Channelling your inner Wonder Woman

I AM beyond excited about the new Wonder Woman movie!

Ever since I first saw Lynda Carter striding across the screen in her California Tan tights, wielding her lasso of truth, I’ve been a super-fan.

After years of reading the comic books, my favourite superhero has finally been brought to the big screen in the form of real-life Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot.

Born in 1985, her beauty led to her being crowned Miss Israel at age 18. At 20, Gadot enlisted as a soldier in the Israeli Defence Forces serving as a combat trainer.

In preparation for her role in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (the first outing for Wonder Woman), Gadot was trained in swordsmanship, kung fu kickboxing, capoeira and Brazilian jiujitsu.

As a mother of two young daughters, she takes her rolemodel status very seriously. She was born to play this part and I can’t wait to see her interpretation of my favourite feminist.

I am so happy to see a strong, powerful woman take the lead for a change. It’s part of what drew me to and made me fall in love with Wonder Woman in the first place.

Growing up, I didn’t find fairy-tales very inspirational. The female leads spent most of their stories either sleeping or trying their best to bag a Prince (in one extreme case, the ‘heroine’ indulges in some breaking and entering with a side-line in porridge theft!)

The year I was born (1975), Margaret Thatcher became leader of the Conservative party and just four years later, became the first female Prime Minister of the UK.

At the time, I imagine I was more interested in the Muppets and grew up taking it for granted that a woman was the leader of the country. Whatever you thought of her, Mrs Thatcher was unique and had a huge influence, shaping the world we live in today.

The UK now has another female PM (although by the time we go to print, who knows!) as well as a female First Minister in Scotland, (my particular favourite) Nicola Sturgeon.

All over the world, women are leading their countries with last year seeing the US just a whisker away from their first female President.

Women are increasingly working in areas traditionally dominated by men. We are redefining ourselves as more than just our gender.

But that doesn’t mean men and women have equal rights and opportunities and we can hang up our feminist spurs.

There is still a gender pay gap and the glass ceiling is yet to be smashed completely.

The stereotype of a feminist as a man-hating, hirsute, embittered cat parent is outdated and inaccurate.

Thankfully, a new generation of self-proclaimed feminists such as Daniel Radcliff and even Prince Harry are redefining the term.

Hopefully, one day men and women will all have equal rights and opportunities and we can thank the real-life Wonder Women who paved the way.

trudystewart75@gmail.com