Mom's Minute

If Wonder Woman was stripped of her super powers, everyone and their mother would be talking about it.  In today’s internet world, this headline would be trending on twitter under the hashtag #NoSuperPowersWonderWoman.  Of course this is far from the truth; however, believe it or not, Wonder Woman was actually reduced to just a mere mortal back in the 1970’s.

I recently watched the docudrama William Marston and his Wonder Women, where at the end of the movie summary lines inferred that if not for Gloria Steinem and others speaking out in protest during that time -- Wonder Woman would probably still be without her super powers today.   

Sometimes, unfortunately people have good intentions but tend to express them in the wrong way.  I found out that a man by the name of Mike Sekowsky thought he was actually doing Wonder Woman a favor by changing her from a powerful Amazon with superhero abilities to a  martial artist.  Looks like at the time there was a television show called the Avengers with a female spy.  Since this show was popular, Sekowsky probably thought changing Wonder Woman’s image to a woman without super powers would draw in the numbers.  It’s important to note that during this time period, a lot of societal upheavals were going on, including the issue of equal pay/ treatment of women, etc.  By the way, this argument is still fresh today. But I digress. He probably thought what better way to show support of women’s rights, etc. than by changing Wonder Woman to be like just about any other woman -- without super powers.  This, of course was a big fail.

As I alluded to earlier, I found out from my research that among other things, Sekowsky was trying to mimic a television show, The Avengers,  which starred a female spy without superpowers. However, the point he missed was that unlike Wonder Woman, the spy -- Diana Riggs who starred in The Avengers never had super powers in the first place. From reading the closing lines on the film, William Marston and his Wonder Women, I got the distinct impression that Wonder Woman was ceremoniously stripped of her powers due to the circumstances around her origin during the 1940s -- That is, until I checked into this further.

That being said, the “new” Wonder Woman without her super powers lasted only a few comic book issues. After the outrage from women during that time, Wonder Woman was dutifully given back her super powers as well as her outfit and everything that she had that made her a super hero.

There have been several reiterations of Wonder Woman, ranging from how she was created including the latest change of her outfit as worn by Gal Gadot on the record breaking movie Wonder Woman.  Just in case someone has the “bright” idea of stripping Wonder Woman of her powers again, be forewarned that this idea was a bad one years ago and would be an even worst one today. I’m aware that superhero storylines come and go and it’s fine with me if some qualities about Wonder Woman are changed. However, one attribute about Wonder Woman that must, and I repeat, must, stay in place  is her super powers.

I don’t think that’s too much to ask from those responsible for keeping Wonder Woman a superhero -- especially since she had to wait 75 years to get her own movie. Yes...That’s  right. She had to wait almost a century to get her own movie, unlike some other super heroes. However good things do come to those who wait.  At my last check, the spectacular movie Wonder Woman (with Wonder Woman's super powers in tact) has grossed over $779 million globally and counting!