Wonder Woman: Ex-Amazonian Ambassador for the United Nations

E. Paul Zehr E. Paul Zehr
Contributor
December 17th, 2016

I'm a neuroscientist, author, and martial artist. Comic books got me into martial arts, martial arts got me into science. In my day job my research helps to improve function and empower people with stroke and spinal cord injury. I want to empower everyone with knowledge so I also write about science and superheroes. My first 3 books are "Becoming Batman: The Possibility of a Superhero", "Inventing Iron Man: The Possibility of a Human Machine", and "Project Superhero". My 4th book, "Creating Captain America" will be out in 2018. I live in Victoria, BC, Canada, where I work at the University of Victoria and teach martial arts.

Wonder Woman: Ex-Amazonian Ambassador for the United Nations
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Our Dr. E Paul Zehr looks at the recent trends and developments concerning Wonder Woman at the United Nations.

Wonder Woman: Ex-Amazonian Ambassador for the United Nations

Wonder. The very word inspires admiration and amazement. With Wonder Woman we have one of the most powerful women in comics. If you want to inspire people you often need to stretch their thinking. To get them to consider old ideas or preconceptions through a different lens. To think new thoughts. Comic books superheroes can inspire us and a superhero like Wonder Woman--who was the star in Batman v Superman--represents a powerful and inspiring female character. Wouldn't it be great to use her to promote equity and inspire young girls?

The UN thought so, until they didn't.

Wonder Woman was unveiled as an honorary UN Ambassador back in October. At the time a backlash already started from certain UN staffers who were unimpressed by the selection. They cited all manner of issues about Wonder Woman's back story, her physique, etc. as evidence for why the character should be rejected. Some walked out during the presentation. Now, the UN has quietly dropped Wonder Woman. Friday December 16 was her last day of "work". There are lots of arguments--some completely legitimate--as to why you might not want a fictional superhero character as an honorary UN Ambassador. A major issue is always finding a role model who is all inclusive. Since that is impossible, it's a huge opportunity missed and I suggest it's all down to a failure to understand opportunity.

While writing my first attempt at a fiction-non-fiction hybrid book

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