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Glory Bound. on Wonder Woman's Bracelets

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Glory Bound. on Wonder Woman's Bracelets Glory Bound. On Wonder Woman’s Bracelets Suzanne Ramljak Since bursting onto the cultural before hatching this superhero. A stage in 1941, Wonder Woman staunch advocate of women’s rights Wonder Wonder has become the world’s most and female supremacy, Marston popular, and enduring, comic book declared in the late 1930s: “The next heroine. For her battles against 100 years will see the beginning of injustice and oppression, she boasts an American matriarchy, a nation of superhuman powers and customized Amazons in the psychological rather gear including the Lasso of Truth, than the physical sense.” 2 Within Invisible Plane, and Mental Radio. his comic strip cosmology, Wonder Ultimately, Wonder Woman’s most Woman, a.k.a. Princess Diana, belongs potent accessory proves to be the to a mythical Amazon tribe. Having jewelry that she wears. Her metal once been tricked into enslavement Bracelets of Submission, also by Hercules, who bound them with television series, 1975, Warner Bros. Television Bros. Warner series, 1975, television called Bands of Aphrodite or Magic chains and armbands, Marston’s Bracelets, are indestructible cuffs Amazons wear thick bracelets as (Detail) publicity photo of Lynda Carter, star of star Carter, of Lynda (Detail) publicity photo Woman that shield against violent attack, reminders of former slavery and the deflecting gunfire, missiles, and need to resist the wiles of men. other projectiles. A key feature of the fiction conceived by Wonder In addition to warning of male Woman’s creator, William Moulton subjugation, these Bracelets of Marston, these shackle-like bands Submission affirm an Amazonian ensure her survival and embody core pledge to Aphrodite’s Law, upholding values fueling her mission on Earth. humanizing principles of love, beauty, wisdom, and justice. By submitting to Indeed, Wonder Woman’s wristbands a superior authority and harnessing harbor a conceptual arsenal that her strength for the greater good, Marston, a noted psychologist, lawyer, Wonder Woman is assured triumph and inventor, 1 honed for decades over the forces of evil. Should she 86 87 , 1942 Drawing by Harry G. by Drawing Moulton William for Peter 1944 article, Marston’s 100,000,000 “Why Comics” Americans Read Debut cover of Wonder of Wonder Debut cover in character Woman Comics Sensation rules for pleasure and identity. 4 While Holloway wore a wedding Unlike actual slavery, it is not about ring, Byrne sported bracelets on weakness, but rather about finding both wrists as a token of love. The the means to harness and unleash worldly ties to Wonder Woman’s one’s own forces. Similar to bondage wristbands go beyond the personal accessories, jewelry can also serve to engage cultural issues of the day. to empower and focus the self. Throughout the early comic strip, Wonder Woman’s bracelets, though the Amazon princess is repeatedly based on slave shackles, transmit shown chained, bound, and gagged. such a message of emancipation and These were not gratuitous bondage the glory of unbounded women. scenes, but instead echoed the iconography of fetters prevalent in 1 William Moulton Marston (1893–1947) is credited with inventing the early lie-detector test, based defy Aphrodite and remove the cuffs, the women’s rights movement, where her superpowers wane. On Earth as it function as memory aids or memorial on changes in a subject’s blood pressure. chains were central to the rhetoric Among his publications are Emotions of Normal jewelry, lest the crimes of the past be is in comics, love conquers all with a and protests of those fighting against People (1928), You Can Be Popular (1936), and forgotten. In this regard, they are akin March On! Facing Life with Courage (1941). selflessness that can disarm anger and female servitude. Marston was near to metal POW/MIA bands worn during greed. As symbols of altruism, Wonder the frontline of those struggles, as 2 “Neglected Amazons to Rule Men the Vietnam War or the more recent in 1,000 Years, Says Psychologist,” Woman’s bands serve as metaphors Byrne’s aunt was leading activist “Never Forget” bracelets honoring Washington Post, November 11, 1937. for Marston’s own social theories, Margaret Sanger, who opened the as he stated: “Frankly, Wonder those killed in the 9/11 attacks. 3 Marston in undated letter to comics first birth control clinic in the U.S. historian Coulton Waugh. Woman is psychological propaganda Then there is the affinity between for the new type of woman who Wonder Woman’s bracelets, born 4 Deborah Teramis Christian, “BDSM Defined: should, I believe, rule the world.” 3 Wonder Woman’s wristbands and An Exploration of Adult Sexuality and of fancy and fact, emerge as hybrid Lifestyles,” www.teramis.com. sexual bondage gear, a connection ornaments; part manacle and part furthered by her corset and high Along with Wonder Woman’s resistance band, they speak at once boots. Within BDSM practices— mythological provenance, she has of oppression and liberation. Within which entail various forms of Further reading mortal roots in Marston’s private life. the context of jewelry history, they Married to Elizabeth Holloway, a fellow bondage, discipline, dominance, and Jill Lepore, The Secret History of Wonder could be viewed as a kind of amulet. Woman (New York: Vintage Books, 2015) submission—the trappings include all lawyer, psychologist, and feminist Indeed, in the Amazon’s fictional manner of collars, harnesses, chains, thinker, he also fell in love with his realm, her bands were forged from Gloria Steinem and Phyllis Chesler, Wonder and cuffs. Enacted by consenting Woman (New York: Holt, Rinehart and assistant, Olive Byrne; he fathered Athena’s shield and are imbued with adults, the dominant/submissive, Winston, 1972) children with both women, and all the warrior goddess’ wisdom and master/slave interplay is a type of lived together as an extended family. strength. These mythic cuffs also Jay Wiseman, SM 101: A Realistic Introduction “aesthetic sexuality,” creatively shaping (Emeryville, CA: Greenery Press, 1996).
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