Case Study: Wonder Woman: An Honorary Ambassador or a Mascot?

Background

Gender equality is a fundamental human right, but not one that woman and girls enjoy worldwide. In recognition of this need, the United Nations (U.N.) named gender equality as the fifth of their 17 goals to transform the world. Their goal is to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. A first step toward this goal was to name an official honorary ambassador for the U.N. The effort, while notable, drew ire from many. Why? Because the honorary ambassador was . . . not real.

On October 21, 2016, the United Nations announced Wonder Woman, the classic DC Comics super-heroine, as the official honorary ambassador for the United Nation’s year-long campaign to “Stand Up for the Empowerment of Women and Girls Everywhere." The iconic comic-book character was chosen for her commitment to justice and her portrayal of strength.

Wonder Woman’s appointment was part of goal five in the 2015 U.N.’s 17 sustainable development goals that aspire to leave no one behind by 2030. Wonder Woman’s appointment was designed to highlight women and girls who are wonder women in their own right, to illustrate what can be achieved if women and girls are empowered, and to bring about positive change in the home, workplace, community, country and the world.

“Wonder Woman's character is the most iconic and well known female comic book superhero in the world, known for her strength, fairness and compassion, and her commitment to justice, peace and equality," Maher Nasser, outreach director of the United Nations' Department of Public Information, said. The appointment corresponded with the 75th anniversary of Wonder Woman’s debut and with the upcoming Wonder Woman movie, featuring Israeli actress Gal Gadot.

Dilemma

The appointment lasted a mere two months amid a firestorm of protests, comprised predominately of U.N. staff. Staff protested on the grounds that Wonder Woman is “culturally insensitive, overly sexualized, and not real.” Within 48 hours of the announcement, concerned U.N. staff posted an online petition to encourage U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to reconsider Wonder Woman as the honorary ambassador for the empowerment of women and girls. Their petition stated, “Although Wonder Woman was originally created to represent a strong and independent ‘warrior woman’ with a feminist message, she instead, in her current iteration, is a large-breasted, white woman of impossible proportions scantily clad in shimmery, thigh-baring body suit with an American flag motif and knee-high boots – the epitome of a ‘pin-up’ girl.”

The ceremony announcing Wonder Woman’s appointment featured several prominent entertainment figures, including Lynda Carter, who played Wonder Woman in the 1970s hit television show, Gal Gadot, the actress portraying Wonder Woman in the upcoming Wonder Woman movie, and Diane Nelson, president of DC Entertainment. The ceremony also announced a joint U.N. and DC Comics social media campaign to promote women’s rights.

During the ceremony, concerned U.N. staff stood in silent protest by turning their back, raising a fist in the air, and leaving halfway through the ceremony. In addition, nearly 100 staff members held signs in the U.N. lobby that read, “I am not a mascot,” and “Let’s get real.”

Course of Action

The U.N. addressed concerns of Wonder Woman’s appearance by “toning down” her image. At the announcement ceremony, a life-size image of Wonder Woman depicted her from the waist up with a cape around her shoulders, covering her chest. In subsequent photos, Wonder Woman is consistently shown from the waist up, omitting the patriotic aspect of her costume, and with a darker skin tone.

Two days following the announcement, the U.N. held a press conference to address the concerned U.N. staff and petition supporters. Cristina Gallach, a senior U.N. spokeswoman, dismissed the idea that the U.N. does not represent “real” women as role models for gender equality. “To these views, I would like to say that the United Nations has many real-life women and men fighting for gender equality and the empowerment of women every day,” she said.

Former Wonder Woman actress Lynda Carter also dismissed U.N. staff’s concerns. Describing the petition supporters as “nitpicking” and to “get over it.”

Online petition supporters disagreed. On their petition site, one supporter stated, “The bottom line appears to be that the United Nations was unable to find a real-life woman that would be able to champion the rights of ALL women on the issue of gender equality and the fight for their empowerment . . . this role is too important to be championed by a ‘mascot.’”

Consequences

After only two months, Wonder Woman’s role of honorary ambassador ended. U.N. Spokesman Jeffrey Brez said that the U.N.’s decision to end Wonder Woman’s role was made soon after the launch. He emphasized that the decision was not due to the online protest, despite the nearly 45,000 signatures collected at the time of his announcement.

“The objective was to reach out to Wonder Woman fans to raise awareness of U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 5,” Brez said. “We did that. We are happy.”

DC Comics spokeswoman Courtney Simmons echoed their pleasure with the brief campaign. “[We] are extremely pleased with the awareness that this partnership brought to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #5, as well as elevating the global conversation around the empowerment of women and girls,” she said. “Wonder Woman stands for peace, justice and equality, and for 75 years she has been a motivating force for many and will continue to be long after the conclusion of her UN Honorary Ambassadorship."

Moral of the Story

Wonder Woman is not the first fictional character to be chosen as a U.N. ambassador. Winnie the Pooh served as an honorary ambassador for the International Day of Friendship and Red, one of the characters from the Angry Birds mobile game, was chosen as an honorary ambassador for the International Day of Happiness. Yet, U.N. staff note that neither of these fictional characters represented humans. Not everyone, however, agrees with the U.N.’s latest decision. At the time of this writing, a new online petition is requesting the reinstatement of Wonder Woman as the honorary ambassador for the empowerment of women and girls. The U.N. has not provided additional comment.

Discussion Questions

1. Which model of public relations do you believe is most prevalent in the United Nations’ decision to appoint Wonder Woman as honorary ambassador? How well did the U.N. assess the ethical implications of this model?
2. The U.N. staff described Wonder Woman as a “mascot.” What public relations model did they perceive in the announcement? Explain their ethical concern in this use of this public relations model.
3. Wonder Woman’s appointment was part of a larger societal cause to impact positive change for women and girls globally. How well did the United Nations maintain their moral obligation to society, as described by Bivins? Do you perceive other obligations in the U.N.’s ethical decisions?
4. Using Parsons’ five guiding questions, how well does the United Nations uphold the ethical pillars of public relations? Explain your answer.

Additional Resources

ABC News. (2016, October 21). Wonder Woman named honorary UN ambassador, staffers
protest ‘sexualised cartoon character.’ Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au

Alexander, E. (2016, October 21). Wonder Woman named UN ambassador in controversial
move. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com

Concerned United Nations Staff Members. (n.d.). Reconsider the choice of Wonder Woman as
the UN’s honorary ambassador for the empowerment of women and girls. Retrieved from http://www.thepetitionsite.com/741/288/432/reconsider-the-choice-of-honorary-ambassador-for-the-empowerment-of-women-and-girls/

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/

Hersher, R. (2016, October 13). Wonder Woman named honorary U.N. ambassador for gender
equality. Retrieved from https://knpr.org

Roberts, E. (2016, December 13). UN drops Wonder Woman as honorary ambassador.
Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/

Williams, A. (2016, December 22). Lynda Carter deflects critics of Wonder Woman. Retrieved
from http://www.nytimes.com