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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 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 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 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 , 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 . 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. “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. 11Matsuuchi, Ann. “Wonder Woman Wears Pants: Wonder Woman, Feminism and the 1972 'Women's Lib' Issue.” Colloquy: Text Theory Critique. 2012. Page. 125. Web. MLA International Bibliography. GRAVES 6 / 10 issue is grossly over looked. As the story goes, Steinem's relationship with DC comics began when she requested permission to use the Wonder Woman image on the cover of the first issue of Ms. magazine. Although she clearly had issues with the artistic direction of Wonder Woman, the company likely allowed usage because it would promote the character and possibly help boost lagging sales. At the time of Seinem's intervention (1972), O'Neal had moved into an advisory capacity and the creative direction of the comic was taken up by author Samuel Daleny. According to Daleny, it was Steinem's criticisms that changed the direction the of narrative.12 Steinem, in multiple interviews, recalls the Wonder Woman of the 1970s, as having fallen Illustration 6 on “hard times”13 and thus in need of liberation but in doing so, she failed to recognize the problems the character had been facing in the narrative: abortion clinics, financial issues (forcing her to move in with her friend Cathy), being an immigrant to America, being offered a high paying job to promote a department store that mistreated female employees (or 'selling out'). In addition, the 'Women's Lib' story-arc had been dealing with the economic reality of female activist groups. As Wonder Woman succeeded in shutting down the department store – she is criticized by a number of black women

(former employees) for destroying what little employment opportunists they had. Thus, it was dealing with some very complex issues American women were facing at the time.

12 Matsuuchi, Ann. “Wonder Woman Wears Pants: Wonder Woman, Feminism and the 1972 'Women's Lib' Issue.” Colloquy: Text Theory Critique. 2012. Page. 130. Web. MLA International Bibliography. 13 For example: Wonder Women: The Untold Story of American Super-heroines. Directed by Kristy Guevara- Flanagan. Harriman,. New Day Films N.Y. 2012. DVD GRAVES 7 / 10

Illustration 7

Unfortunately, the question above was never resolved because the series was cancelled – at least in part due to Steinem's criticisms. Thus, this clearly illustrates that at the time of her intervention,

Steinem had little knowledge of the direction the Wonder Woman narrative was taking, didn't care or merely was developing a myth to help sell Ms. as valorously 'saving' Wonder Woman. Matsuuchi recalls a comment made by Les Daniels who attributes the subsequent change to the Wonder Woman narrative as “adult-feminists'” desire to see the character resemble something they recognized from their youth. Similarly she recalls O'Neil commenting on seeing Steinem on a tour of DC's studios, seeing the art (not paying any attention to the stories) and concluding that she had been disempowered.14 In any case, according to O'Neal, the “Powers That Be” enforced that a change be made – returning the character to her traditional star-studded lingerie, powers and Greek origin story.

Ironically, Ms. celebrates this as a great victory for feminism as well as misrepresents DC's corporate history. In Joanne Edgar's article in Ms.'s first issue, she 'celebrates' DC's first female editor – insinuating that Dorothy Woolfolk was recently (at the time) hired by DC – perhaps as a response to

Steinem's intervention.15 This is absolutely misleading because Woolfolk had worked off-and-on with

14Matsuuchi, Ann. “Wonder Woman Wears Pants: Wonder Woman, Feminism and the 1972 'Women's Lib' Issue.” Colloquy: Text Theory Critique. 2012. Page. 135. Web. MLA International Bibliography. 15 Edgar, Joanne. “Wonder Woman Revisited” Ms. Magazine issue 1, Volume 1. July 1972. Page53. Rutherford Special Collection. Print. GRAVES 8 / 10

DC since Marston had created the character back in the 1940s. Her contributions to the DC universe include a lessening of the bondage imagery in Wonder Woman and most notably – she created

Superman's Achilles-heal: Kryptonite. Ms.'s misrepresentation does not end there – DC had employed famous tennis player Alice Marble in the 40s as well and even published a cameo of her as an example of real-life wonder women. These two omissions, have propagated a myth that continues to this day. According to Matsuuchi, Lillian Robinson repeats the error as

“recently as 2004.”16 Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Wonder Woman was co-created by Illustration 8

Marston's wives (he lived in a polygamous relationship). It is a well known fact that Elizabeth

Holloway Marston is credited with insisting their character be a woman and in this sense, one can honestly say, Wonder Woman has pretty consistently had female eyes watching over her despite what

Steinem or others have said to the contrary. Steinem did not “rescue” her from “hard times” nor did she redirect the character towards the issues of the women's movement in the 1970s – she merely demanded that she be dressed up in her traditionally skimpy uniform – a subject of much debate over the past decades amongst female fans. Thus we can forcefully conclude that Ms. magazine has misrepresented the comic either out of ignorance or worse, to create a myth of valourism to aid the sale of their own products. This myth has continued to be represented in popular documentaries to which

Steinem has repeatedly failed to set the record straight.

16 Matsuuchi, Ann. “Wonder Woman Wears Pants: Wonder Woman, Feminism and the 1972 'Women's Lib' Issue.” Colloquy: Text Theory Critique. 2012. Page. 134 - 36. Web. MLA International Bibliography. GRAVES 9 / 10

Bibliography

Books Robnson, Lillian. Wonder Woman Feminisms and Superheroes. Routledge New York. 2004. Print.

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/upmdata/6236_Chapter_1_Krolokke_2nd_Rev_Final_Pdf.pdf. Last reviewed June 1, 2014.

Articles

Gill, R. “Postfeminist Media Culture: Elements of a Sensibility”. European Journal of Cultural Studies Volume 10, Issue 2. Web. Last reviewed June 1, 2014.

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.

Mitra, Emad. “Reading Wonder Woman’s Body: Mythologies of Gender and Nation”. Journal of Popular Culture. Volume 39, Issue 6. 2006. Web. Last reviewed June 1, 2014.

Matsuuchi, Ann. “Wonder Woman Wears Pants: Wonder Woman, Feminism and the 1972 'Women's Lib' Issue.” Colloquy: Text Theory Critique. 2012. Web. MLA International Bibliography. Web. Last reviewed June 1, 2014.

Edgar, Joanne. “Wonder Woman Revisited” Ms. Magazine issue 1, Volume 1. July 1972. Page53. Rutherford Special Collection. Print.

Documentaries / Videos

Wonder Women: The Untold Story of American Super-heroines. Directed by Kristy Guevara- Flanagan. Harriman,. New Day Films N.Y. 2012. DVD

Museum of the Moving Image, Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952 – 2012. livingroomcandidate.org GRAVES 10 / 10 Illustrations:

1) Sensation Comics #1 (January 1942)

2) Sensation Comics #13 (January, 1943)

3) Sensation Comics # 1 (October, 1949)

4) Wonder Woman # 1 (October 1968)

5) Wonder Woman Volume 1, #203 (December 1972)

6) Ms. Magazine Volume 1, Issue 1(July 1972)

7) Wonder Woman Volume 1, #203 [page 27] (December 1972)

8) Sensation Comics # 1 (July 1942)