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Gal GadotWonder Woman has been removed as an honorary United Nations ambassador for the empowerment of women and girls, following protests over the character’s “sexualized” appearance.
The comic book heroine, now played on the big screen by Gal Gadot, had only just been appointed in October.
U.N. spokesman Jeffrey Brez confirmed the campaign’s end to Reuters, though declined to give the reasoning.
But complaints from women’s rights groups and U.N. employees may have been a contributing factor.
The DC Comics character, who has been fighting villains, rescuing victims, and unearthing evil plots since 1941 and was played on TV in the 1970s by Lynda Carter, had been hired by the U.N. to promote messages about women’s empowerment.
When the campaign was announced, it was met with heavy criticism, a protest by employees at U.N. headquarters in New York City and even inspired a petition with 45,000 signatures asking the U.N. to reconsider. The petition complained about the character’s “overtly sexualized appearance” on screen and in comics.
It read, “Although the original creators may have intended Wonder Woman to represent a strong and independent ‘warrior’ woman with a feminist message, the reality is that the character’s current iteration is that of a large breasted, white woman of impossible proportions.”
READ MORE: #WomenThatDo: Wonder Woman
The DC Comics heroine has most recently been portrayed on the big screen by Israeli actress Gal Gadot in 2016’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.”
Gadot had told Glamour that she was so excited to play Wonder Woman because it gave her the “huge opportunity to show the strong, beautiful side of women.” The actress insisted that the heroine’s story would not hinge on a man, and added, “She has so many strengths and powers, but at the end of the day she’s a woman with a lot of emotional intelligence.”
DC Entertainment has stayed positive amid the backlash, sharing that it was “pleased with the exposure Wonder Woman brought to the U.N.’s global goals to achieve gender equality and empower women and girls by 2030.”
Courtney Simmons, a spokeswoman for the company, added, “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 U.N. Honorary Ambassadorship.”
READ MORE: ‘Wonder Woman’ Gal Gadot Goes to War in New Trailer: ‘It Begins With Her’ (VIDEO)
Gadot and Lynda Carter had shared photographs to social media in October when they came together to celebrate the appointment, as well as Wonder Woman’s 75th anniversary. The Israeli actress will next star in a standalone film on the character due out in 2017.
Next year will also see the release of a special-edition Wonder Woman comic book on the empowerment of women and girls, which Simmons insisted would still be released despite the end of the U.N. campaign.
