I have a tendency to obsess over Wonder Woman’s costume, because I love the Lynda Carter version and, of course, the George Perez revamp. I think nostalgia plays a lot into it.  But then, I saw the movie version, and, of course, I loved it and it looked awesome and more practical. I think it’s interesting that the original costume was created by a male feminist of the time, as it still fell prey to many of the trappings of what a man thinks a woman should be. It gets tricky, though, because some women love their, bras, and heels and make up. Is that wrong? I think a woman should do whatever the hell she wants to do.

Oh, but to the point of the article (and there is one) . . . I find it strange that audiences questioned why Wonder Woman (in the recent film) would have a patriotic costume on when she was an Amazon from Themiscyra. Then, it dawned on me: Why would she give a flip about honoring her culture? Her mom lied to her about her origin until she was well into adulthood. The Amazons disowned her, and her own mother told her to never come back. No wonder she was a trainwreck for 100 years, “pining” for Steve Trevor. (God, I hope they redact that!)


So, why wouldn’t she want to honor the country that embraced her as their Wonder Woman? Most immigrants are very proud to be Americans. Why shouldn’t that apply to Wonder Woman?  I’d want to disassociate from any group that didn’t want me, but that’s just me.


I so admired Wonder Woman’s strength. I wanted to be her – costume and all.  There’s the argument that she’s a woman and can choose to wear what she wishes, but then there’s the argument of who made her decide to make the decision of a skimpy outfit to do battle in. I never had a problem with it as a child, but, luckily, times have changed and it defies logic.  Even if you take into account that Wonder Woman come from an island of all women who wouldn’t be modest in front of each other, I don’t really see it happening. I’m sure there are couples and all that, but it’s not Caligula for the love of Pete.


Being the feminist that I am, I wholeheartedly want to work against women being treated as objects. I didn’t realize what it meant until I grew up. As a child of the ’70s and ’80s, women were hard to come by and often sexualized, but I never saw them this way. I always admired them because they had strength and their beauty seemed part of their strength. That sounds like a horrible thing to say, but I think I identify with the want to be the pretty girl. But why be punished for that? And it’s certainly off the table for me to say one way or the other. I do see where the short pants would be problematic, but not stars and eagles.


I don’t really care either way, but as I was thinking about Wonder Woman (as I often do), I remember this issue always bothering me. A lot of people become Americanized when they came here. If Hippolyta has a problem with it, she can hike her royal butt back to Paradise Island. Or keep it there, rather. Of course, Diana’s too kind to think that way, and I’m sure their torn relationship bothers her. But sometimes you have to find yourself whether someone else wants you to or not. Thanks for being here! See you next week.


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