With her straightforward charm, Gal Gadot, the star of this year’s blockbuster film, "Wonder Woman," doesn’t hold back when it comes to women's issues like body image, feminism, and gender equality. Luckily for Americans – men and women alike – this leading lady is a superhero, both on and off the big screen.
'Wonder Woman' isn’t just an entertaining film
When you consider the films that Hollywood churns out, year after year the vast majority feature leading male actors.
However, the media is seldom inundated with as many conversations and debates surrounding gender equality and sexism. It seems that Hollywood can’t release a movie featuring a superheroine without releasing a slew of sexism along with it.
But this is nothing new. When the wildly successful remake of "Beauty and the Beast" came out earlier this year, leading actress Emma Watson had to field just as many questions about feminist issues, Stockholm syndrome, and was even criticized for taking the role of Belle in the first place.
Have we noticed that men are rarely challenged to explain their leading roles, or how these characters reflect attitudes of sexism, gender equality, and women’s rights?
It’s ironic, but Gal Gadot will have nothing of it.
Gadot believes it’s all or nothing when it comes to feminism
In a world where women are still paid a lower salary than their male counterparts, critics seem to deem it necessary to question whether Gadot is, in fact, a feminist. Or, whether she’s merely playing one. She doesn’t mince words: “Every woman, every man, everyone should be a feminist. Because whoever is not a feminist is a sexist.”
Wonder Woman is body shamed
When it came time to knock this movie, critics focused on all the wrong things, going so far as to say that Gadot didn’t have big enough breasts to star as Wonder Woman. The Israeli-born actress shot back, “Listen, if you want to be real, then the Amazons, they had only one boob…So what are you talking about here?”
It’s not surprising that critics are a bit narrow-minded when it comes to women and their bodies.
Female stars have long been idolized and objectified for enviable busts. Nonetheless, in one fell swoop, anti-feminist critics made it very clear that what they want, and perhaps all they really want when it comes to on-screen women, are big racks.
Director Patty Jenkins backed up Gadot by saying that “there is no right and wrong kind of powerful woman.” This noteworthy decision to cast an average-sized woman as Wonder Woman may help to increase cultural acceptance of normal-looking women. It may even help to redefine the ideal woman. Either way, it’s a powerful message that will surely resonate with and connect women the world over.