Wonder Woman turns 75, receives honorary U.N. ambassadorship
WASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group) — It’s been a busy week for Wonder Woman.
As the DC Comics heroine celebrated the 75th anniversary of her first appearance Friday, the United Nations named her its Honorary Ambassador for the Empowerment of Women and Girls.
Achieving gender equality and empowering all women is one of 17 sustainable development goals the U.N. is attempting to accomplish by 2030.
“I have some familiarity with Wonder Woman and I couldn’t think of a more appropriate role for her,” Lynda Carter, the actress who played the character in a 1970s TV series, said at a U.N. designation ceremony.
Created by writer William Moulton Marston, his wife Elizabeth Holloway Marston, and artist H.G. Peter, the character was originally inspired by early feminists. Princess Diana of Themyscira was an Amazon fighting for justice in the world of man with super-human strength and a golden lasso of truth.
She has undergone many costume changes and some origin revision over the years. The comic's current writer has suggested Diana is bisexual.
At the U.N. ceremony Friday, Carter described the impact that the character had when her show first hit the air 1975.
“This miracle of an idea that came from a 48-year-old woman named Elizabeth started to have an influence in some girls and women’s lives,” she said. “That was when Wonder Woman became flesh This idea became a reality. The ‘she’ became ‘we.’”
“In some magical and mystical way, there lies within each of us Wonder Woman. She is real.”
The character made her first live action big screen appearance in this summer’s “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” played by Gal Gadot. Gadot will reprise the character in her own solo movie next summer and in a Justice League film next fall.
“Justice League” director Zack Snyder posted a new photo of Gadot in costume on Twitter Friday.
Gadot and “Wonder Woman” film director Patty Jenkins also participated in a Facebook Live chat answering questions from fans around the world. They both said the character symbolizes equality and feminism for modern girls and women.
“I think that everything that Wonder Woman stands for is so relevant nowadays. She’s all about justice and truth and acceptance and love and leadership and wisdom and confidence, and the message is so universal,” Gadot said.
“When I was a girl, Wonder Woman was a character who I saw and understood,” Jenkins said. “I don’t need to know any more about politics or anything. I want to be that woman.”
In an issue of Entertainment Weekly published last Friday, the magazine's writers and editors named Wonder Woman the most powerful and influential superhero ever.
“On her 75th anniversary, it’s time she finally gets her due,” Anthony Breznican wrote. “As a feminist icon, she represents something that’s bigger than Spider-Man or Batman. She’s an inspiration for every little girl who would like to imagine herself saving the world.”
Not everyone is thrilled that the U.N. ambassadorship was given to a fictional character rather than an actual empowered woman.
An online petitioncreated by “concerned United Nations staff members” alleges that the appointment of a “mascot” instead of a living female role model trivializes the issue of female empowerment.
“Although the original creators may have intended Wonder Woman to represent a strong and independent ‘warrior’ woman with a feminist message, the reality is that the character’s current iteration is that of a large breasted, white woman of impossible proportions, scantily clad in a shimmery, thigh-baring body suit with an American flag motif and knee high boots –the epitome of a ‘pin-up’ girl,” it states.