by Linda Stein
DC Comics had its chance, and it missed the moment. In wanting to give Wonder Woman a trendy present-day persona, it released her new look on June 30, 2010 in issue number 600, and passed on its opportunity to create the first non-objectified female superhero in contemporary pop culture.
DC could have done the right thing. Instead, it went for a replay of the typical male wish-list and the diminishment of women.
The comic book company claimed to The New York Times that it was modernizing Wonder Woman, bringing her “into the 21st century,” and it wanted to “be bold.” So what did it do? It catered to bottom-line male hunger and styled her as more trashy, more sexualized, more violent.
As an artist who has studied and written about Wonder Woman, and referenced her in my sculpture for almost a decade, I’ve observed closely her beginnings as a peace-loving crime fighter, and followed her images, development and growth in the past 69 years. So it’s hard to see her becoming more trampy and less focused on ethics and justice.
DC writer J. Michael Straczynski, in wanting to tackle “the wardrobe
issue” and “toughen her up,” gave her a new costume, including heeled
boots with spurs, bordello-red bustier top, lethal-looking biker gloves,
shoulder-padded short jacket and a crop of disheveled hair that looks
as if she’s just been rushed from bed after a night of kinky sex. In the
Boston
Herald Lauren Beckham Falcone wonders how Wonder Woman could
possibly fight crime in that outfit: “That’s a whole lot of costume to
chase villains in.”
What’s more, the comic book company even
changed her history and gave it a more violent twist, casting aside her
peaceful Paradise Island upbringing and replacing it with the slaughter
and destruction of her home by unknown forces, from which she is
smuggled to safety — no doubt, in the DC view, by an army of men like
those who engaged in the “rescue” of U.S. soldier Jessica
Lynch, in a hyped and phony episode.
Gloria Steinem said in an email
that she thinks DC Comics was “craziest for a) apparently not doing
research with anyone who loves WW (Wonder Woman) about the re-design,
and b) eliminating Paradise Island, which was always a kind of celestial
C-R (consciousness-raising) group she could return to.”
In my
mind, Paradise Island also made the case for women’s colleges, where
girls can learn and grow without worrying about the male ego and gaze. I
guess the Wonder Woman team of modernizers felt left out of the
sisterhood of Amazons.
In her essay for Women’s
Media Center, Shelby Knox emphasizes the failure of DC Comics to
make the modernized Wonder Woman into a feminist “win,” and questions
whether the new Wonder Woman would attract the same female readership as
the old: “a generation of role-model starved women, finally presented
with a truly powerful heroine, proved themselves a reliable comic book
fan base.” Is DC Comics primarily aiming for a male audience?
As a kid growing up, Wonder Woman was definitely my favorite role model.
As I described in On
The Issues Magazine, she had the strength, power and mobility
that I craved (it wasn’t penis-envy that motivated me as a child; it
was mobility-envy.)
Created by William Moulten Marston
in 1941, Wonder Woman was the “invincible enemy of injustice” and the
only female superhero of the day. I loved how she could reform the bad
guys with her wit, without ever killing. Showing this peaceful presence
was paramount for Marston, who thought women were more highly evolved
than men and, therefore, had to lead the way toward a non-violent world.
But, sadly, Wonder Woman changed after Marston died and she gradually
became more and more of the bullet-breasted sex object and menacing
killer that her current writers make her out to be.
What would have been my take on a modern female superhero, had DC Comics asked me? Extraordinary strength, yes. Supernatural power, yes. But strength and power combined with a calm, authoritative dignity and intelligence to bring peace and security through a gender-just society which values compassion, empathy, generosity, mutual respect, and, even if corny-sounding, “equal opportunity for all.” I’d have given Wonder Woman breast reduction, not enhancement; a sleek protective armor-like outfit, not skinny-dungaree tights. And if she’s going to save the world, she’d better wear comfortable shoes.
View the new Wonder Woman look, and the author’s graphic take on it and Wonder Woman’s abilities.
—Linda Stein is an artist-activist and Art Editor for On the Issues Magazine. Her sculpture sources Wonder Woman, as does her current blog and exhibition catalog.
7 Comments
Wat. :/
Wonder woman is wearing leggings and a jacket. She looks rather tame and very, very 90′s. As for “bordello red” other readers may also recognize this shade by it’s other common name: burgandy.
Sorry, but completely bare arms and shoulders, skintight shortshorts and an even skimpier bustier (her old outfit) is not less sexualized than her new outfit. Her new outfit would not raise a brow on the street :/ It is realistic looking.
I’m not upset that she has a more identifiable and realistic life than the old Wonder Woman.
