Nagging Moms: The Amazons in Justice League Edition

After some controversy on social media, the Amazons themselves are speaking out about their new costumes in Justice League. The DC Comics film – which brings together Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg after the death of Superman to save the planet from the threat of Steppenwolf and his army of Parademons – comes out in theaters this Friday, but the film is getting some negative attention from fans and celebrities due to the Amazon warriors’ more revealing costumes.

The debate sparked when an image on Twitter reveled a side-by-side look at the Amazon warriors from director Patty Jenkin’s Wonder Woman and director Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the different costumes were designed by Lindy Hemming and Michael Wilkinson, respectively. Clearly, the costumes designed by Hemming are more covered, one-piece sets of armor, while Wilkinson’s designs focus more on two-piece styles of armor. Many fans, and celebrities like Jessica Chastain, believe that the new armor is a step back for women. You can see the Amazon costumes from Justice League in the above set photo.

The women who play the Amazons in Justice League have a slightly different opinion than the public on their new costumes. Brooke Ence, who plays the Amazon Penthiselea in both movies, revealed on the Justice League red carpet that showing more skin in the new costumes “didn’t bother me at all.” Ence, who is also a CrossFit champion, added that she felt empowered in the new outfits and shared what the other women on set thought. Here is what she said (via  USA Today):

“The girls on set, we never thought of (the new costumes) as a sexy version. It felt a little more glamorous, if anything, because we had bigger, beautiful hair, which I loved.”

“I’m an athlete first, right? (Usually) I can’t wear anything without someone commenting about my (muscular) body. So for me, it was actually really cool to be able to show it and not immediately feel masculine, but still very feminine.”

She also added to the argument that the Amazon’s would need armor to protect their stomachs in battle stating that, “That may be the case, but also we are super-powerful women and maybe no one’s getting that close. Maybe no one has a chance to get that close to hurt us.” Another actress, Samantha Jo, a martial artist who stars as the Amazon Euboea in Wonder Woman and Justice League, also commented how Snyder and Wilkinson made her feel confident and comfortable on set. Here is what she said:

“I think it’s important to remember that the fighting style of the Amazons is quite different than that of a Knight, a Samurai, a Kryptonian, etc. We’ve been able to see that the Amazonian fighting is a little more acrobatic and larger than life requiring armor that allows for that kind of articulation in the body. I was overjoyed with the mobility I had and NEEDED to complete the moves asked of me.”

Jo posted the rest of her statement online via her Twitter account, which you can read below:

It is and I agree This isn't a 140 character response, but for those interested- here are my thoughts. pic.twitter.com/h44CwS9R7x

— Samantha Jo (@SamWJo) November 14, 2017

While the status quo tends to lean towards women shouldn’t have to be sexualized in order to portray strong female role models on screen, the positive comments the actresses who play the Amazons are making about the costumes shows that it’s okay for women to feel strong and confident – even if the outfit is revealing – if they feel comfortable wearing the costume and that there’s nothing wrong with confident women showing some skin if they want to.

If anything, telling an actress, who feels confident in her body, that showing it off is a “step back” is a step back in itself.