A Feminist Analysis Of Batman's Wonder Woman

The book starts by introducing its thesis and supporting points, as well as the themes of feminism and birth control with evidence to support it, Wonder Woman’s secret history, “feminism made Wonder Woman” (Lepore xiii) and she remade it, therefore, her “debt is to the fictional feminist utopia and to the struggle for women’s rights” (Lepore xiii). Additionally, “her origins lies in William Moulton Marston’s past, and in the lives of the women he loved; they created Wonder Woman, too. Wonder Woman is no ordinary comic-book superhero because Marston was no ordinary man, and his family was no ordinary family. Marston was a polymath. He was an expert in deception: he invented the lie detector test. He led a secret life: had 4 children by two women; they lived together under one roof. They were masters of the art of concealment. Their favorite hiding place was the comics they produced” (Lepore xiii). And not to mention, “Wonder Woman has been fighting for women’s rights for a very long time,”(Lepore xiv) in which supported the women’s suffrage, feminist and birth control movements.

Pallas Athena and Wonder Woman have shown what their abilities truly are. “It is a relief to watch a woman fight back” (Lepore Web). They can do anything to defend themselves and others. Even though they had this skill they wouldn’t take advantage of it, they took no pleasure from battling. “Athena also has a great set of associations with heroes and heroines than other deity” (Deacy Web). This conveys that she connects to heroes because she was the Greek Virgin Goddess of reason; she was prepared to help anyone in desperate times. Both were blessed with abilities that opened ignorant minds about women having the capacity to fight for injustice.

However, the fact that she was a strong woman, both physically and mentally, does not make her a feminist. Feminist icon maybe, but certainly not mine. I understand the desire of many feminists to be associated with people like Catalina and Joan of Arc to give them traits they did not necessarily have. However, feminism is for everyone and everyone is different. While it might be good to acknowledge such women from time to time and should not be given a title of "that's what feminism looks like". Besides, her behavior at the end of the book is simply misogynistic. Two women and their companions offended her by their laugh and mocking tone (which is bad, and I do not approve them), however, she called them harlots and promised to kill them, which she did. It might be argued that she did so not because she hated women,

Heroes, kings and presidents, for so long men are the protagonist of the stories. Across the world and through the centuries, women have always been situated below men. Women were considered the weak sex, they are portrayed as delicate, obedient, naive and passionate. “Never trust in women; nor rely upon their vows” (44). As the wives of the kings on The Arabian Nights, whose passion brought them to cheat on both their husbands. They ended up being executed because they threatened the kings’ power. Or bringing danger into the families, as the wives of Kasim and Ali Baba, who wouldn’t think of the consequences of their actions and would act by the pure instinct of greed and naiveness. Yet, seldomly acknowledged, women have had to step up to fix troubled situations, the few stories told of women of scarce resources who have manage to triumph over the standardized society. This not only shows how women take advantage of the resources at their reach but how their

Throughout comic book series publication the recurring theme of female suppression is prevalent in the Wonder Woman comic book series, there are several panels of wonder woman straining against the bindings of society. The Golden Age (1930’s -1940’s) women were portrayed as damsels in distress, in almost every comic book cover a lady is tied up with a man trying to save her. Facebook’s group created a page which focuses on the portrayal of women in comics, the site summarizes women in the Golden Age as career-oriented girls. Comic book characters as Nellie the

Jessica Jones, an Unapologetic Feminist Superhero The feminist theory is revolved around the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women put on by a patriarchal society and how literature or different types of works display and portray that attitude. Netflix’s new TV series, Jessica Jones, is more than just any superhero movie and offers more than just action and thriller to TV audience. Jessica Jones is about the superhero gone rogue who works as a private investigator instead of living a typical superhero life. Jessica Jones lives a life of solidarity and avoids trouble, however that solidarity comes to an end once she realizes the once dead Kilgrave may not be so dead after all.

