An enlightening look at the feminist ideals that informed this American icon
This year marks the 65th anniversary of one of comics’ oldest and most enduring characters, Wonder Woman. For over half a century, she has entertained and inspired millions, appearing in comic books, newspapers, novels, television, and cartoons. Her image is known throughout the world, licensed on everything from Halloween costumes, Kraft merek macaroni & cheese, and Underoos, to cookie jars, toothbrushes, and the American Library Association (ALA) poster, “The World’s Greatest Heroes @ your library.” Along with Batman and Superman, she shares the distinction of having been continually published in comic book form for more than six decades. Like Snoopy, James Bond, Superman, and Tarzan, she has entered the collective consciousness of 20th-century pop culture.
In the early 1970s, she was adopted as a role tipe by the feminist movement and appeared on the cover of the inaugural issue of Ms. magazine. Yet few know that Wonder Woman was created as a distinctly feminist role tipe whose mission was to bring the Amazon ideals of love, peace, and sexual equality to “a international torn by the hatred of men.”
While Wonder Woman is one of the most fascinating comic book characters ever created, she is seldom mentioned in professional books, Web sites, and ALA lists about graphic novels. Perhaps many see her as too “old school,” nomor longer relevant in a international among such kick-ass, girl-power heroines as Buffy, the Birds of Prey, Electra, and Manhunter. Maybe, in a international dominated by pastel, tartan, and lollipop-colored “chick lit,” Wonder Woman’s overtly feminist message has nomor bearing on a readership who seems to prefer (and adore) consumer-driven, self-obsessed heroines. For whatever reason, our most enduring feminist icon of American popular culture seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle. A brief exploration of Wonder Woman’s history will, I hope, demonstrate why this heroine is important and deserving of a wide readership and a prominent place on the library shelves.
When superheroes first began to appear in comic books of the late 1930s, the genre was ostensibly an “all-boys club.” In fact, prior to Wonder Woman, there were very few costumed heroines of any kind. Among the hundreds of comic books published during the 1930s, only a scant few featured stories about costumed women heroes such as Black Widow, Invisible Scarlet O’Neil, The Woman in Red, and Miss Fury. More common was the depiction of women as evil seductresses, as the hero’s girlfriend (Lois Lane), or as his “help mate” (Bulletgirl and Hawkgirl). In general, superhero comics of this masa reflected and reinforced cultural norms about gender. Images of male superheroes celebrated brute strength, physical perfection, male bonding, and phallic imagery, while women were typically portrayed as helpless and in need of rescuing, or as sexy, buxom pin-ups models, often in provocative bondage poses. Moreover, most superhero comics were also violent and the hero resolved any and all conflict with physical force. For example, in the earliest Batman stories, the caped crusader was a ruthless vigilante who carried a gun and even murdered a couple of his adversaries.
In the early 1940s, a psychologist and feminist, Dr. William Moulton Marston, sought to change this paradigm. Writing in The American Scholar, he discussed the negative effects of gender stereotyping in popular culture: “Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength, and power…. Women’s strong qualities have become despised because of their weakness. The obvious remedy is to create a character with all the strength of Superman and all the allure of a good and beautiful woman.”