Wonder Woman’s tenure as U.N. ambassador comes to an end

Wonder Woman will no longer be an honorary United Nations ambassador.

In October, Wonder Woman was named an honorary U.N. ambassador for the empowerment of women and girls. Coinciding with the superhero’s 75th anniversary, the designation also launched a global campaign supporting the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goal No. 5 to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.”

The occasion was commemorated with a ceremony at U.N. headquarters in New York, featuring speeches from current “Wonder Woman” actress Gal Gadot, original TV Wonder Woman Lynda Carter and the president of DC Entertainment, Diane Nelson.

On Monday, after months of protests about the designation, news broke that Wonder Woman’s tenure as ambassador would be coming to an end on Friday.

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“Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment are extremely pleased with the awareness that this partnership brought to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal No. 5, as well as elevating the global conversation around the empowerment of women and girls,” DC Entertainment’s Courtney Simmons said in response to the news.

“Wonder Woman stands for peace, justice and equality, and for 75 years she has been a motivating force for many and will continue to be long after the conclusion of her U.N. Honorary Ambassadorship,” Simmons said.

The U.N.’s decision to honor the Amazon princess was met with pushback after its announcement. A group of U.N. staff members staged a silent protest during the ceremony, and an online petition was circulated calling on the U.N. to reconsider its decision to recognize a fictional character over a real-life woman for such a significant position.

According to the petition, which has gathered nearly 45,000 signatures, the U.N. staffers objected to Wonder Woman’s ambassadorship because of her appearance and “overtly sexualized image,” which they deemed “not culturally encompassing or sensitive.”

While a U.N. spokesman told Reuters that “campaigns using fictional characters often lasted no longer than a few months,” that did not seem to be the plan for Wonder Woman’s ambassadorship, at least originally.

As Nelson mentioned in her remarks at the U.N. ceremony, DC and Warner Bros. were planning for the campaign and various initiatives supporting the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goal No. 5 to run into 2017.

For many, Wonder Woman is a symbol of female empowerment. Created by psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston, his wife, psychologist Elizabeth Holloway Marston, and artist H.G. Peter, Wonder Woman has become one of DC Comics’ most iconic heroes since her debut in 1941.

In response to the news, Wonder Woman fans have launched online campaigns of their own, calling on the U.N. to reinstate Diana of Themyscira as an honorary ambassador.

tracy.brown@latimes.com

Twitter: @tracycbrown