Wonder Woman: Magical Amazon VS Human Diana Prince: a Historical Analysis of DC Comic's Relationship with Gloria Steinem
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GRAVES 1 / 10 Wonder Woman: Magical Amazon VS Human Diana Prince: A Historical Analysis of DC Comic's Relationship with Gloria Steinem Feminism Charlotte Krolokke and Ann Sorensen1 amongst numerous others describe the feminist movement of the United States in three waves. The first wave is characterized by the fight for the right to vote (or suffrage) that took place throughout the 18th and early 20th centuries. The second wave, and the context of our analysis, is typically associated with the late 1960s and 1970s. Frustrated with unequal pay in the work-force and the traditional gender roles prescribed by an older generation, this movement is mostly remembered as a revitalized notion of empowerment through sisterhood. Another key idea within second-wave feminism, or the 'women's movement' as it is often called, is the idea that women have a right to a sexuality of their own – apart from the obligations of marriage and motherhood. This sentiment was cemented into the collective consciousness by Kate Millett's book, Sexual Politics published in 1969. For our purposes, it can also be referred to as 'women's liberation' to which DC had published a Wonder Woman story-arc entitled “Women's Lib Issue” prior to an intervention on behalf of female activists like Gloria Steinem. The third wave or post-feminism, has a highly contested definition. According to Krolokke and Sorrensen, it focuses on the need to develop a feminist theory/politics that honours a multiplicity of experiences and challenges patterned ways of thinking. Rosallind Gill offers, perhaps, a more helpful definition. In her view, post-feminism is a “sentiment” – one that views femininity as a “property of the body.”2 In either case, our historical point 1 Krolokke, C. and Sorenssen, A. Gender Communication Theories and Analyses: From Silence to Performance. London: Sage, 2006, Chapter 1 ("Three Waves of Feminism: From Suffragettes to Grrls"), available at http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/6236_Chapter_1_Krolokke_2nd_Rev_Final_Pdf.pdf. Last reviewed June 1, 2014. (1st wave: Page 2, 2nd wave: 7 – 15, 3rd wave: 16. 2 Gill, R. “Postfeminist Media Culture: Elements of a Sensibility”. European Journal of Cultural Studies Volume 10, Issue 2. Page 149. GRAVES 2 / 10 of focus will between 1972 and 1973, when Wonder Woman has been reportedly 'saved' by Gloria Steinem. As we shall see, this is a myth that has been continuously propagated by Steinem, Ms. magazine, and various commentaries and documentaries.3 This paper will briefly illustrate that the history of DC comics has been misrepresented in the feminist discourse surrounding Wonder Woman and that this myth, of Wonder Woman failing to satisfy her primary function as a feminist icon prior to Steinem's intervention, illustrates either her ignorance of the franchise’s stories, a lack of research into the company's history and/or a clever ploy to sell Ms. magazine as valorously restoring Wonder Woman to her rightful place in popular American iconography. A Brief Background into the Feminist History of Wonder Woman: Wonder Woman was introduced both as a character in 1941 and as an independent title early 1942 by Sensation Comics (later known as Detective Comics or simply DC). For brevity's sake, she was created by William Marston for the specific purpose of representing feminist ideology in a heavily masculine industry.4 As Lillian Robinson points out, he saw the power of the Illustration 1 medium to provide a social commentary and / or as a propagandaistic tool. In fact, she goes on to say that Comics, along with jazz and the movies were the “quintessence” of American popular culture.5 Marston wanted to create someone girls could look up to. Thus any deviation from this intention would betray the primary function of the character's original design. 3 Wonder Women: The Untold Story of American Super-heroines. Directed by Kristy Guevara- Flanagan. Harriman,. New Day Films N.Y. 2012. DVD 4 Pulido, E. “Wonder Woman: Origins of Disparity in the Feminist Icon and Male Fantasy” grad student MICA’s MFA Illustration Practice, Fall 2013, Critical Seminar Final Paper Rockwell Center for Visual Arts. Web. Last reviewed June 1, 2014. 