Women to Admire: Wonder Woman

Though she only made her big cinematic debut last summer, Wonder Woman has been an icon since first introduced in comics more than 75 years ago.

Almost every time you ask someone to name a female superhero, the first one they name is Wonder Woman. She embodies all the qualities one would expect from a heroine, like love, kindness and intelligence. But over the course of more than 75 years, she endured as many ups and downs as the rest of us.

Since her comics debut in 1941, Wonder Woman has appeared in various forms of media. As one of the strongest superheroes, she was created as a symbol of the ideal woman. Yet, one of the greatest things about Wonder Woman remains her commitment to fairness for everyone. She believes in equality for all. Through these convictions, she became a champion for the world, even inspiring real-life activists like Gloria Steinem.

Plus, Wonder Woman was even a U.N. ambassador, though her tenure was short-lived. Her appointment earned mixed reactions, but still, she persevered.

In 2017, Israeli actress Gal Gadot starred in the Wonder Woman solo film and helped bring millions of fans’ dreams to life in the character’s live-action big-screen debut. Together with Patty Jenkins, Gadot found a way to emulate everything the comics imbued into the character over the last several decades. To many, Wonder Woman is a symbol of strength and compassion. In the film, Gadot’s perfect embodiment of these traits helped ignite a movement in the world.

With scholarships created in Wonder Woman’s name and a push for the Oscars, Gadot used her position to advocate for women’s empowerment, too.

Despite how long Wonder Woman has been around, her values are admired by everyone, even children and especially women. Really nobody can deny how cool she is. (Well, except James Cameron, apparently.) As Gadot put it to The New York Times, “[Wonder Woman] has no gender boundaries. To her, everyone is equal.”

Of course, Wonder Woman is the vulnerable hero that the world always needs. But she’s also the kind of woman we can admire every day.

Editor’s Note: Every day in March, we here at Culturess will feature a Woman to Admire — both real and fictional — for Women’s History Month. Keep coming back every day to see who’s made it on the list.