By: Karen Valenzuela (@VictoriaNoir89)
The UN has officially made history today, naming its first fictional character as a UN ambassador. Wonder Woman is the United Nations Honorary Ambassador of Empowerment For Women And Girls. The ceremony just so happened to fall on the same day as the 75th anniversary of Wonder Woman’s creation. The initiative comes with a tagline: “Think of all the wonders we can do.”
Many came together today to celebrate the monumental occasion. Speeches were made in front of UN officials and their families, the actresses and director bringing Wonder Woman to life, and a large group of New York’s finest Girl Scouts, and it was all broadcast live on DC Comics’ webpage. You can watch it here.
On the program were UN Under-Secretary-General of Communications and Public Information Cristina Gallach; DC Entertainment president Diane Nelson; Lynda Carter, who portrayed Wonder Woman in the 1970s TV series; and Gal Gadot, who is Wonder Woman for the DC Extended Universe and will star in Wondy’s first ever live-action, big-budget title film in 2017.
Gallach spoke about the UN combining their efforts with DC Comics and Warner Bros. to make Wonder Woman a tool of empowerment in their outreach for women and girls across the world.
Then Nelson spoke about the way DC and Warner Bros. will be lending their efforts to the initiative, making Wonder Woman available to UN agencies so that they will “be able to leverage the commanding visual image of this beloved superhero and all she stands for into outstanding programs to reach girls where the live, play, and learn.” She also announced that there will be a new Wonder Woman comic book released in 2017 that tells a story of empowerment, peace, justice, and equality. For the first time in DC history, the comic book will be made available around the world in multiple languages simultaneously.
Wonder Woman’s impact on women and girls has been massive over the last 75 years, and all of the speakers reflected on that impact, and how her story and image can be used to empower women and girls across the globe. However, Nelson made a point of saying, “What makes Wonder Woman empowering isn’t that she represents ‘Look what girls can do’, it’s that she represents ‘Look what girls ALREADY do’.”
Women run companies and countries, she went on to say, and they have been for generations upon generations. Women are half the world’s population, Carter added in her own moving speech.
There was some push-back to the UN’s earlier announcement that they chose Wonder Woman as their honorary ambassador. Some felt the UN did women a disservice by picking a fictional character instead of a real woman who was making an impact. But Carter was quick to say, “Wonder Woman lives. Do not doubt it. She lives in every woman.” The power of storytelling and the impact even a fictional character can make on generations of men and women, especially, are both represented in the UN’s decision to make Wonder Woman an honorary ambassador.
The image of Wonder Woman will be a fantastic tool in the hands of the UN team that will go out into all parts of the world to tackle gender inequality, to help educate women and girls, and to do away with the physical and verbal violence women everywhere deal with. Her image has always been one of female empowerment, and now DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. have given her to a powerful organization that might be able to make a huge difference in gender equality.
Gadot said it best in her speech today: “Sometimes we need something or someone to aspire to. To help inform our choices. And set an example. That example can be a superhero like Wonder Woman or a real life superhero in your own world. She can inspire us to be more, to demand more, and to do more. And that’s inspiration for everyone.” Emphasis on EVERYONE. That means you, too, boys!
So today, we’re not only saying Happy 75th Birthday to Wonder Woman. We’re also celebrating the road ahead for the iconic symbol of feminism that she’s been for over seven decades. Not only will DC Entertainment/Warner Bros. be releasing Wonder Woman’s first ever title film on June 2, 2017, the image of Wonder Woman will be used by the United Nations to promote education for women and girls, to promote equal pay and equal treatment, and gender equality in general. All over the world.
In case any of you women and girls out there ever need some inspiration to keep being the badasses we all are, just channel your inner Wonder Woman and think of all the wonders we can do.
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via The Nerd Machine
http://www.thenerdmachine.com/wonder-woman-named-un-ambassador-for-the-empowerment-of-women-and-girls/
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