MovieChat Forums > Wonder Woman (2017) Discussion > Why do female superheroes always have so...

Why do female superheroes always have so revealing outfit...?


This makes it really hard for me to suspend disbelief. If they gave her some cool, warrior-like outfit/armor (like Lady Sif in MCU's Thor), WW could be really badass character, even though my opinion is that Gal Gadot wasn't a good casting choice... But super-short miniskirt, small chestplate, come on... It really takes me out of the story, it's like they are shoving in our faces: "look guys, hot girl, you are going to love this, go see it in a theater!!!"
She has armor on her calfs... cool, but how does it make sense to nut put it also on her thighs ... are her tighs bulletproof, but calfs are not? seriously, wtf. Do women cheering for wonder woman realise how much it undermines the message of role model and strong independent woman... that needs to be almost naked in order to pander to male audiences.

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"look guys, hot girl, you are going to love this, go see it in a theater!!!"

You answered your own question there. IT has never had anything to do with being a role model for women. It's about putting eyes on comics and butts in seats at the theater.

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I don't have a problem with it because I think, if you look at ancient tribes throughout history, nudity and sexuality were regarded with a lot less conservatism than now. When conservatism became a big thing, like in the 1920s, characters like Wonder Woman became a symbol of empowerment. You have to remember that Wonder Woman was published in 1941, a time when sexual empowerment for women meant something different than it does today. It wouldn't make sense for her to feel empowered wearing...what, a floral button-up frock ala Mad Men?

Also, Wonder Woman's mythology has roots in BDSM, so she's supposed to be a sexual character. It doesn't matter, I guess, if she's objectified - because let's face it, she's an attractive woman - but that she herself is a sexual being, with desire is important. Superman lusts after Lois Lane. Batman lusts after women. Both of them are attractive and we as the audience can objectify them - but they're not just sexually desirable; they both sexually desire others. Wonder Woman is the same - and unlike Batman and Superman, WW isn't trying to 'cover up' or hide her identity in this film.

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Don't forget to tell Lena Dunham too.

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When Diana made her first appearance as an adult, I could not stop staring at her tits. Oh my God...

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Dude, have you ever seen actual Greek hoplite armor? It was what they based the general look of WW's outfit on, with a few alterations to make it tie in with the comic outfit the character has always worn, and it makes sense given the Amazon's origins in Greek mythology. Greek hoplites also wore armor on their lower legs (they're called greaves, BTW), and also wore no armor at all on the thighs. It wasn't considered necessary, as they're shields covered the upper parts of the legs along with the torso, and extra armor means extra weight and restricted movement. In the real world, there are many, many examples from many, many cultures of armor being limited as a trade off for better mobility and lighter weight. Not ALL soldiers before the modern age of firearms always wore all the armor they could possibly hang on themselves.

Greek hoplites also wore a tunic that ended in a short skirt little, if any longer than what we see Diana wearing in this movie. In fact, sometimes, Greek hoplites wore NO clothing under their armor -- so below the breastplate, and above the greaves, they had all their junk hanging out -- and we have numerous depictions of this in ancient Greek art. Here is just one; a quick google search will turn up many others: https://chechar.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/hoplites.jpg

Different cultures have different taboos about showing skin, and some have none at all about complete nudity. Ancient Greece had no taboos about male nudity, but it was different for women. On the other hand, the Amazons were always intended to be an inversion of Greek social norms about the role of women, and the Amazons of Greek myth behaved more like male Greek warriors than they did real Greek women in the ancient Hellenic world.

I have no problem with Diana's outfit. Her costume is stylized for this modern, fantasy/comic movie interpretation, but it's not all that different in design from ancient Greek armor, and provides about the same coverage.

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You beat me to it ;)
Excellent reply, which says all that really needs saying. Well done

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Male superheroes wear revealing costumes, too. Most superheroes, male or female, wear skin tight costumes all the time. Namor, Ka Zar, tons of other guys wear pretty much nothing but loincloths.

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This. Batman's pretty hot. He may be fully clothed but it kinda shows everything.

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Comics were made with mostly men in mind, so of course women will be scantily dressed. You gotta keep some type of originality when they come to the big screen. Just be thankful she wasn't dressed like Lynda Carter. That was pitiful!!

Red Sonja has to be the worst. I see her and I think "WTF". She fights almost naked!

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The Wonder Woman visual character design caters originally for a male audience, but the character is a superpowered Amazon from the ancient world and not the industrial era. Should she really care about conforming to someone's idea of dignified female conduct when she has simply buckets full of self-respect?

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