Now People Are Freaking Out Because Wonder Woman Doesn’t Have Armpit Hair
Seriously, come on.
Since some folks don’t have anything better to do, certain sections of the internet recently freaked out over the fact that Gal Gadot’s portrayal of Wonder Woman apparently doesn’t include having hairy pits.
Two paragraphs from a New York Times blog post summarizing this hotly-debated issue should be enough to break down this, the most important controversy we’re all dealing with today:
In the continual race for onscreen domination, it seemed that with the release of Wonder Woman, DC Comics had finally pulled ahead of Marvel Studios, which has yet to produce a superhero film with a female protagonist. But, as Refinery 29 pointed out in a scathing review of the new trailer, the lack of body hair on the female warrior makes us wonder if feminism was swept aside in favor of achieving the ideal female aesthetic. “It’s really hard to believe that Wonder Woman, who has been on an island filled with strong women her entire life, is worried about waxing and then bleaching her pits,” Refinery29 explained, “That is a time-consuming process and she’s a little too busy training ‘10 times harder’ with the Amazons so that she can, you know, save the world.”
Yes, it’s hard to argue that having been brought to life by Zeus and raised in a secluded sorority of warrior women, shaving would be high on the priority list for Wonder Woman. As Forbes pointed out, “In fact, one could venture that Wonder Woman’s armpits at the 1:47 mark represent the entire struggle with which a modern woman must grapple daily: I am woman, hear me roar, but so I don’t freak you the you-know-what out, let me take away everything I am so I can be everything you want me to be.”
Okay, sure. This is super important. Let’s watch the origin trailer for Wonder Woman as a counterpoint.
That’s more than 2 and a half minutes of Israeli Defense Force (IDF) veteran Gal Gadot, nearly six feet tall, absolutely kicking everyone’s ass and looking incredible—and convincing—as she does it.
But the important thing here is armpit hair.
Naturally, many social media users had something to say about this, and very few seemed to agree with the contention that a real woman with super powers would definitely never bother with trimming her body hair.
Of all possible worlds we live in the dumbest https://t.co/6g27Q2uCc7
— Brandy Jensen (@BrandyLJensen) March 26, 2017
https://twitter.com/Lexialex/status/845733616147546113
I just saw a headline that read "Wonder Woman's Lack Of Armpit Hair Sparks Feminism Debate" and now I'm getting off the Internet for awhile
— 〽️🏆🦁 #ALLGRIT (@idgachuck) March 29, 2017
The conservative publication National Review had probably the best response, pointing out the obvious: “That’s who Wonder Woman is. There is no room for debate about what Wonder Woman should and should not look like, because DC Comics already decided what she looks like when it created her in 1941: She always has a fresh blowout, she fights her enemies club attire, and she does not have armpit hair.”
“If you don’t like it, fine,” the Review concluded, “Invent your own, new hero ‘who shaves nowhere.’”
Wonder Woman as a character was a product of a particular time and place. The DC portrayal of her in the movie looks pretty true to form.
And seriously, if Gal Gadot’s okay with it, it’s a non-issue.
She certainly looks like she could convince a director to make changes if she wanted to.
h/t NYT
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