In the late 1980s, Karyn White had a popular song that featured a chant, I’m not your superwoman. And millions of women sang it like they meant it but did we truly embrace the message to reject society’s impossible standards and just be ourselves? The world often tells women that we have to be superhuman, fulfilling all the roles society thrusts on us, executing them with poise and confidence and a smile pasted on our face as we meekly ask for even more challenges ahead. We are compared to mythological creatures that we have no hope of becoming and feel like failures when we can’t match up. What to do? How about we start by killing Wonder Woman. 

In this book, Wonder Woman is the moniker that author, Tenaya T.J. Tinson gives to the ideal that she feels she has to become in response to the demands of the world and here she explains why Wonder Woman is not an achievable standard;

Wonder Woman is a symbol of the unobtainable. She is a blend of all the women – both real and fictional – that we idolize. She is the whispers of the doubt and negative self-talk that run rampantly through our minds. It’s time to stop listening. It’s time to slay Wonder Woman. 

She discusses the world’s standards as well as the Biblical definition of Wonder-Woman – the Proverbs 31 definition of a virtuous woman as well as female characters like the Virgin Mary and Deborah – and why we can embrace some of their characteristics without being shackled to the idea that we have to be exactly like them to relate to God in the same way.

The book is divided into four parts, each one leading into the other:

1. Killing Wonder Woman which is about identifying the pressure and releasing yourself from its hold.
2. Set Free – finding freedom for yourself and others
3. Win At Work – taking this freedom to your workplace environment
4. Soar In Faith – Seeing God as the source of power to do what is otherwise impossible

The chapters are short and are designed to be studied by a woman moving through the process of killing “Wonder Woman” and moving forward into the new life that opens up to her afterwards. I thought the book was well organized in this way and the content extremely relevant for women who feel so stressed to be everything. Killing Wonder Woman is our command to just do our best and understand that that is enough. You are enough!

Author Tenaya T.J. Tinson is clearly a woman of faith and she writes from that background to share her wisdom with women in a similar place. If you are opposed to applying Christian values to your life, you will likely not appreciate the value of this book because ultimately the idea of this book is to replace the idea of Wonder Woman by embracing God’s plan for your life. 

My Rating

I gave this book 4 stars. I liked the theme and the organization of the book but in particular, I liked the examination of secular and Biblical pressures that women of faith feel to meet different standards because whatever our religious background, we also live in this world and feel buffeted by those demands too. As a woman of faith myself, I liked the idea of finding God’s plan and purpose for your life and living in it, separate and aside from others’ expectations.

Giveaway

TLC has kindly given me a free copy of Killing Wonder Woman and an awesome T-shirt to give to one reader. If you’d like to enter the giveaway, please comment below before May 31st. On June 1st, I will choose and announce one winner.

If you’d like to purchase copies for a book club or reading group (which I think this book is perfect for), you can find it here:

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

 

Other places you can find Killing Wonder Woman being discussed (and probably enter their giveaways as well):

 

Note: TLC runs these virtual book tours and provided me with a free, signed copy of the book to complete my review. I am not otherwise compensated for my opinions.