Hell hath no fury like sexists arguing that women-only spaces are reverse-sexist.
On Wednesday, Austin, Texas-based movie theater Alamo Drafthouse announced they’re hosting a special screening of Wonder Woman exclusively for female fans on June 6, four days after the film’s U.S. release.
“The most iconic superheroine in comic book history finally has her own movie, and what better way to celebrate than with an all-female screening?” the Alamo Drafthouse writes on its ticket landing page for the screening.
The page goes on to explain that in embracing “girl power,” the Alamo Drafthouse’s downtown Austin location will only have women working the venue, projection, and kitchen that night. “So lasso your geeky girlfriends together and grab your tickets to this celebration of one of the most enduring and inspiring characters ever created.”
Clearly, Austin’s geek girl community was more than willing to jump aboard such a concept as a man-free two-and-a-half hours to watch the first-ever movie dedicated to Wonder Woman. The first screening, originally announced as a one-off, sold out in a little over two hours. A second screening added Thursday morning sold out in under two hours.
Unfortunately, and almost expectedly, a crowd of sexists have flocked to the Alamo Drafthouse’s Facebook page to question and protest the horror that is two-and-a-half hours of no men allowed. Shortly after the theater’s social media announcement, men commented their dissent.
“Have you ever hosted a men’s only showing of any film?” one man asked.
“Great, let us know when you have guys-only screenings of Thor, Spider-Man, Star Wars, etc. Let’s see you walk the walk now that you set this precedence,” another very upset male patron posted.
However, comment after male-tears-soaked comment, the theater’s social media manager has been clapping back at people arguing that all-female screenings for the female icon are unfair.
“We’ve never done showings where you had to be a man to get in, but we *did* show the Entourage movie a few years ago,” the Facebook page replied to the man asking for a men’s only showing.
“Very sorry if you feel excluded. We thought it might be kinda [fun]—for one screening—to celebrate a character who’s meant a great deal to women for close to eight decades. Again, truly, truly, truly, truly sorry that we’ve offended you,” the theater replied again to the man calling for “precedence.”
Other men tried to make this women-only screen into an argument akin to Texas’s “bathroom” debate over trans women using public women’s restrooms, to which the social media page immediately shut down.
“I really hope the Alamo has a plan to deal with the inevitable douchelords who’ll show up and claim they identify as female just to be disruptive,” one man commented, an uninformed sentiment echoed by others.
“Our plan? We’ll have the hardest working, baddest ass staff possible on deck,” the page replied.
Despite the backlash, Alamo Drafthouse isn’t backing down. According to a statement from Morgan Hendrix, the theater’s creative manager, sent to the Daily Dot, they’ll be expanding the women-only screenings to other Alamo Drafthouse locations across the country (Drafthouse has several theaters across Virginia, New York, San Francisco, Dallas, Missouri, Colorado, Nebraska, Washington, D.C., and Arizona). Alamo Drafthouse theaters in Austin, Dallas, and Washington, D.C., will also donate a portion of their Wonder Woman ticket sales to local women-centric charities.
“We are very excited to present select, women-only Wonder Woman screenings at Alamo Drafthouse,” Hendrix said. “That providing an experience where women truly reign supreme has incurred the wrath of trolls only serves to deepen our belief that we’re doing something right. As a result, we will be expanding this program across the country and inviting women everywhere to join us as we celebrate this iconic superheroine in our theaters.”
Perhaps both Wonder Woman and Alamo Drafthouse prove that not all superheroes wear capes.
Update 3:50pm CT, May 25: Alamo Drafthouse is now offering a women’s only screening in Brooklyn, New York, on June 4, as well. Proceeds will go to Planned Parenthood.