Wonder Woman: Feminist Icon of the 1940s

Abstract

The purpose of my research concerning the super heroine Wonder Woman is to identify the circumstances under which the comic was created, why its creator was set on using the medium of comics, the messages he was trying to communicate to American society regarding the roles of women, and why it has maintained its fan base from the 1940s to the present. My use of feminist and iconographic analysis provided me with a wealth of information concerning how this avant-garde comic series contested the widely accepted conventions concerning women with its sarcastic images and pejorative text. Creator William Moulton Marston in collaboration with comic artist Harry Peter set into motion a wave of feminist nuances within their comic run of Wonder Woman that aided the epoch of female empowerment during the 1940s. The text coupled with the artwork created a cohesive whole upon which the creative team could instill their views on contemporary society. Wonder Woman's personage gave both men and women an icon of what a woman was capable of should she possess an air of social, political, and sexual autonomy. I came to the conclusion that upon creation, Marston infused an image of a strong-willed woman among his contemporaries that he hoped would one day overtake its widely traditional submissive counterpart, and not only in the realm of comics.

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