We have spent years as a culture battling femininity instead of championing it so I'm so inspired and delighted at what Wonder Woman did. Wonder Woman succeeded where other feminist films have failed it began to point to feminine and masculine strength used together to defeat the greatest enemy.
I watched through the whole film a girl who knew who she was created to be continually told that she couldn't. It's so familiar. I actually cried when Steve said to her, "Go that way." Because he was no longer arguing with her.
There's a part where Steve grabs this giant piece of scrap metal and with the other guys holds it up. He yells, "shield!" She launches off of it and destroys the headquarters of the villain winning the battle.
Why is this part so important?
Steve was watching. The very beginning of the movie he watches these women (Amazons) trained in battle and one of them yells "shield." All the women know what this means. A woman puts out her shield and the other one launches off of it. It's a battle tactic. It utilizes their unique feminine strength, which is agility.
Steve knew how to cultivate and use her power because he watched, he listened. He understood what she carried. He fought alongside her, not against her.
This was one reason I wept through Arrival. The man stopped everything he was doing to analytically figure out the aliens because he was watching the woman. Her heart was carrying an important key. He championed her. He stopped everything he was doing and just championed her.
I love that moment where the woman cries for help and Diana's heart is stirred. Sometimes women have this thing called intuition and it drives men crazy. In battle, a side war driven by compassion doesn't make tactical sense. Ultimately if they hadn't stopped though, she would have never been intimate with the man in the first place. Then they wouldn't have won the war because love won the war.
When Steve holds up the shield for her it is a picture of the masculine role. Men are supposed to lift women up. To show the world their greatest strength. If you have met any married men who are warriors they do this daily. They say things like, "but look how amazing she is."
It's only when men learn to champion women, invest in their dreams, that the enemy is truly afraid. Because God created them both male AND female. And when they harness their unique strength they are unstoppable.
