny that is so deeply engrained in our society.
If you want to see Wonder Woman carry on her legacy of smashing the patriarchy, make sure you head down to your local theater!