13 reasons …

Wonder Woman, "I'll finish this fight now."

My mother was born in the Depression and grew up during World War II.

In 1942, she moved with her family from the shtetl-like life of her Bronx neighborhood to Providence, Rhode Island where her father had taken a job as an engraver at the shipyard that built Liberty Ships.  Providence was a tough and forbidding place for a young Jewish girl in those days, and she and her siblings fought many a battle against kids yelling anti-Semetic jeers at them and worse.  In those instances, my mother’s favorite and only superhero was Wonder Woman whose dark beauty and formidable strength gave my mother the courage to stand and fight.

Wonder Woman stood out as a beacon for her — because of course, in my mother’s mind, not only was she a woman, but she had to be Jewish!   And unlike Superman or Batman; Wonder Woman in her Red, White and Blue costume was American to the core.  This took on a lot of meaning for my mother’s 10-year-old soul. Not only could Wonder Woman keep her safe from the worst of her fears, but the Wonder Women of her comics kept her country safe from the horrors of war.

The image of Wonder Woman still stands out as one of the very few where a woman can knock the crap out of someone without it being stigmatized, belittled or sexualized — and that’s saying something.

I bring this up because Girlboxing friend Lisa Creech Bledsoe over at The Glowing Edge, is hoping to win a spot to participate in this year’s Ignite Durham evening with her presentation “How to Win a Fight in a Bar.”

Last year’s “13 Reasons Women Should Take Up Boxing,” garnered 253 votes — and is very funny indeed!  Her presentation ends with a Wonder Woman slide — an image we might all want to take to heart.

To help Lisa win a spot at this years Ignite Durham presentations please click here.

PS – Due to the weather, Alicia “Slick” Ashley’s Brooklyn Explosion, “Main Event” bout has been rescheduled for January 19, 2011.

For further information contact Gleason’s Gym or Global Boxing Gym.

‘Hope to see you there!