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A Model Essay: The True Wonder WomanI never realized how much of a problem sexual harassment was until I went to the rally we had here a few days ago. There I found "gender issues are still misunderstood by people in general" (Meunier). While I was sitting there listening to the various speakers talk, I began to recognize that sexual harassment is all around. I never noticed it before because that kind of behavior seemed normal since it has been that way in relation to women for so long. Women are viewed as objects everywhere, on billboards, on commercials, or television shows, at their work place, even at school. The other day I watched the show "Wonder Woman" which was my favorite show when I was younger. As I watched it though, I noticed that Wonder Woman doesn't wear anything except a sparkling swimsuit type of clothing. She struts and strides around the brush and bramble with nylons that never seem to tear or run. Her hair is perfectly coifed even after the most arduous of adventures. Noted author S. Sheridan also believes Ms. Wonder promotes the objectification of women, "This cardboard adventure queen sends messages to both girls and boys: a heroine can be both strong and sexy which reinforces the old myth of a perfect cook in the kitchen and whore in the bedroom" (26). Is it any wonder that young, inexperienced women have trouble identifying sexually harassment? While young, we would dress up like Wonder Woman and imitate her because she was the epitome of a hero. What we didn't realize was that we were falling into society's trap from which only time and age could spring us. We thought it was appropriate to dress the way Wonder Woman did, not understanding it was degrading.
A few women, too, I would think will not be Wonder Women; instead, they will stand up in their blue-buttoned blouses, their Nikes, their loose and baggy clothing; they will stand tall and try to change the problems of sexual objectification. Mark Luna, a college friend, has a mother that does just that, though she wears Berkenstock's not Nikes, and she has taught her children that the only degree of superiority between women and men lies in people's perceptions. When friends gather at Mark's house, there is no such thing as traditional woman's work or man's work. Often Mark can be found cooking and serving his friend's dinner while his sister will be out in garage cleaning the carburetor of the lawn mower. Mark often notices the different ways men and women are treated in the real world.
Mark's mom, Jane Baker, indeed deserves hero status for teaching those about her to not objectify either women or men. Luckily, not all men view men as objects, and ideally all of us, men and women, who have not been trapped by the Wonder Women and Superman images, will help those still ensnared escape the bondage of those fake heroes. The real heroes in our lives are those who are working for this change, those who wear nothing underneath their daily costumes but their own skin.
Works CitedAlexander, Jane. "Heroes of a Different Sort." Wherever Daily. 29 Nov. 1995: A3. Johnson, Jan. Noted Role-Models Missing in Girls Lives. New York: Doubleday, 1996. Luna, Mark. Personal Interview. 17 Jan. 1996. Meunier, Lydie E. "The Psychological Impact of the Socialization Process:
Further Understanding Gender Issues." Mental Health Net. 4 Apr. 1996. 6 Nov.
1996 <http://www.cmhc.com/ Sheridan, Sue. "Can Women Really Succeed in the Wonder World?" Science Not Psychology. 206 (1989):891-1000. Links to other student gender essays.
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Appropriate attire is of course what
the "good girl" will have in her closet. Wonder Woman also showed us that. When
she is not saving Damsel In-Distress or helping a Johnny Geek, how conservatively she
dressed, without make-up and her hair pulled back into a bun. "This images reinforces
the idea that girls should mask their real selves and hide their true identity"
(Johnson 36). However, when the time comes to become a super hero, the transformation
occurs, clothes come off, effort-free make-up appears, and the hair goes down.Here then is
the hero for young girls to aspire towards: a made-up, half dressed, wild-haired vixen.
The moment she is not needed by someone, anyone, she must truss and bind herself until she
is needed once again, a model of purity.
The effects of this type of role-modeling on young
girls is apparent everywhere. Noted psychologist, J. Alexander, states, 
