By Sarah Chawla, Courier Staff Writer
A Texan movie theatre chain has reserved two showings of Wonder Woman only for women.
Since her creation in 1940, Wonder Woman has been a representation of the power of women and the femininity in the superhero world. She has evolved with the times to continue being a feminist icon that stands up for what she believes in. In 1970, Wonder Woman supported liberal feminists’ fight for women’s rights. She was the cover of the July 1972 issue of Ms. Magazine with the heading “Wonder Woman for President”. Additionally, on her 75th birthday, she was named the UN girls’ empowerment ambassador. One writer, Rachel Leishman, explains how she looked up to her as a kid and she too “wanted to be a warrior who fought alongside all the men without question”. Wonder Woman gave her the inspiration to take on the world as a girl.
A lot of men are offended by women wanting to celebrate girl power by coming together to watch one of the few movies with a superheroine. One male Logan student, who prefers to remain anonymous, thinks that “if the genders were reversed in this situation, feminists would be up in arms about it”. However, the whole point of this event is for girls to come together to celebrate a beloved female character making it to the big screen. Males get thousands of movies for them, so it wouldn’t make sense for them to celebrate just another movie. The Wonder Woman movie is an accomplishment for woman after decades of being oppressed by men, so this is something to celebrate.
Sophia Ahmadi, a Logan senior feels “that women deserve this moment and it’s something that we’ve waited for for a long time. We shouldn’t receive shame for wanting to watch a film about a strong woman surrounded by other strong women. And to the people who say ‘Well, when was there ever an all men screening of a male superhero film?’ How many male superhero films have their been? Hundreds. How many female ones have there been? Eight. This is a big deal for us and if we want an all women screening, we have every right to have and cherish one. Male dominated superhero films have been the norm for too long. Now it’s our turn.”
On the other hand, Jasmin Taylor explains how she “could see how people might get offended because it restricts men who support women.” However, there are only two screenings that are reserved for women and they’re both days after the release date. Men can see the movie any other time and this isn’t an exclusive event since the movie is available to everyone at regular screenings.
As Bob Duggan puts it, “the battle of the sexes goes back to the beginning of time, but Wonder Woman’s played her part… for seven decades now and won’t go down without a fight.”