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Wonder Woman: Gal Gadot supports cyber bullied cosplayers

By Sonya Iryna

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Wonder Woman’s star Gal Gadot and director Patty Jenkins recently Tweeted messages of support to two Sri Lankan cosplayers facing cyber bullying for their Wonder Woman cosplay.

Every woman who has ever gone online knows that being female online comes with the risk of being bullied or shamed. For geeky women the risk is even higher. They are constantly put in the position of either having to defend and justify their passion for geeky things. Or they have to deal with harassment and bullying.

That’s what happened recently to two women in Sri Lanka who decided to cosplay as Wonder Woman at Sri Lanka’s Columbo Comic Con. The women, Amaya Suriyapperuma and Seshani Cooray, created impressive Wonder Woman cosplay costumes. And they posed for photos at the con and didn’t think anything of it, as reported by the BBC.

The photos went viral. And they started a wave of criticism, harassment and shaming.  Facebook groups shared the photos and racked up hundreds of comments criticizing the two cosplayers. Twitter users jumped on the bandwagon too.

In response to the bullying that was directed at the women some Twitter users started a positive campaign of support. Their mentions and comments that eventually attracted the attention of Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot. Both women tweeted their support of the bullied cosplayers:

Wonder Woman’s Success And The Backlash

Wonder Woman has been smashing box office records this summer. And throwing a spotlight on the role of women in the geekverse. As the only female directed and female fronted superhero film to date there were a lot of people watching to see what reception of the film would be by audiences and critics. Both were blown away by the film. Currently the film has made over $800 million. But it’s also been a lightning rod for controversy.

There was outrage from some men when The Alamo Draft House in Texas scheduled some female only screenings of the film. But those screenings sold out so quickly that they added more.

Then director James Cameron called Gal Gadot’s character Diana Prince an “objectified icon” and said that the film “set women back”.

Director Patty Jenkins clapped back at Cameron for his comments. But the fact that Gal Gadot and Jenkins still have to be justifying the film and its message prove how many people need to hear that message.

Empowering Women To Claim Space In The Geekverse

The two cosplayers were inspired by that message and expressed it through cosplay. Other women are internalizing that message as well. And they’re using it as inspiration to write comics, go to cons, write content featuring strong female leads, and empower women to carve out space in the traditionally male and traditionally white world of all things geek.

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More and more women are refusing to be intimidated away from embracing their geeky passions by online harassment and bullying. With more awareness of this kind of bullying women will hopefully build a supportive community. But it never hurts to have Wonder Woman in your corner.

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