Americans of all stripes enjoyed Wonder Woman (2017), a fantastic film about a down-to-earth heroine discovering the world and then saving it. DC Comics’ efforts to compete with the Marvel Cinematic Universe had proven rather stale up until that powerful film. Now, following the release of the sequel, Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), DC Comics will release a book extolling the Wonder Women of History … and the list of heroines proves rather one-sided. The heroines in the book include none other than far-left Green New Deal activist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who features on the book’s cover, dressed in Wonder Woman garb.
As DC Comics’ official website puts it, “Not all heroes wear capes. Wonder Woman has been an inspiration for decades, and while not everyone would choose her star-spangled outfit for themselves, her compassion and fairness are worthy of emulation. We’ll be presenting tales of the real-world heroes who take up Diana’s mantle and work in the fields of science, social justice activism, diplomacy and more!”
The list of Wonder Women… includes a man.
According to Nerdist, the list of honorees in the book includes AOC, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sen. Elizabeth “I am not a person of color” Warren (D-Mass.), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Beyoncé, and more. Ginsburg is a radical-left justice, but she has an inspiring story — the woman has worked through multiple bouts of cancer on the bench. AOC and Tlaib do not belong on a roster with such an impressive figure.
DC Comics’ decision to valorize AOC is particularly troubling. AOC appeared to wink at murders and burglaries while explaining away the rising crime rates in the wake of the George Floyd riots. She practically worships big government, saying that socialism made her “recognize my inherent value as a human being.” When AOC successfully raised money for charitable efforts to help people during the coronavirus pandemic, she said that “in a just society,” the government replaces all such charitable efforts. Her nonsensical statements have made her a laughing stock on the Right and an electoral albatross on the Left.
AOC Complains That Private Charity Exists, Saying Government Replaces It ‘In a Just Society’
Yes, DC Comics is honoring Rashida Tlaib, who compared a boycott of Israel to boycotts of Nazi Germany and who found herself banned from entry to Israel. Tlaib is famous for the “impeach the MF” slogan, and she rushed to blame “white supremacy” and “Jim Crow-style policies” when a man stabbed five people at a Jewish Hanukkah party. In advocating for abortion, Tlaib claimed that pro-life Americans are obsessed with the idea of having sex with her.
The list has an extremely liberal twist. Most of the figures on the list are notable in their own right and less involved in politics, such as airline CEO Teara Fraser, astronaut and former Johnson Space Center Director Ellen Ochoa, Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes, and singer/songwriter Janelle Monae. Many who are notable for reasons besides politics have nonetheless opposed President Donald Trump — stand-up comic Tig Notaro and actress Keiko Agena, for example.
Tennis champion Serena Williams also fits the lefty mold, having championed the Black Lives Matter movement.
The list also includes many lesser-known activists, such as Flint water crisis activist Mari Copeny, LGBT activist Edith Windsor (plaintiff in the Supreme Court case Windsor v. U.S. (2013), gun control activist (and Stoneman Douglas shooting survivor) Emma Gonzalez, and disability rights activist Judith Heumann.
Ironically, Wonder Women of History celebrates at least one man — Malcolm Michaels Jr., known by his drag queen name Marsha P. Johnson. A gay liberation activist, Michaels featured prominently in the Stonewall riots of 1969.
Perhaps most notably, Wonder Women of History includes a tribute to Shi Zhengli, director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Shi is a Chinese virologist who researches SARS-like coronaviruses of bat origin.
Yes, DC Comics is honoring the “bat lady” whose research may be connected to the emergence of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The origins of COVID-19 remain unclear, but it seems likely that the virus may have leaked from a lab like the one Shi runs in Wuhan, not as a biological weapon engineered in the lab but as an accidental release of bats infected with a new kind of coronavirus.
The original Wonder Women of History
DC Comics’ politically-slanted list of honorees marks a clear contrast from the original Wonder Women of History feature that ran from 1942 to 1954. That list included Florence Nightingale (the founder of modern nursing), Clara Barton (founder of the Red Cross), Susan B. Anthony, Madame Chiang Kai-Shek (a freedom fighter against Communism), Joan of Arc, Australian nurse Sister Elizabeth Kenny, Jane Addams, Helen Keller, abolitionist heroine Sojourner Truth, Abigail Adams, Marie Curie, Amelia Earhart, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and many others.
This original list was far more politically and ideologically diverse. Oh, and it did not include biological males who only identified as female.
Perhaps DC Comics should return to its roots, rather than running full-tilt to the Left. At the very least, this book should also include some impressive conservative women like Margaret Thatcher, Condolezza Rice, former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-S.C.), Gov. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.), Amy Coney Barrett, or Kellyanne Conway.
Tyler O’Neil is the author of Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Follow him on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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