Feminist Monday, June 5

Good morning, y'all. And since there might be one or two of you who don't already know this... I saw Wonder Woman on Saturday. 

I've said this before: I'm not a Wonder Woman fan of old.[1] I'm not. So, it says a lot that I am now a new convert specifically because of this film. A great deal has been said about the film: How 'Wonder Woman' Tackles the Superhero Movie's Greatest Foe: Sexism, 'Wonder Woman' Shatters Records With $200+ Million Worldwide Opening, The Triumph of ‘Wonder Woman’, How a First Nations First World War hero from Alberta helped Eugene Brave Rock find his character in blockbuster, Wonder Woman. Thank the gods,  most of it is good. My favorite scenes involved the island of Themyscira (the first part of the film had zero men in it and I could've sat through two hours of story on that island alone--hell, they wiped out a group of soldiers with arrows, shields, horses, and swords!) and the bit where Diana takes a stroll through No Man's Land. I bawled as I watched her plow her way through clouds of bullets, bent behind her shield and striving to move forward anyway. She is all of us women (and those who identify as women) in that moment. The world of men is throwing everything they can at her to stop her. The men behind her who supposedly support and care for her are nowhere to be found. She's alone. And she's fucking standing in a land they've blasted to pieces--not only that, she's making forward progress and most of the men behind her aren't even witnessing it.[2] Now, read HOW WONDER WOMAN’S NO MAN’S LAND TELLS A RADICAL STORY ABOUT TRUST. Yep. That. Another reason I adored the film is that she never once gave up her femininity--unlike most of the female heroes in SF.[3] She's vulnerable and empathetic. She stops to coo over a baby. All these things and she never once stops being a warrior. I adored that. In any case, none of this AMAZING has educated the sexists. (see How not to review ‘Wonder Woman’.) That is, of course, not a surprise.

Of course, everyone is going on about how this woman-directed, woman-centric film has made all the money, and therefore, Hollywood is going to change its sexist ways and hire more woman-identifying directors[4] to head their films. And per-usual, they're acting surprised EVEN THOUGH HIDDEN FIGURES (also woman-centric) WAS ALSO HUGELY SUCCESSFUL. Let's not forget that. So stop acting surprised. When you do, you erase previous successes. Women are a major, untapped market for the entertainment business. We know this already.[5] Stop acting surprised. We also know that women can direct and write action scenes. This isn't new information. Just stop.

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[1] I think her creator was a manipulative, abusive asshole who took advantage of two women who were in love with one another. He also worked a number of his sexual proclivities into a comic aimed at young boys. And this was the biggest reason I've been against WW being used as the one and only Feminist comic book hero. I knew that this background would be used to bring her down. And I was right. (Keep reading.) 
​[2] And if that isn't a near-perfect metaphor for the civil rights work that women of color do, I don't know what is.
​[3] [cough]Sarah Connor[cough] for example. She abandons her role as mother entirely. She effectively becomes a Terminator--the embodiment of toxic masculinity. Hell, the fucking Terminator becomes a better parent. I never liked that about T2.
[4] And maybe even out the sausage fest that is every single big budget credit scroll.
[5] Once upon a time, a Barbie game outsold Quake. Although you'd be hard-pressed to find evidence of this now. This is how history is erased, y'all.