When My Brother Wanted To Be Wonder Woman
A.K.A The Progress of Feminist Movement Illustrated by Twelve-Year-Old Boys
It was the early quarantine days. The kids from the apartment block moved from one house to the other, gathering up toys, pretending to be secret agents and space invaders.
When the boys gathered at our house, the topic shifted to superheroes. Each fought to be a character, and some took more than one. "I'm Captain America and Iron Man," said a fella. My brother told him it wasn't fair. But the boy insisted he took them first and that it was fair. So my brother told him in the most proudest and boastful way one could say, "Fine then. I'm Wonder Woman!"
It is usually at this moment that someone says, "Oh. So you're a girl,” and laughs hysterically. But to the surprise of my misogyny-accustomed brain, another boy immediately followed up with, "Then I'm Captain Marvel!" And another boy said, "I'm Black Window then." And another boy fought to be Captain Marvel claiming she was the most powerful of them all.
In 2020, while these 12-year-old boys were fighting to be female superheroes, I was recollecting what it was to be their age. I’d talk to my friends about how cool Spider-Man was and we once had a discussion on The New Yorker article published in Chennai Times that called female superheroes “porn stars”.
Given my experience, my brain couldn't comprehend this situation my brother was in for a second. Once it did, I felt this overwhelming joy, looking at the amount of change that has happened over the years through movements and struggles and cries and criticisms by feminists—this change reflected in this two-minute conversation between five young boys who did not just see female superheroes as potential girlfriends, but as actual heroes with powers they could choose to be. Their little conversation gave me hope.
I remember the outrage and disgust of adult men and college boys when Wonder Woman was announced. They hated the movie before it even came out.
I remember how those very men hated Captain Marvel too for taking the bike of a guy who cat-called her. "Stealing is wrong," they said — these boys who watch dick-flicks where jacked men hijack military planes to fight. Just read the comments section of this video.
I remember how Black Widow was seen as nothing more than a big-breasted redhead who got the criminals between her legs. Was she wearing underwear? was the biggest question running through the minds of male audience and interviewers who posed the question to Scarlett Johansson on several occasions.
But these little boys are growing up in a society which has become a little better since then. A society that is just a bit kinder towards women, and a little sensitized in the way it treats them. A society where female superheroes are normal and powerful and not sexual.
When my brother wanted to be Wonder Woman, it showed me that the struggle of feminist writers and critics against the male gaze has not gone in vain. Change is happening—slowly, but it's happening. And I hope I could be a part of this change through this newsletter. I hope I could make the world see through The Feminist Gaze.
Bonus:
Boys dressed as Wonder Woman:
Share this post with your friends!
This is truly inspiring. It's remarkable, how far we have come. It's shameful, how low we started; but it's still remarkable how much we have gone since then, albeit at a turtle's pace.