Is It Feminist: Wonder Woman Edition

Originally published June 9, 2017

I used to say that I only reason I watched sports or superhero movies was for the homoerotic tension. But then I saw Wonder Woman last weekend, and now it appears that superhero movies can be about more than men grimacing soulfully into each other's biceps. Although now that I think about it the first thirty minutes of Wonder Woman were pretty gay. I don't want to spoil anything, plot or jokes, but let's just say that it was pretty much confirmed by the movie that the Amazons are a) sexual and b) uninterested in men. And the film passes Bechdel test, with flying colors, in the first 15 minutes. The only man the Amazons talked about was Zeus, and I'm not sure how the rule applies when it comes to Greek Gods.

But now the question everyone is asking is "Is it feminist?"

First of all, does it have to be? After all, male-led movies do not carry the burden of making a larger statement or promoting progressive politics. In that respect, I was sort of delighted to realize that the movie wasn't particularly feminist. It was just a pretty good, funny, and well-made superhero movie. The commentary on gender that it had was pretty banal and non-radical: a female superhero saved the day, making the men around her impressed, intimidated, and a little aroused. She came, she conquered, she inspired. She despaired about the sorry state of the world, and she saved as many lives as she could. She shared some steamy night-time with Chris Pine. Diana is a "strong female character," who was also allowed to be sexual, emotional, idealistic and at times naive. It was  certainly refreshing to see a woman in this kind of role, and there is a part of me that wants to call it feminist for these reasons, but I am hesitant to, because feminism needs to be a lot more than just women getting to be superheroes. I am fine with just enjoying the movie for its admirable qualities as a movie, and not asking it to dismantle the patriarchy.

I'm sitting in the coffee shop of Powell's Books in Portland as I write this, and a few minutes ago I did my usual procrastination routine: I scoured all the titles in the feminism and gender studies section in the back of the store. I read the introduction to a book by Jessa Crispin, published this year, called Why I am Not a Feminist. Crispin argues that "feminism" has become trendy, mainstream and mellow, so as not to scare men too much with its radicalism, and that it has begun to lose meaning and power. The goal, she argues, is not simply for women to gain some power in the current system (the patriarchy), but to burn that system to the ground, and that this will not happen with our current popular definition of feminism. I plan to finish the book eventually but I can already tell that it will frustrate me. I am hesitant to argue so much about semantics and I am always uncomfortable with women arguing with other women about who's being the best or right kind of feminist. Perhaps I am being naive but I think there might be better uses for our time and energy. However, when I am living in a world in which women's access to health care and bodily autonomy is under direct attack from the government, where the president is a self-proclaimed sexual predator, where women are routinely harassed, raped, and subjected to violence by men, I share Crispin's frustration with #feminism. Wonder Woman was a good movie, and it was fun to see a lady kicking ass, but it's a pretty low fucking bar and we should not be satisfied.

But this is world we live in. This is the first superhero movie directed by or starring a woman ever. When a couple of theaters around the country offered select women-only screenings some men freaked the geek out because, I suppose, they are terrified of female power of any kind. And the movie is successful, critically and commercially, which means that, although some men are terrified of women, attitudes are shifting.

Who would have guessed that a movie directed by and starring a woman would be successful? I mean, I know women are half the population of the entire world, but, unlike men, their experiences aren't universal. How can men be expected to identify with a hero they are also attracted to? Women are for loving, protecting, and fucking, not for identifying with or admiring. Or so says conventional movie-making wisdom. So when I am out at a sold-out show for a female led superhero movie, and standing in line for popcorn in front of me are three very wound-up 12 year old boys (target  superhero audience), I am happy for this moment. The fact that the movie itself wasn't feminist doesn't bother me, because it didn't need to be. There is a lot of work to be done, and Wonder Woman isn't real; she can't fight for us. Regular women need to keep fighting to bring down the patriarchy, but in the meantime we can watch a good movie that for once doesn't ask us to identify with a male person. (Which, for the record, is not that hard to do since humans have imagination and empathy. Men can also use this power to watch lady movies. I know men aren't as practiced at it, but I believe in them.)

Go see Wonder Woman, if you can. Go to give money to the people who made it, to piss off the alt-right, to show studio executives that women-led movies can make money. Or just go because it's a good movie and Gal Gadot is a delightful actress and Chris Pine is pretty.

Go because we all deserve a break to recharge once in a while, so we can do that hard working of burning the patriarchy to the ground. Because here's the situation in America in 2017: we can't have a female president, but at least we have Wonder Woman.