Typically, throughout human history, the principles of human values and rights to the common people have come out of their shell by a group of human activist, pursuing to break rigid structures implemented by its superiors. The movement starts from innovative thinking. For example, monarchical ruling (ancient Egyptian civilization) advanced to the idea of government set upon the contingency of democracy, inspired by Ancient Athens. As such, the release of the epic movie Wonder Woman has challenged modern structural rigidness in regards to the subject of Woman Empowerment.
For many decades, women have been conceptualized as defenseless beings. The leading actress of the movie, Gal Gadot, has defied those primitive conceptualizations both in her unusual background and in the role of her character. She is the protectress and the emblem of fierceness. With her sauciness and wit, she shatters the machismo into smithereens. Many are uncomfortable with that. It is one thing to create a fictional character but it is another when her expertise in battle originated from her experience of serving the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) as a combat trainer, which makes her irksomely more realistic than one is willing to accept. As it is stated in the Jewish Journal:
In the Jewish State, its a national requirement for women to kick ass. And it is specifically within the micro-society of the Israeli military that men and women are expected to contribute equally, both serving in combat. This norm suggests that strength, skill and weaponry are the domain of both sexes, [which] reinforces equality of the sexes among secular Israelis.
Equality of the sexes in the domain of strength, skill and weaponry is a foreign and revolutionary idea to be accepted as a norm throughout the world. This movie imposes itself as such quite uncomfortably to many nations in the realistic sense that women can be very much equal or even more overpowering to the strength of men. The irony is that there is no other nation, aside from the Israeli army, that assigns just as hefty and strenuous responsibilities to women as much as they are assigned to men. Because this is brought to the international spotlight, many are taken off-guard by its innovative qualities.
In fact, when the comic story of Wonder Woman first came about in the 1960s, Wonder Woman was overly accessorized and shaped in accordance to mens provocative fancy that in essence weakened her character due to their objectifying of her. It sent the message that her power originated from her pleasing aesthetics more so than being empowered by her actual physical strength. Quite unexpectedly to the male audience, the modern version of Wonder Woman contradicted that, because her built did not appear as sexualized to the standard of men. As the Jewish journal notes, her figure is considered too thin and too lanky to be strong [and] her breasts too small to exude sexuality, which strips men of their power to vanquish her power by their objectifying of her. What appears most irritating to them is that the very lankiness of her figure did not prevent her from performing combative stunts, which drastically hurt their egos. This way, Gal Gadot broke all stereotypes of women imposed by the patriarchal societies in the fact that she lived out the expression of looks can be deceiving. When looks are deceiving, Wonder Woman elevated feminine vulnerabilities to the level of being undefeatable.
But aside from that discomforting reality, it appears to be especially bothersome to Israels naysayers. First of all, Gadots Israeli heritage, most undeniably, demonstrates, through the plot of the movie, Israels invincibility against all odds of dangers. Second of all, because Gadot is the ultimate protagonist that fights for the greater good of humanity, as the Jewish Journal put it, that role counter[s] the all too-pervasive negative and ugly imagery of Israel and Israelis in the international media to be the ultimate victimizers of the weak. This, in return, debunks the anti-Israeli insistent propagandist portrayal as such, promoting the very essence of Jewish pride.
Many are enraged by her pro-Zionistic and patriotic stance, not justifying her right to have it. Quite interestingly, American pride is acceptable. Fourth of July is a symbolism of strength and inclusiveness, despite the fact that Native Americans, if existed, might have begged to differ. But the expression of Israeli pride is harshly scolded upon even though Palestinians, unlike Native Americans, exist in huge numbers and are given the same equal rights as Israeli citizens. Why is it wrong to be proud of your own identity particularly when you are proud of being Israeli? The success and popularity of Wonder Woman challenges that very question and weakens the convictions of anti-Israeli advocates, influencing the public opinion against them most powerfully.
This article has been written by Alina Ostrovsky.