Why Wonder Woman Is the Most Accurate On-Screen Depiction of Biblical Womanhood

Christian Philosopher Alice von Hildebrand writes in her book The Privilege of Being a Woman:  “Tears are the proper response to brutality, injustice, cruelty, blasphemy, hatred. Christ wept when he saw Jerusalem, and when He came to Lazarus’s tomb.”

There is no shame in our sensitivity, if even Jesus wept.

As von Hildebrand writes, We women are called to “purify [our] God-given sensitivity and to direct it into the proper channels. [We] should fight against maudlin tears and pray for holy tears–tears of love, of gratitude, of contrition.”

Diana is never paralyzed by her emotions, nor does she resent them. Instead, she uses them as a catalyst to take action and to defend the weak and innocent.

What a reminder for me that my sensitivity enables me glean more insight about the human condition, enabling me to become a better writer. Not to mention, without my emotions, I wouldn’t be able to empathize as easily with others; nor could I pray on behalf of others as deeply and specifically as I currently do.

3. When we women stand firm in our God-given identity and calling, instead of heeding others’ artificial labels, we can change the world. 

As soon as Diana leaves her utopian home of the Amazon, she collides with with the hard-hitting reality of the bleakness of the real world, especially in war.

Her idealism seems out of place here, and everywhere she goes, she hears “No.”

Back home, her mom, motivated by fear, tells her she is not ready. On the way to the front lines, every man she meets tells her “no.” “No, you cannot enter the war room; no, you can’t fight Ares; no, you can’t carry your sword on the street.

During the turning point of the movie, she is ready and willing to help, but once again hears “no.”

Far from dimming the light in her eyes, this final “no” only succeeds in kindling a fire in Diana’s eyes.

Here, her mission becomes her own and she is no longer bound by others’ limitations or expectations. She can be exactly who she was created to be.

I am so guilty of letting others dictate who I will be, instead of listening to the one opinion that matters: God’s. To make matters worse, all the voices competing for my attention contradict each other.

As a first-generation Asian immigrant, I’m told to follow my career and take advantage of all the opportunities here in America (“But don’t forget to do all the housework”).

As a woman steeped in American Christian culture, I need to be my husband’s helpmate, have a Pinterest-worthy menu plan and home decor. And “Remember, being a mom is your highest calling.”

I don’t necessarily disagree with any of these things, but I’ve learned the hard way that it is impossible to do all these things well at the same time. So, the only thing I can do is to be sensitive enough to the Holy Spirit to discern what I am called to do moment by moment.

In the midst of my confusion, this is what I am sure of.

  1. God’s call to use my writing to make plain biblical truths, especially to young women.
  2. God’s call for me to be a loving wife to Moses and a be-all-there mom to my kids.

Everything else is pretty much optional.

What actress Gal Gadot says about her character can be true for all of us women: “She can be sensitive and the greatest warrior ever. And strong and confused. She can be all of the above in a beautiful way.”

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This piece originally appeared at MariletteSanchez.com, published with permission. 


Marilette Sanchez
Marilette Sanchez
Marilette Sanchez is a New Yorker and full-time youth worker with a passion for finding the connections between God, relationships and pop culture. Wife to Moses and mom to Jeremiah, Eliana, and Phillip, she believes there is more to the Christian life than hypocrisy, more to marriage than divorce, and more to pop culture than shallow art. Catch her writing at MariletteSanchez.com.

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