Overview

Women's Only Wonder Woman Screening refers to special presentations of the 2017 superhero film Wonder Woman that were only open to female or female-identifying patrons at the Alamo Drafthouse movie theater chain. The screenings, while enjoyed and praised by some, were a source of controversy for others, as some claimed they were "sexist" and exclusionary.

Background

On May 25th, 2017, The Alamo Drafthouse movie theater chain announced that they would be holding a screening of the 2017 superhero film Wonder Woman on June 6th, 2017 that was only open to “people who identify as women." The Alamo Drafthouse also stated, “Everyone working at this screening -- venue staff, projectionist, and culinary team -- will be female.”^[1]

Developments

The screening sold out in minutes, leading the Alamo Drafthouse to announce both a second screening and an expansion of Women Only presentations throughout the country.^[2] On The Alamo Drafthouse’s Facebook page, the post announcing the screening received more than 4,200 reactions and 1,400 shares.^[3]

Online Reaction

The Alamo Drafthouse’s Facebook page soon became filled with responses because some men took offense to the idea of a “segregated” screening. That day, one user commented, “Very tacky Alamo. I'm all for equality and having a screening specifically stating it is not inclusive to everyone, is against equality. I'm not saying Alamo did this intentionally, but it is still just wrong.” His post (shown below, left) received more than 173 reactions. Another user commented, “Have you ever hosted a men's only showing of any film?” The post (shown below, right) received more than 131 reactions.

Later that day, the Alamo Drafthouse^[5] in New York City announced that they would also be hosting Women’s Only screenings with all the proceeds going to Planned Parenthood. The post on Twitter about the screening (shown below) received more than 940 retweets and 2,600 likes.

Much like Facebook, there was a mix of praise and outrage over the announcement. While some found this to be an empowering and positive idea for one of the first big-budget, female-led superhero movies, others said that they felt excluded. Some felt that they could take advantage of the Alamo Drafthouse’s announcement to include any one who identifies as women by sarcastically saying that they would just say they “identify as a girl.”

In response to the criticism, the New York Alamo Drafthouse Twitter^[4] account posted a picture of Furiosa from the film Mad Max: Fury Road with the subtitle “[men yelling indistinctly] (shown below). The post received more than 4,800 retweets and 15,000 likes in under 24 hours.

On Reddit, reactions were also split. Redditor B-VOLLEYBALL-READY posted "[SocJus] Beth Elderkin – "A Women-Only Wonder Woman Screening Is Predictably Upsetting Dumb-Ass Sexists" (here we go again with this shit)" in response to an io9 article^[2] on the /r/KotakuInAction subreddit.^[12] The post received more than 231 points (93% upvoted) and 160 comments.

However, on the /r/Feminism subreddit and the /r/TrollXChromosomes the response was more positive. Redditor DBones90 posted "Women Only Wonder Women Screening Sells Out Immediately" in /r/Feminism,^[13] receiving more than 270 points (92% upvoted) and 60 comments. Redditor Thumper5^[14] posted "Yesterday a theater in my city announced they'd be holding a 'Women (and People Who Identify As Women) Only' screening of Wonder Woman. Shoutout to my local trolls (and Alamo Drafthouse management) for making the comment section a slightly less infuriating dumpster fire with gems like this one" in /r/ TrollXChromosomes. They received more than 1,100 points (95% upvoted) and 150 comments.

Media Coverage

Several news outlets covered the controversy, including CNN,^[6] CBS,^[7] BBC,^[8] The Washington Post,^[9] Buzzfeed,^[10] and more. That day, Twitter^[11] published a Moments page, which detailed the reaction to the women’s only screening.

Search Interest

External References