United Nations drops Wonder Woman as honorary ambassador
Just two months after her appointment, Wonder Woman's stint as honorary ambassador for female empowerment at the United Nations will end this week.
The UN's decision to fire Wonder Woman came after critics, including several UN employees and nearly 45,000 people who signed an online Care2 petition, decried the character as too "overtly sexualized" to serve as the face of global female empowerment.
"The image that Wonder Woman projects is not culturally encompassing or sensitive," the petition read, adding: "If the United Nations would like a list of incredible extraordinary women that would formidably carry out this role, we could surely be able to come up with a list from which the Secretary-General could choose."
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The campaign was initially intended to last through 2017, coinciding with a Wonder Woman comic book centered on empowering women and girls. According to NBC News, that comic book will be released as planned.
On Twitter, the UN's decision is eliciting mixed reactions, with some insisting that Wonder Woman — who hails from a society free of men and was at least partially based on Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger — has been unfairly maligned by detractors.
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Meanwhile, DC Entertainment representative Courtney Simmons told Reuters that despite the end of Wonder Woman's ambassadorship, she is confident the character will continue to be a strong role model for women and girls.
"Wonder Woman stands for peace, justice and equality, and for 75 years she has been a motivating force for many and will continue to be long after the conclusion of her UN honorary ambassadorship,” she said.
Topics United Nations Wonder Woman
Chloe was the shopping editor at Mashable. She was also previously a culture reporter. You can follow her on Twitter at @chloebryan.
