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Wonder Woman

In: English and Literature

Submitted By mjxo
Words 969
Pages 4
15 October 2014
Wonder Woman Children always looking for a positive role model to have, and many end up choosing superheroes they see in their favorite comic books or ones they have seen in the media. Since children are so easily affected by things they see in their childhood, having discriminatory elements in these influential characters may be problematic. “The Wonder Woman Precedent: Female (Super) Heroism on Trial” written by Julie D. O’Reilly, was published in the Journal of American Culture in 2005. O’Reilly is a professor of communication and women and gender at Heidelberg University. In “The Wonder Woman Precedent”, she writes about the hardships that female superheroes in the media must face that male superheroes do not go through. Throughout her article she compares Wonder Woman, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the sisters of Charmed to male superheroes like Superman and Jake 2.0. “Wonder Woman” written by Gloria Steinem, is an excerpt from a book written about Wonder Woman. Steinem is well known activist, feminist, and author. “Wonder Woman” talks about how Wonder Woman helped shape Steinem to become the woman she is today. O’Reilly and Steinem both believe that the creator of Wonder Woman views on feminism are not exactly correct. However, both authors share opposing viewpoints on the trials female superheroes face and if wonder woman is a feminist icon.
The creator of Wonder Woman, not surprising to most, was a man. William Moulton Marston, who wrote the Wonder Woman comics under the pseudonym Charles Moulton, was a Harvard-educated psychologist. According to O’Reilly, Marston’s creation of Wonder Woman exploited women instead of his seemingly proto-feminist intentions. The comics enticed the male reader with Wonder Woman’s physical appearance and her extremely submissive nature. O’Reilly emphasizes, “Marston’s legacy does not seem to be a clear

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