Masculinity And Femininity In The Wonder Woman

Gender roles are categories that characterize what it means to be feminine and masculine in society, on how people think about gender as they relate to one another (Adams et al., 2013). For example, women are expected to be accommodating and emotional, while men are usually expected to be self-confident and aggressive, this shows how men and women are to behave in society. However, these sayings were taught to individuals based on norms, or standards created by a society which is called Gender Socialization (p. 318). Growing up as a child, we were taught as girls to play with dollhouses, pretend kitchen sets, cleaning supplies and play dress up. Whereas boys are taught to play with cars, sports equipment’s, action figures, and weapons. However, if a boy was playing with dollhouses, or playing dress up, he would be considered gay, or not masculine and looked down upon by society, and families. The same goes for girls who play with boy toys, or dresses as a tomboy, this is what we are taught to play with at a young age. Our families tell us how to behave, our schools tell us what

Beowulf shares characteristics with female superhero Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman sprung to the top of box office charts last summer, the story focuses on a female warrior named Diana who endeavors to defeat the malevolent forces of the Nazi regime. The morally righteous Diana travels from her peaceful home to war torn Germany, where she contends with Ares and other super villains to restore peace for the innocent citizens of the country. Beowulf also travels to aid the villagers who desperately need his help. “He who had come to them from across the sea, bold and strong-minded, had driven affliction off” (344-345). Much like the previously mentioned James Bond, Wonder Woman does not need swords or shields in battle, she is described as a weapon herself, “the God Killer”. While Beowulf’s followers wield their sword against Grendel to no avail, Beowulf uses his sheer strength to tear off “the bleeding sinews deep in his shoulder” and snap Grendel’s bone, leaving him to die of blood

They are geniuses; they come up with original ideas to take care of themselves and others. They are fearless, which it comes to show that they don’t rely on anyone but themselves. Athena and Diana were very bright women because both were against injustice and would fight towards one’s right. Both were intelligent, but in their own way, Diana Prince showed her true emotions, “watching Wonder Woman grow up surrounded by the love of other

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

Despite their differences, both superheros are seen as iconic women in the comic industry. Their intelligence as individuals are seen as an inspiration to different types of women around the world. Which creates a powerful movement of women across the nation. If not just for their intelligence, both Wonder Woman and the Black Widow are in the well known groups Justice League and the Avengers. In the original series for both women the Black Widow and Wonder Woman are the first females to part take in those groups. With the empowerment that is sparked on women all across the nation, the popular comic writers began to weave in more female superheroes into their works, resulting in more female characters in the newer superhero groups.

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

Social norms in the United States reflect a gender binary, hence there are cultural expectations for women and a different set for men. Nurturing, aggressive, reckless, polite, flirtatious, strong, independent could describe either a male or a female, but we subconsciously associate these traits as either feminine or masculine because our culture has reinforced that notion.

Throughout women’s life, they are faced with many stereotypes and situations which dictate how they act and how people see them. A problem with this is that, by thinking that women follow certain stereotypes, society starts to believe that women will only act a certain way, and they don expect them to do masculine things such as being a police officer or

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:

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?

Her mission is to bring love, peace, and sexual equality to a world torn by the hatred of men. The heroine Princess Diana of Themyscira, more famously known as Wonder Woman, has gone through various reimagining and different retellings in both media and comic books. But all of these have the same basic origin. She was born and lived the majority of her life on the isolated paradise island of Themyscira, an island inhabited entirely of Amazonian women. Everything changed one day when pilot, Captain Steve Trevor crashed on the mysterious island. Soon after he crashed, as he was being held and treated on the island, Queen Hippilyta held a tournament to decide who would have the honor of escorting Captain Trevor back to the

To begin, I would like to provide the reader with some background information that pertains to these heroes. Wonder Woman is a superhero who is also known as Princess Diana, and she grew up on the Amazon Island of Themyseria. Wonder Woman has been granted superhero powers by Zeus, to fight against Ares if he

“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,

In today’s society, the imagery of men and women are portrayed in their different personalities. The ideal male is always characterized as being competent, stable, tough,

Society has clearly defined boundaries between what is considered to be male or female. The development of an individual’s gender role is formed by interactions with those in close proximity. Society constantly tells us how we should look, act and live based on gender. Family, friends and the media have a tremendous impact on how these roles are formed and the expected behavior of each gender role.