Partner Article

Wonder Woman a poor choice for empowerment ambassador

Diversity consultancy, The Clear Company, has responded to the appointment of Wonder Women as the United Nations’ honorary ambassador for the empowerment of women and girls, criticising the move as “misguided”.

The consultancy, which works with large multi-nationals to help them to become more inclusive in their hiring decisions, supports widespread condemnation of the decision, which led to UN staff members walking out of an official ceremony. Staff raised concerns over Wonder Woman’s honorary ambassador status, citing her “overtly sexualized image” which they claimed is neither “culturally encompassing or sensitive”.

Kate Headley, Director of The Clear Company, commented;

“It’s clear that this severely misguided decision comes as a consequence of having out of touch policy makers and an inadequate consultation process. The level of public outcry, and response from UN staff members themselves, proves this is yet another example of an unrepresentative board of decision makers making assumptions about their audience. It is also evident that there was little, if any, research conducted to determine whether women and young girls would feel inspired by a clichéd, and indeed, fictional, character.”

“The United Nations would have been better placed to select a more empowering and evocative honorary representative, based on an informed decision making process that outlined a series of key criteria to which all empowerment ambassadors must adhere. This process would no doubt have led to a more suitable ambassador being chosen, over one who fails to represent the strength of real women on a number of levels.”

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This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by The Clear Company .