***In ”The Fanboy’s Closet,” I pull a geeky item of clothing from the closet, snap a pic, and then see what subjects it takes us into. Why? Why the hell not?!?***

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Another arrival from the folks at Loot Crate. Imagine the smile on my face when I pulled these suckers out of the bag. They’ve almost got a regal quality to them, what with the red and gold. Certainly fitting for an Amazon Princess.

You know what sucks? You don’t see a lot of Wonder Woman apparel out there for guys. I’m mainly thinking of t-shirts, but it doesn’t have to be exclusive to that. You see a little more now that the movie has been so successful. But before all that, if you were looking at a major retail outlet (Target, Walmart, Meijer, etc) you were almost out of luck. You’d have to go to a comic store or some other specialty shop. As much as I love my local comic shops, they’re not always easy to find for more casual superhero fans.

The only one I was ever able to find before Warner Bros. really started promoting Wonder Woman was at Hot Topic, and that was the DC Bombshells version of the character. No disrespect, but I’m talking about the true face of Wonder Woman. The feminist icon that has endured longer than most of her male counterparts.

(Incidentally, that Bombshells Wonder Woman t-shirt was in the bargain bin.)

From a purely capitalistic standpoint, I get it. You market male characters to men, and female characters to women. It’s only natural. That doesn’t mean I like or agree with it. But I understand. I just wish we lived in a world where men could be more secure in their masculinity. It would be a hell of an example to set for kids. Especially boys.

Here’s a challenge: Next time you go to a big box store, or any kind of clothing outlet, look in both the Men’s and Boys sections. See how often you spot Wonder Woman, or any female superhero. Black Widow, Supergirl, Gamora, etc. Not only can it be difficult, but on certain products they’re either shoved to the background or deliberately excluded (i.e. the shirt on the left).

At the risk of acting like the PC Police, I hate that. It’s so damn cynical and it sends a bad message. These characters don’t need to be separated by gender. Being a hero is for everyone. It would serve our next generation of men well to learn that early.

For those of you that are interested, I’ve taken the liberty of hunting down some of my favorite Wonder Woman t-shirts for men and boys. (Special thanks to the folks at NerdKungFu.com.) Please note the lack of oversexualization  or innuendo. That’s an entirely different issue…

– Simple 75
– At Your Service
– Vintage Wonder Woman
– American Heroine
– Power
– USA Banner

Email Rob at PrimaryIgnition@yahoo.com, or follow Primary Ignition on Twitter.