Wondering 'bout Wonder Woman? Not me.

Sorry, not 'sex and death', not yet. This whole Wonder Woman thing kinda burst in, yelling and waving its arms to get everyone's attention, and now I must needs have my say like everyone else.

Understand:

Wonder Woman is a sex symbol.

Wonder Woman is a symbol of female empowerment.

Wonder Woman is an object of fetishism.

Wonder Woman is an uplifting character, a role model for youth.

Wonder Woman is a cultural icon.

Wonder Woman is a commercial property owned in toto by DC Comics and its corporate parent Time Warner.

All of these and more are true, none are false.

The conflict occurs when some folks think that the character should, nay must, be only one of those things, or only those things they approve of.

That's a situation you may certainly petition for, if you are of a mind. Myself, I see no reason to forcibly limit some thing's potential because portions of it make other people feel creepy or unhappy. Insisting that one state or the other is all the character ever was, or was intended to be, or especially insisting that the character can only ever be used in one way; that is being deliberately and selectively blind to portions of history, the world we live in, and human nature. As far as I'm concerned, griping about the Playboy Wonder Woman cover is like griping about standing out in the rain.


In addition, in case I hadn't made it clear before: you having kids does not entitle you to a safe world where your kid can't ever possibly see the Playboy cover by virtue of it not existing. Keep your kids off the Internet if you're that worried. Horrors, you might have to actually take the time to EXPLAIN things to them. Wouldn't that suck.