Who doesn’t love a good superhero? The perfect figure, the spandex suit, the flowing cape, flawless looks, and the powers we can only dream of having. Superheroes have been around for ages now, leaving an everlasting imprint on our hearts. It is no secret that males dominate the superhero industry; both the heroes themselves and those who create them. Superman, Batman, Ironman, and Spiderman have become the top heroes of all time; there is nothing wrong with them holding the spotlight, but female heroes are underrepresented. There are notable female heroes, but they tend to be drawn with a busty figure that few women are naturally blessed with, and show little emotional rational in fights. Take Black Widow (Marvel) for example, anyone would love for her figure and kick-ass moves. Wonder Woman is our hero of the hour, she has made her way onto the big screen; casting her into the spotlight more than ever. She screams fights for love, promotes peace, is a beacon of hope, and screams feminism. What’s not to love? The new movie released on June 2, 2017, has called more attention to the American-spirited, Amazonian woman than ever before. The movie is the first fully female directed movie, Patty Jenkins brings a great female to the big screen. Although the movie is great and supports feminism, is the movie the depiction of Wonder Woman that should be idealized?

The Wonder Woman character went through different changes from different authors who kept creating her journey. In the beginning Wonder Woman was written by William Marston but after his death in 1947, the Wonder Woman went through a change due to a different writer taking over. As Steinem states, “She became sexier-looking and more submissive, violent episodes increased, more of her adversaries were female, and Wonder Woman herself required more help from men in order to triumph.” (271) This change made Wonder Woman a different character than what readers fell in love with in the beginning. As

This story is unique because Kingston actually places herself in the role of the warrior in the story; she says, “We made a sling for the baby inside my big armor, and rode back into the thickest part of the fighting. The umbilical cord flew with my red flag and made us laugh.” This depiction of her fighting while carrying her infant in her arms shows how a woman can fight and nurture at the same time. She can both give but also take lives, which is something a man is unable to do. This illustrates Kingston belief that woman are not subservient, but in some cases, better than men in some respects.

“Wonder Woman is a walking- and sometimes flying- paradox of attributions and images. She is, at once, a female sex symbol and feminist icon: physically vulnerable, morally virtuous, financially independent, self-determining, and, in tune with her womanly ways, self-sacrificing” (Wright 6). Wonder Woman was created by William Marston in order to show and achieve women empowerment. At the time that Wonder Woman was assembled, there were no women superheroes. The only superheroes that were created at the time were powerful, strong, fully-clothed, white, males. Even though Wonder Woman is just as powerful and important as other male superheroes, she is often easily centered out from other superheroes because of her physique, lack of clothes,

To some, wonder woman is regarded as a feminist icon. However, O’Reilly does not believe so because of the submissive themes that her creator included in the comics.

It should be noted that Marston had been considered as a feminist. He found that world would be been more peaceful if female values were cherished and if men were willing to accept women as equals . The creation of Wonder Woman was to counter what Marston perceived as an overly masculine-dominated world . She served as a role model for not only little girls but for adults as well. According to DiPaolo’s book, War, Politics and Superheroes:

I commend the authors who stick their neck out on the line to express themselves in a creative way. A way in which attracts and pulls the reader in, possess them to enjoy the book. A book that’s not only a comic and is a good read, but as a deep meaning to it. The comic books talks about controversial topics that nobody else dears to talk about or express their own opinion on. The most common superhero that stars in many comic books, Wonder Woman has a secret; and a deeper mean than what is perceived. She’s the iconic image of women’s suffrage and rights. “Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of women who, I believe, should rule the world” (Lepore pg 2) Wonder Woman conveys the strength, courage and bravery women had to

In the beginning of comics, it was male-dominated and that didn’t seem like it was going to change, until Wonder Woman came along, and this fact alone makes her a massive emblem of female empowerment in the world. She was still written by a man, but it was a start of a whole new era. Wonder Woman’s story begins on an island of all women who called themselves The Amazons. The queen of The Amazons wanted a child and her tribe told her to make one out of clay, and thus, Diana AKA Wonder Woman was born. Diana was “as lovely as Aphrodite, as wise

Unlike the other two women, Shahrazad, the vizier's daughter, used her womanly powers to save instead of destroy or deceive. Even though her life was at stake, she put herself in the position to be the heroine for the kingdom.