What does Wonder Woman have to wear to not be sexualized to you? a burqa?
I’d turn her top into thick body armor (covering the boobs) instead of a bustier and give her sleeves, then give her army-style pants tucking into comfortable combat boots. That’s what I’d fight crime in.
Keep the same patterns and colors on it, and keep her backstory completely the same.
“Realistic”?
I thought the whole point of superheroes is not being realistic. Especially at the time Wonder Woman was created, the point was to have a fantasy of people who were above the usual dreck that people were living with and had those super-powers so they could make the world a better place. The new Wonder Woman looks (and sounds) more like one of the female villains that Batman has to contend with than a hero. BTW, our local newspaper had a somewhat different picture; in that one, she looks like she belongs at the mall, not fighting evil-doers.
I find this review quite sexist in itself.
I love comics, and while I’m not too hot on DC in general, I think this IS a definite fem-win.
The loss of Paradise Island is sad in a way, but how relatable is that to most women? I can’t speak for anyone else, but I always identify better with female characters with hardships and struggles. Big ones. Because I’ve had hardships and struggles.
It also opens up possibility for a new depth of character for WW.
Calling her “trashy”? Real nice. It’s not like that word has been used to dehumanize and demean women, right? Sexualized? She’s a woman. She’s sexual. If she looks a little sexy, is that wrong? Should she appear “innocent”, and infantalized? Would that be preferable?
And I’d like to say that the phrase, “…and a crop of disheveled hair that looks as if she’s just been rushed from bed after a night of kinky sex.” was horrendous. It’s probably disheveled because of the, oh, I dunno, CRIME FIGHTING. Unless you believe that women should cave to the patriarch and maintain perfect appearance no matter what. Perhaps she simply likes the messy look. I wear my hear in a similar fashion sometimes because it’s easy. And what’s with the attempted “slut-shaming” with the kinky sex comment? So what if she did just come from a roll in the hay? So what if it was kinky? Is she somehow less equipped to save someone’s skin if she’s not a virgin? If she likes anything other than missionary?
I think if anything, she’s a step forward.
I think that’s just a matter of differing tastes. I don’t realism in comics, I read sci-fi/fantasy to get my fix of not-realistic.
I don’t pay all that much attention to the costumes when I’m reading a comic. If you wanted to claim this outfit was boring, mundane, and unexciting for a super-hero, I’d back you up.
What this outfit isn’t though, is particularly sexualized. :/ The only sexual clothing is the bustier, WHICH IS WHAT SHE WORE BEFORE. A bustier.
Ugh. There is so, so much just downright disgusting sexualization of female characters going on right now (Check Emma Frost in Astonishing X-men: Xenogenesis. Volume 2′s cover? Her with a baby vomiting on her breasts) Attacking one of the few character designs out there that actually isn’t sexy and revealing pisses me off.
Wonder Woman’s new look reminded of Elisa Maza’s, who isn’t a villain but is a plain human hero. I do wish they’d stuck with the primary colors. They pop better, and as you said, this outfit makes her look more like a non-superhero. The outfit doesn’t make the superhero though, at least not for me.
Here’s the thing about her new outfit being “a whole lot of costume to chase villains in”…male superheroes do it wearing even more. How much mobility does a billowing cape realistically offer? You’d be darting down an alleyway and get stuck on a dangling fire escape ladder. Not to mention the endless opportunities for being grabbed and strangled with it. If anything, her old outfit wouldn’t have offered enough mobility, since in the real world she’d have to keep stopping to hitch the top back up.
Honestly, I had trouble taking Wonder Woman seriously in her old costume. If two women, one wearing what basically amounts to a leotard or bathing suit, the other a tough-looking biker chick, both came up and said they regularly kicked the asses of the world’s worst criminals, I know who I’d be more likely to believe without any other information. Her original design looked like an old pin-up model. The new one is, imo, actually less sexualized.
And, on a purely personal pet peeve note: ” I’d have given Wonder Woman breast reduction, not enhancement”, means she’s always been busty, yes? So, maybe phrase things in a way that doesn’t imply big-breasted women are automatically sex objects who need to reduce things so they aren’t catering to the male gaze simply by existing.
I saw the new outfit and I didn’t find it overly sexual at all. I don’t understand what she is supposed to wear – you can’t exactly fight crime properly in big baggy clothing.
Also pretty much every male superhero is a cassanova with the ladies… so I’d be disappointed if a female superhero WASN’T sought after by the men she interacts with.
And let’s face it, if you’re going to fight crime on the scale of a superhero like wonder woman, you’re going to use every advantage and power you have, including your sexuality. It wouldn’t make sense not to.