This is the
weekend I’ve either been dreading or awaiting since February of
1979. Fans of Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman TV series have wondered
if Hollywood would be crazy enough to compete with the disco-era TV
show with a motion picture. Turns out, they are. This summer’s
Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot, has some big, red boots to fill.
At the time of
this writing, I’ve purchased our tickets and am more cautious than
excited. One of my stepsons has a birthday next week, so I asked if
he’d like to see the movie as part of the festivities. Historically
a Transformers movie or the latest Ninja Turtle installment has been
a hallmark of his birthday weekend, so Wonder Woman seemed like a
natural action-packed pick. He loves heroes and villains and action
and adventure, but prefers Star Wars to the Amazon Princess, so I’m
skeptical. Will he like the movie? Will I like the movie? Our
birthday weekend plan is a risky one.
Our two year old
golden doodle is named Lynda Carter and we have a Wonder Woman-themed
laundry room. An autographed picture of Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman
is above the dryer; an original series poster from eBay is above the
drying rack; and a book case full of collectibles greets guests to
the room because everyone gets a tour of the best laundry room ever
when they visit. A brilliant four-foot yellow “WW” logo sits
atop a cherry-red wall while another wall showcases stark white stars
scattered across a bold blue. Laundry has never been so fun.
 |
| The 22 seconds that nothing was on top of the washer or dryer |
A couple
Christmases ago, the grandparents sent the two boys 12-inch metal
letters covered with comic book super heroes that spelled out each of
their names. We have an older home and their bedroom has two small
closets. Their hero-clad names fit perfectly above each closet door,
and in a shared room, this is a great way to make each boy feel like
they have their own celebrated personal space.
The grandparents
also gave us a Wonder Woman light switch cover for our laundry room.
Sadly we already had one (of course we did!) so it sat in the junk
drawer for a couple months until a rainy day left me nothing to do
but organize. As I rearranged screwdrivers, notepads, tape measures
and cat treats, I felt guilt and sadness seeing the colorful cover
not living to its full potential. Then it hit me. Why don’t I put
it in the boys’ room? They’ve got super heroes in there already.
Perfect.
I hate to admit
this, but almost immediately I second-guessed putting this female
superhero switch plate in their room because they’re boys. I,
Billie Johnson, second-guessed this due to my own hint of bias about
gender roles and influences.
The hallway junk
drawer is seven steps to their bedroom. With a screwdriver in one
hand and Wonder Woman in the other, those steps held some of the
greatest internal debate that I’ve had for a long time.
Am I sexist? Am I
a feminist? What does it mean to be either of those? Should I ask the
boys first if they’d like a new switch plate? Will they even
recognize the differing gender from the heroes in the letters of
their names? Wait—can Wonder Woman be a “hero” or am I still
bound to “heroine”?
This silly little
switch plate led to an unexpected exploration of my subconscious
gender bias.
I swapped out
their plain, white cover and decided to see if they said anything
upon return from their dad’s house. Nothing came up for a couple
days, so I casually asked if they noticed anything new in their room.
After some prodding they finally said, “Oh that. Yeah. It’s
cool.”
 |
| Wonder Woman fits right in with the boys--and Bat Girl. |
Nothing about how
excited or disgusted they were. Nothing about there being a girl
in their room. I questioned if I had made a big deal in my mind out
of nothing, but I don’t think I had.
Whether we guide or simply allow our kids’ room décor, all sorts
of messages are sent right along with the movies they see. We want
our boys to recognize the strength and power in women in terms of
treating them as equals and with respect. We also want them to know
that they can lean on women and count on them right along with the
men in their lives.
I counted on
Wonder Woman as a kid and that’s led to a family attendance at the
Wonder Woman premier this weekend and including her among the heroes
in our boys’ room. I hope they want a movie poster, but I’m not
going to push it. It is their room after all.
