Sexualization of Wonder Woman: A Necessary Evil?

The biggest controversy regarding Wonder Woman's characterization is the paradox between her symbol of the Feminist rights movement and the sexual objectification of her character. This is a fair issue that many scholars and advocates raise as this dual nature of Wonder Woman is inherently insidious. Her depiction as the inaugural heroine fighting for justice, love, peace, and most importantly, gender equality lures audiences into adopting her as their paragon of female identity. However, beyond the crime-fighting and the resultant female empowerment, the portrayal of her character is amazingly primordial and sexist. In the first issue of Wonder Woman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told, immediately after Wonder Woman drops off Steve Trevor at a local hospital, she goes window shopping. This means, her first two actions as a superhero concerned her romantic love-interest and her love of clothes. Immediately, her characterization is defined in relation to men and clothes. In fact, in the panel where Wonder Woman is shown window shopping, the narrative box states: "Always the woman, Diana goes shopping." This portrayal of Wonder Woman would arguably do more harm than good as it will teach young women that fashion is more important than other justice issues.

I do want to acknowledge that I realize that for its time, this issue is rather progressive in relation to other depictions of women in media. However, even though the portrayal of Wonder Woman has been remodeled over the years to reflect the changing attitudes towards women rights, Wonder Woman remains a highly sexualized  female character. In the interest of playing devil's advocate, I will argue that her sexualization is not only necessary but vital for her continued popularity.

The sexual objectification of her character is only one facet of her current portrayal. Indeed her controversial features of the past has been replaced and updated to fit the current cultural standards. For example, during the year of her inaugural run, Wonder Woman is depicted as hopelessly smitten for Steve Trevor. Current issues of DC's New 52 on the other hand has reversed this dynamic in their relationship. It is now Steve Trevor who arbors feelings for Wonder Woman and has trouble communicating it to her. Wonder Woman on the contrary is now oblivious to Steve Trevor's emotions and have started a relationship with Superman purely because in her view, he is the only other person that can rival and equal her power levels.

Additionally, one can argue that the body image of all superheroes (male or female) in comic books are exaggerated to depict superhuman qualities. Analogous to Wonder Woman's unrealistic hip-to-waist ratio, Superman's broad shoulders and double-barrel biceps are comical at best. Furthermore, Wonder Woman's over-sexualization may be pertinent to her sustained success and popularity. After all, there are people in our world today that have attained popularity, and therefore the public eye's attention for the sole reason of being very attractive. It is in this popularity that Wonder Woman, as an icon, can truly contribute in the fight for gender equality. By using her continued success, authors of her comics can reach wider audiences to spread progressive ideals regarding female empowerment and gender equality.