More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Wonder Woman is a comic book character and feminist icon. She appeared on the cover of the first issue of Ms. magazine. Ms. founder Gloria Steinem described Wonder Woman as “a heroine for little girls, and also as a conscious alternative to the violence of comic books for boys.”
While Trump fans align him with The Godfather, Kamala Harris supporters idealize her as Wonder Woman.
If “The Donfather” wins, the nation becomes his personal compound—and woe to those who are not under his “protection,” along with “bad girls” everywhere.
Ms. Magazine aligned itself with the Amazonian fighter for peace and justice from its inception, featuring the red-, white- and blue-bedecked heroine on the cover of its first full issue. Five times, to date, Wonder Woman has graced this magazine’s cover, linking her inexorably with women’s empowerment and feminism.
My problem with “Wonder Woman 1984” isn’t so much the plot itself—although it’s pretty muddled—but the way the machinations of the plot rest on gendered characterizations we really shouldn’t have to put up with anymore in 2020.
This is the year in which women take control, both in starring roles and behind the camera.
These are the only two female superhero leads that we have ever seen in Marvel or DC films, and whether it’s incidental or not, the two heroes tell us a lot about how our culture thinks about power, femininity and womanhood.
It’s no wonder she’s graced the Ms. cover five times and counting. Wonder Woman remains a dynamic symbol of women’s potential, the possibilities of feminism and the hopes of humanity.
We promise to keep making history, pushing forward and inspiring a movement that has changed the world.
The question isnt whether Wonder Woman’s sexy dress, satin tights or even increasingly violent on-screen heroics merit her a role model. The question is: Why we don’t ask the same questions of male superheroes?
Western culture remains exceptionally wary of these warrior women—even in the latest iteration of Wonder Woman.
Wonder Woman is leaping off movie screens as part of our 45th anniversary celebration, returning for the fifth time to the cover of Ms. Join her on the pages of our Anniversary Issue by becoming a Ms. member!
