Putting the Character in Context with “Cultural Mythology” Wonder Woman Putting the Character in Context with “Cultural Mythology”

The beginning Created in 1941 by William Moulton Marston (aka Charles Moulton) Marston was a psychologist who studied mass media’s affect on an individual’s development Marston created WW because he thought that violent tendencies in humanity stemmed from humans needing the “socializing and loving influence of a powerful maternal figure” (DiPaolo 71) Created WW to be “strong and sexy,” encouraged women to be like WW and wanted men to see “that strong women were more beautiful than passive ones…worthy of love and respect instead of fear” (71)

Marston’s own words “It seemed to me, from a psychological angle, that the comics’ worst offense was their bloodcurdling masculinity…It’s smart to be strong. It’s big to be generous, but it is sissified, according to exclusively male rules, to be tender, loving, affectionate, and alluring. ‘Aw, that’s girl stuff!’ snorts our young comic reader, ‘Who wants to be a girl?’ And that’s the point: not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength” (72)

WW’s mom is Hippolyta, named after the real Roman Amazonian queen Different Origins Whereas Superman and other famous superheroes have origin stories rooted in Judeo- Christian mythology, Marstron took WW out of Greco-Roman mythology Diana Prince is born into the Amazon race, a society of warrior women originally subdued by Hercules In Marston’s version, the Amazonians escape Hercules/man’s captivity and create a free society of women called Paradise Island WW’s mom is Hippolyta, named after the real Roman Amazonian queen

World War II Just like for Superman and Marvel heroes like Captain America, WWII was the dominating influence on superheroes in the 1940s WW is sent to the USA to protect the country from terrorists, promote women’s rights and as an ambassador for peace WW wears the colors of the American flag as a symbol of her pledge to protect democracy and fight for her adopted homeland

Wonder Woman & Rosie the Riveter 1941 1942

Wonder woman as an early feminist patriot WW’s early stories showed her as maternal, an environmentalist and philosophically and naturally moral (74) She can talk to animals and trees She hangs out with a sorority house of human female allies of all body shapes and sizes Her one weakness is being tied up by a man She demonstrated that it was possible to be both a patriot and hold progressive values like championing better working conditions for women and the poor After taking on Nazis, she goes after greedy corporations taking advantage of children, families and working women

Wonder Woman as Early feminist patriot While WW wears the patriotic colors of the USA, “the implication is that, should America ever stray from the path of righteousness, Wonder Woman will cease wearing the colors of the American flag” (74) A 1978 story set in WWII has Superman fighting to make sure the USA develops the atom bomb before the Axis powers. WW fights both Superman and the Axis to make sure no one develops it WW primarily fought bad guys – emphasis on guys – who were spies, Nazis, gods and other enemies to American freedom Even her female enemies were often doing harm because they were being controlled by a man

But what about her outfit?

Fashion and politics (and society) “Diana’s fashion sense is symbolically linked to her politics…so those who are uneasy about her clothes are often uneasy about her broader message of female empowerment” (77) 1950s: Dr. Federic Wertham publishes “Seduction of the Innocent,” a book that criticizes the comic book industry for its corruption of kids’ morals McCarthyism also takes hold of the USA, all but removing progressivism from patriotism WW’s costume remained fairly skimpy, but her progressive values disappeared and she became less political

Wonder Woman in the latter 20th century Feminist author Gloria Steinem put WW on the cover of her new women’s magazine, Ms., in 1972 Lynda Carter portrayed WW on TV from 1975 to 1979 (same era as other TV shows with strong female main characters) Carter portrayed Diana/WW in the model of the early comics: strong, feminist, never took human life and used diplomacy whenever she could Audiences found the WW outfit struck the right tone, likely because of how seriously the show took the main character By the 1980s and 1990s though, WW sales dipped DC upped the sexuality and downplayed her feminism in order to sell her to a mostly male comic book audience

Wonder Woman in the latter 20th & Early 21st century Since Kingdom Come WW lost much of her early personality, becoming more quick to anger, battle and even unopposed to taking the lives of society’s worst criminals and villains Other heroes criticize her for being “too much of an ideologue, too militaristic, and too underdressed” (85) “The male writers who have penned her stories of late love to imply that Diana would be a lot nicer, and a lot happier, if she’d just have sex with Batman or Superman, put some more clothes on when she goes out in public, and shut up with the annoying politics already” (85)

Wonder Woman today New writers – notably women and an openly gay Hispanic male – have reintroduced aspects of WW’s progressive politics and patriotism back into the comics These writers also have more successfully blended WW’s feminity with her brutality: She’ll kill an enemy and also bake desserts for the other Justice League members WW now has both the “light” and “dark” elements embodied by Superman and Batman, and comaraderie with other female superheroes (89) New WW movie coming out in 2017

Wonder Woman Today Wonder Woman is an idea, larger than any one interpretation or artists’ drawing “Anyone who realizes that she has the power within her to make changes, not just for herself, but for women, can be Wonder Women. You have to take what she does and extend it into the terms of your real world. If you want to fly through the glass ceiling, if you want to bring about an end to domestic violence, if you want to bring pay equity for working women, she’s there to be that kind of icon.” – Lillian Robinson

Kingdom Come “With luck, Wonder Woman stories of the future, whether written by women or men, will do the character justice” (91). Examine the portrayal of Wonder Woman in Kingdom Come. Is she a good representation of Wonder Woman’s values in the modern world, or is this another deviation away from WW’s core values? As always, use evidence from the text and the presentation to arrive at your conclusions.