Essay on Wonder Woman by Gloria Steinem
William Marston made a name for himself as an unusual man with enormous expertise in different genres including psychology. What’s more, he declared himself to be the first one to introduce a device known today as the lie detector. However, one of his most popular and influential inventions is the comic book under the Wonder Woman name. It reflected “two of his greatest passions: feminism and women in bondage” (Berlatsky, 2015). The book had a huge effect just after the introduction of Superman back in 1939. What’s more, it caught the attention of M.C. Gains who offered Marston a position in DC Comics according to Les Daniels in Wonder Woman: The Complete History (Chronicle Books, 2000, pp. 22-24).
In her five-paragraph essay on Wonder Woman, Gloria Steinem describes the main character of the comic book and the way it impacted her life in the real world. It is not a secret that the 1900s appeared to be a tough challenge for many ethnic groups in the United States. Besides, that was a period of vastly developing sexism. In this situation, women of America required someone who would be associated with feminist and political activism, a spiritual leader who would drive the forward. Surprisingly, a comic book character turned up to be the one. Wonder Woman offered a new vision of independence, equal rights for every person, and political equity. She changed the way people accepted women’s role in modern society.
Wonder Woman influenced Steinem in many ways. First of all, she managed to instill independence in Gloria. Steinem was from a poor family. She did not have much and comic books appeared to be the first thing she could afford to buy on her own money. As she did not get the opportunity to attend school, Gloria used comic books to learn how to read. Her parents traveled a lot to make their living and Wonder Woman was always there for her to accompany and lend a virtual hand whenever needed.
Those times, the majority of comic book heroes were men who expressed their heroism to save helpless women. The introduction of Wonder Woman appeared to be a revolutionary idea in some way. She was able to fight on her own and most of those battles were victorious. The main thing is that she was never dependent on men saying: “I can never love a dominant man” (344). Steinem learns from her many different things as well as self-respect. Gloria saw a woman who was just as strong as the majority of male superheroes.
Another important thing about Wonder Woman is the fact she never tried to hurt her enemies despite her superhuman strength. Instead, she made efforts to convert them into a new belief where every person had equal rights. She offered her enemies to join the world of peace and equity, always ready to fight for humanity.
Works Cited
Berlatsky, Noah. Wonder Woman: Bondage and Feminism in the Marston/Peter Comics, 1941-1948. January 2015. Print.
Daniels, Les. Wonder Woman: The Complete History. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2001.