Wonder Woman, the peaceful warrior.

By: Joanna Sweatt

Growing up as a kid, I was deeply vested in acquiring comic books and reading about superheroes—especially the fem-sheroes. As a child who suffered mental and physical abuse at the hands of loved ones, the battles between good and evil were always on my brain. I learned compassion quickly during those days. One shero that stood out to me and one that I imagined becoming on many occasions, was Wonder Woman, who was known as the peaceful warrior. I had to learn what a peaceful warrior meant in order to understand why that was Wonder Woman’s tagline and in going down that rabbit hole, I realized, it is a fine time to rally and raise more Wonder Women of the world. Peaceful warriors are known to be honorable, courageous and compassionate human beings who make their difference by having lived and lived well. Peaceful warriors are also time-tested and pain-sharpened; having gone through hell in order to discover that heaven is actually within. This resonated with me because in real life, it is the afterlife that we reckon as heaven.

Peaceful warriors use their wisdom gained through tears and their philosophy gained through laughter and they don’t wield power for the sake of wielding power.

Wonder Woman is in fact a sort of feminist icon; one that doesn’t condemn man, but instead, she explores, learns and finds ways to bridge acceptance and equality for all by her actions.

There are many comparisons that can be made for women servicemembers and their plight for equality and unmitigated acceptance into the U.S. Military with the fictitious story of Wonder Woman. Princess Diana (WW) came from an island full of only women and is completely detached from man’s world. Prior to the Women Armed Forces Integration Act in 1948, women were also completely detached from the U.S. Military in any formal capacity.

Wonder Woman was created by psychologist William Moulton Marston and he actually believed that female leadership was necessary in a world that was then drowning in masculine hate and violence during WWII. Marston once proclaimed, “Frankly, Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who should, I believe, rule the world. ”

William Moulton Marston, creator of Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman arrived while real American women were not ruling the world but instead assuming more masculine roles in society, as men had gone off to war.

No longer settling for being housewives, excited women took a wide range of physical labor jobs in positions from factory workers to military simulator test pilots, but Wonder Women wholly integrated into the Women’s Army Corps, serving in full capacity with her male counterparts.

Women who served, like Wonder Woman, evolved fast and created a legacy that wasn’t limited by what men had forced women to be.

Women didn’t ask to break barriers; they used the tools they had and jumped into the fight. Wonder Woman's tools mean something in this new modern working women's world.

Image by Abderrahman Hadd from Pixabay

The Lasso of Truth. What we do know from any power struggle in history, it is warped in lies and fear-mongering. This lasso represents a time for women to share their truths and embodied experiences. Prior to this era of time, women were expected to be seen and less heard. The role of women was very submissive, and, in that submission, many violent and abusive secrets were kept.

Bracelets of Submission/Victory. The irony is not lost on me. Submission on a higher level encompasses the ability to not only take control of your charge but to make them realize the err of their ways in that submission and to get them to a cohesive, unified empathetic rule of order that benefits all. That in itself is a more victorious battle than the ones that cost lives, empires, and cultures. Men couldn’t just rule the world, they had to rule home as well and that pressure to survive at the cost of another is just not sustainable. Women would need to find a way to relinquish their thirst for power by equalizing their role in society whether during peacetime or periods of conflict.

Royal Tiara. This adornment serves as a reminder that women have a stake hold in society. They are who breathes life into new life, they nurture and, in that nurturing, derives effective leaders with compassion.

Warrior Suits and Battle Armor. Worn by WW to identify her to her tribe, world and each piece serve a purpose in her battles. Being suited for battle vs. hidden or sent away with children during times of duress brings distinction to your community. Seeing WW in her armor helped me rationalize just how important it was for a woman to be prepared, trained and ready for any battle because of cowering means immediate defeat and potential enslavement.

Martial Weapons and Magical Swords. Her training as a warrior on Paradise Island included a range of fighting styles and tools, and she is capable of fighting with swords, daggers, axes, spears, the bow and arrow, shields, staffs and much more. Her primary magic, to work on invulnerable beings and in our modern world, we understand just how valuable vulnerability is to our healing. There are many other symbols that surround WW related to her intuition as a woman such as her telekinetic powers through her earrings and with her invisible plane that rounds out her prowess.

Wonder Woman brought herself to the table. She didn’t conform to the ideology of man’s world, she simply showed what she was capable of.

She didn’t compete with a man or attempt to become a man, but instead, she enhanced man’s world with her talents and different strengths.

Men have long been conditioned to survive whereas women were conditioned to sustain and bridging those things together more cohesively allows for a more fluid world that earns its gains in shared wealth, shared resources, shared cultures and advancement to make heaven on earth.

Why should we live to die for an unknown afterlife when we’ ve been gifted an opportunity to live today. The suffrage of the world is due to terminal conflict —wars for the sake of sole ownership, sole philosophies and sole control.

Women all over the world have the capacity to change this narrative and it is up to all of us to ensure those women have the opportunities to do so.

When Women step into their wonderfulness, we break free of suffrage and contribute how they see fit without the limitations of having to be identical to men in composition but valued for our differences— in both strengths and weaknesses.

As a Wonder Woman, I am committed to meeting that utopia. Where man and woman stand side by side creating heaven on earth.