5 Robnson, Lillian. Wonder Woman Feminisms and Superheroes. Routledge New York. 2004. Print. Page XVI GRAVES 3 / 10 This said, Wonder Woman has not historically been exclusively a feminist commentary and narrative. As Mitra Emad has noticed, one can read, clear notions of nationalism and propagandistic support of US foreign policy – especially during war time.6 This is a pretty typical feature of many comic books including Superman, Captain America and many others. Thus we can easily see that Wonder Woman supported the government's plan to have women both in the workforce and military. In the post-war era however this changed. Illustration 2 After WWII, Wonder Woman became a romance-comic under the authorship of Robert 7 Illustration 3 Kanigher. Stories revolved around her relationship with Steve Trevor. It is not clear when Steinem became a fan of Wonder Woman or if these are the comics she remembers. She would have been about six when Wonder Woman's more heroic exploits of the war-era were published and the comics of the 1950s (when Steinem was a teenager) supported a more domestic life for women. This is a significant shift in regards to Ms. Magazine's criticisms (in an article written by Joanne Edgar)8 because it is these stories that I feel best fit Steinem and Edgar's criticisms and in doing so, they neglect the narratives of the early 1970s that specifically address the issues American women faced thereby devaluing the pertinence of their critique and illustrating the unneeded valourism of Ms. magazine. 6 Mitra, Emad. “Reading Wonder Woman’s Body: Mythologies of Gender and Nation”. Journal of Popular Culture. Volume 39, Issue 6. 2006. Page 955. Web. Last accessed June 1, 2014. 7 Pulido, E. “Wonder Woman: Origins of Disparity in the Feminist Icon and Male Fantasy” grad student MICA’s MFA Illustration Practice, Fall 2013, Critical Seminar Final Paper Rockwell Center for Visual Arts. Web. Last reviewed June 1, 2014. 8 Edgar, Joanne. “Wonder Woman Revisited” Ms. Magazine issue 1, Volume 1. July 1972. Page52. Rutherford Special Collection. Print. GRAVES 4 / 10 Before we turn our attention to the Wonder Woman of the early 1970s, I would like to take the time to point out two things I've tried to illustrate thus far. Firstly, Wonder Woman was designed to be a champion of feminism but has had a long history (since her creation) of reflecting notions outside specifically feminism, most notably, nationalism. Thus, Steinem and many other feminists during the Women's Movement who point to Wonder Woman as a purely feminist icon were diluting the history of the narrative. Secondly, I pointed out that by the 1950s Wonder Woman had already undergone a shift from the feminist portrayal and appeared within the context of traditional-gender role as a romance genre. As we will soon see, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, DC comics had reevaluated this portrayal and already begun to reintroduce the character in a way that respects her original feminist design and we will see that a myth is prevalent in popular culture that this shift of the late 1960s and early 70s was instigated by Gloria Steinem which is simply untrue. In fact, one could argue that the subsequent changes on Steinem’s part, hyper-sexualized the character and resulted in the further abuse of the Wonder Woman icon. A Visible Shift in Character In October 1968, DC launched a new look for Wonder Woman in a year that is arguably the most turbulent in American History since the Civil War. By Simply viewing the presidential campaign commercials of Richard Nixon one can get a clear sense of the poisonous social atmosphere of 1968.9 In this reboot of the character, Wonder Woman forgoes her suit, powers and weapons to take on a role that mirrors the many 'secret agent' characters prevalent in American popular culture. The shift was an attempt to provide a character in which young girls Illustration 4 could more easily relate. Artist, Mike Sekowsky and author Daniel O'Neil, were under the impression 9 Museum of the Moving Image, Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952 - 2012. livingroomcandidate.org GRAVES 5 / 10 this portrayal would be even more empowering to women – illustrating what is possible for everyday women with hard work and determination.10 They felt her costume and powers made the character difficult to write convincingly, similarly the romantic genre she had fallen into was not helping sales thus they began to turn their focus specifically on issues of female liberation.11 Steinem's Criticism are Nostalgic: Had Steinem been reading Wonder Woman as an adult, she may have reserved her criticisms of DC comics and the need to 'save' Wonder Woman. With her romantic interest (Steve Trevor) killed off, in this Grandee Carper or more often referred to as the 'Women's Lib Issue,' Wonder Woman fights against a corrupt department-store owner who pays his female employes an unfair wage. Although filled with the problematic images of bound blond 'bomb- shells' it marks Wonder Woman's entrance into issues of the 1970s – the specific problems Steinem and others were so dramatically trying to address. As Ann Matsuuchi points Illustration 5 out, it does make an honest effort to define woman-hood in the spirit of Marston. Sister-hood is a key component of the relationship Wonder Woman has with her activist friend Cathy and the quasi-unionist employees she represents. When making a judgement on Steinem's relationship to the character, this 10 Pulido, E.