I have two daughters and I am always looking for female role models to inspire them to be strong and independent. As a long time comic book fan, there are few heroines compared to the number of heros available to model. The choices range from super sexy Black Widow to muscle bond She-Hulk. Both are awesome, but neither represent the values I would like my daughters to center on.
Here comes Wonder Woman to save the day. The on-screen adaptation in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was as awesome as it was inspiring. She was portrayed as elegant in long evening gowns and then as fierce in her armor. I was very happy to see this dichotomy accepted by both my daughters. That a woman can be strong and feminine. And in Wonder Woman’s case, her feminism is her strength.
I believe that having role models is very important in forming who we think we are. As part of the Human species, we tend to learn best by watching others. How to act and react to life’s situations are programed in our brains from early childhood and we emulate those programs by adulthood. We mimic how our high school friends act and do what they do. Those ‘formative years’ have lasting impact on our identity and belief system.
I grew up watching my grandfather go to work at 0300 in the morning to deliver milk until 1800 in the evening five days a week. In the summer I would work with him earning a couple of bucks for my comic books. For me, this instilled a crazy work ethic that still affects me today. This model was ‘the way’ we do things when we work. Another example was the vast comic book collection my cousin and I had. In those pages were the stories of heroes who worked together to save the world at least once a month. Those stories inspired me to seek a higher purpose in my work and is probably one of the primary reasons for me committing to the work I do now.
I am very excited for the Wonder Woman movie to hit the big screen on 2 June 2017. I was recently at the movies with my youngest daughter watching the new Guardians of the Galaxy and the Wonder Woman movie was in the previews. Right after the preview was over, she leaned over to me and said, “we have to see that one!”
It is my sincere hope that my daughters and other young girls find role models who are strong and fierce. Woman who instill the idea that they can be independent and choose to make their way in the world.
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