Opinion Arre, Wonderful

Wonder Woman turns 75 on Friday and is receiving the bestest birthday presents ever. The trailer of her forthcoming movie is just out. In response to public queries, DC has confirmed that she is queer, and on her birthday on October 21, the United Nations will make her honorary ambassador for gender equality. Wonder Woman has been a feminist icon in the US, where superhero culture and real life interpenetrate seamlessly and thugs rob banks dressed as Darth Vader. But from a distance, it seems unnecessary to commandeer a comic character to champion gender equality when flesh and blood candidates are freely available.

Wonder Woman has come a long way for a person who must go through life in a swimsuit cut from the Stars and Stripes, armed against the big, bad world with only a tinselly Lasso of Truth. But it is impossible to miss the unintended irony — the choice of a fictional character when the UN’s heft in world affairs is much reduced, and its exploits dismissed as fanciful, if not fictional.

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Wonder Woman is being unfairly disparaged on the ground that she was dreamed up by a man. Her critics do not appreciate that the man was in a polyamorous relationship, that his wife was co-creator of the story line, and that the artist based the image of the character on the other woman in the household. From the day she drew breath on a comic book page, Wonder Woman knew a thing or two about gender. Originally, the artist had also given her a nice skirt to wear, but she always knew that a nationalistic swimsuit would be a hit. And now, ironically, it’s going to remind everyone that the UN is located in the US, which some countries feel peevish about. An Amazon wrapped in the national flag is a clear visual message.