“Justice League” was fine — except that Wonder Woman was over-sexualized for no reason

There’s good news, and there’s bad news when it comes to the male gaze in Justice League. The good news is that the Amazonian warriors are not, in fact, scantily-clad for their fight scenes. The film faced criticism after images of the ladies in their battle gear started to make the rounds — and there was a lot more skin than in Wonder Woman. While yes, some of the costumes have changed, the fierce fighters aren’t over-sexualized. In fact, during the scene in which we see the most skin — a bare midriff! — the Amazonian warrior is in the middle of swinging a giant sledgehammer. It’s actually powerful AF.

However, Wonder Woman? Unfortunately, it seems this movie’s portrayal of the character is far more sexualized than the one we saw in her namesake film this summer.

Before we go any further, I’ll say that I did in fact enjoy Justice League, and I really enjoyed Gal Gadot’s performance. However, it became clear that the Wonder Woman we met during Wonder Woman wasn’t coming to save the world this time — rather, we were re-introduced to a token “lady” superhero who, frankly, doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment.

It’s important to note that Wonder Woman was directed by a female, Patty Jenkins, and her role behind the camera was applauded for many reasons. Just one — which is an odd thing to applaud, but promise it’s important — is that rather than hide a thigh jiggle when Diana lands on her feet hard, she kept it in. It was a tiny, tiny moment in the film, but for women who are constantly dealing with a society imposing “perfect” body norms, while also trying so hard to embrace body positivity, this little jiggle was powerful, especially on a female superhero in the middle of saving the world.

If you were hoping that treatment would carry over into Justice League, it sadly does not. At one point Diana’s thigh does jiggle, and we see it…but we also see her entire backside because she’s just jumped out of Batman’s ship and her skirt flies up (keep in mind, she’s still wearing bottoms). Maybe this scene completely went over your head, but it’s stuck with me because it’s 1) completely unnecessary as 10 seconds of movement that doesn’t further the plot whatsoever and 2) someone made a clear choice to leave it in, even though Diana’s butt is exposed.

That’s not the only “butt shot” of the movie. Twitter — always quick call something out — immediately took notice of the excessive focus on Wonder Woman’s butt: