A theater chain was criticized for its all-female Wonder Woman screening, so it added more of them.

Alamo Drafthouse Responds to Criticism of All-Female Wonder Woman Screenings By Adding More of Them

Alamo Drafthouse Responds to Criticism of All-Female Wonder Woman Screenings By Adding More of Them

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May 26 2017 1:14 PM

Alamo Drafthouse Responds to Criticism of All-Female Wonder Woman Screenings By Adding More of Them

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Fortunately, some brave men are speaking out in the name of gender equality.

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It’s 2017, and we’re just now finally getting our first major female-led superhero movie of the 21st century with Wonder Woman set to premiere June 2. To mark the momentous occasion, the dine-in theater chain Alamo Drafthouse announced an all-female screening of the film at its Austin location—and when the chain said “all-female,” it meant it, promising not just a women-only audience but also female projectionists, chefs, and other theater staff. And as the first quickly sold out, it added another.

To be clear, these all-female screenings are not the only screenings of Wonder Woman that Alamo is offering, just a few select opportunities for women to come together and rejoice at having a woman as the protagonist of a superhero movie for a change, an incredibly rare occurrence in a genre that averages 1 woman in a catsuit for every 5 men. But a group of brave men, upon seeing this news, still found the courage inside themselves to ask How can I make this about me?, taking to social media to protest that all-female screenings are “discrimination” and a serious blow to “equality.”

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Alamo responded to these critics by adding even more all-female screenings at its theaters across the country, which are similarly selling out rapidly. Proceeds from certain screenings are even going toward Planned Parenthood. “This has zip to do with equality,” the theater’s official Facebook account wrote in response to the backlash from the heroic few who chose to speak out against this grave injustice. “This is a celebration of a character that’s meant a great deal to many women since 1940.” They also had a few choice responses to those who suggested this was analogous to holding all-male screenings for male-dominated superhero movies like Thor and Spiderman and, like, all of them, basically.

It is, of course, very heartening to see so many men joining the fight for gender equality because a theater chain announced a handful of screenings dedicated to women's empowerment. I for one am confident that they will voice similar outrage when they learn that women only accounted for only 29 percent of movie protagonists in 2016, and I can’t wait to hear how they plan to protest the disproportionately wide gender pay gap that exists in Hollywood! Keep up the good fight, lads!

Marissa Martinelli is a Slate editorial assistant.