In my interactions with most people when they find about about my passion for comic books, there’s an undeniable reaction that happens somewhere behind the eyes. An immediate judgment. Not always a negative one, but there’s always something there.
The same holds true when they hear about my admiration for the character Wonder Woman. There’s a decision that happens almost unconsciously. “Oh, he only likes that character for the sex appeal.”
I find this laughably foolish and highly ignorant.
My use of the word ignorance here is literal. Many of the people that think Wonder Woman is all about the objectification of women simply don’t know any better. Wonder Woman was created in the early 1940’s to be an answer to the male dominated genre of super-heroes. Dr. William Moulton Marston believed strongly in the empowerment of women and created the character to be a role model to little girls. And yes, there’s an underlying element of sexuality in those early stories. But Wonder Woman’s always in control and never truly the victim. And when you compare her to other comic book heroines of that day and age, there’s no comparison at all.
This comparison… this inter-textual view of the character, is the crux of my argument. The people who have judged Wonder Woman to be created by men for men have no idea about the comic book medium. They’ve never seen nor heard about characters like Phantom Lady or Power Girl. And they’re making that judgment from a viewpoint of ignorance.
Let’s look at it from the highly personal level of my own sexual development.
As a boy in the seventies, the Wonder Woman character was never about sex. At this point in her publishing career she had been through a lull in popularity and dropping sales, but the editors never chose to emphasize her sexual attributes to drive sales up. At that time, Wonder Woman was considered a role model for little girls and it was inconceivable to cast her in that light. To me, she was always unattainable. Even poor Steve Trevor, her love interest for decades, never really stood a chance. The character was about purity and strength. And, of course, justice. Beauty was undeniable, sex was denied.
When you think back to the Lynda Carter television show, sexuality does come into play. Simply because now things are real, and there’s a real face and body placed in the suit. Things are a little different. But if you were to actually go back and watch the show, you would find a costume that covers more than anything seen on beaches today. You would also find Lynda Carter’s performance to be perfect for the character. Strong, forthright, and easy to smile. It would be hard picturing her as a helpless victim.
No, as a boy in the seventies I never thought of Wonder Woman in ‘that way’. No… I had Black Canary for that.
The comic that this panel comes from is the May, 1977 issue of Green Lantern/Green Arrow. I remember it VERY clearly. You can see some boob! Right there! Look close. This was the earliest example of sexuality in comics that I remember from my own personal development. In summer of 1977 I was just about to turn eight.
After that, I started to notice Black Canary more often. This issue of Justice League is cover-dated March, 1979.
Compared with Black Canary, suddenly Wonder Woman was boring!
In 1982, my passion for the Legion of Super-Heroes was in full swing and I was finally able to start buying my own comics and on a more regular basis. Some of the more feminine Legionnaires helped influence my buying decisions.
New Teen Titans, May 1982, utterly blew me away. This is at a point in my development when to say that I was noticing things like this would be a severe understatement. It looks tame to you today, but to a 13 year old boy in the early 1980’s, this was fantastic.
This panel from an issue of All-Star Squadron, June 1983, took me awhile to get over.
Later that summer I got my hands on a back issue that reprinted the X-Men’s first appearance. These shots of Storm seemed to catch my eye for some reason.
And November 1983 issue of Justice League would bring everything back to Black Canary.
It got much worse in the 1990’s, when editors finally caved to the fact that sex sells and started turning all their characters into sexual objects.
It’s so much worse today.
My point in telling you all this is this: These highly sexual images of women that I’m showing you are from comics that are thirty-five years old, in some cases! Comics aren’t for kids anymore. You cannot pick up a comic book and hand it to your child safe in the knowledge that comics are aimed at children. They are not.
And those of you keeping Wonder Woman away from your daughters thinking she’s a sexual object? It’s time to re-think that. Your kids will learn things from Wonder Woman that they’ll never get from Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift, or – God forbid – Twilight.
There’s just no way to know for sure anymore. Being a parent is hard, and the idea that you have to filter everything that they read and watch is abhorrent. But in some cases you have to know. Are things like Hunger Games desensitizing them to violence? I don’t think so. Is something like Twilight going to forever alter your daughter’s expectations from a relationship? YES. Yes it's my opinion that it will.
I’ve never ever argued FOR censorship, and I won’t start now. But as parents, the power is in our hands to decide what forms of entertainment can play a role in our child’s development.
Thanks,
DCD
