“Wonder Women:
The Untold Story of Superheroines” tells the tale of Wonder Woman from her
inception to present day, showing the changes in her character based on
significant events in American history. Included in her story is the idea that
there aren’t very many heroines or strong female role models in the media.
Wonder Woman gave and gives hope to girls. She is also comparable to a
folkloric icon.
In Zipes’ Breaking
the Magic Spell: Radical Theories of Folk & Fairy Tales, he defines folk tales as oral, but they all become fairy tales
because of the change of medium to a literary text. Wonder Woman is no
exception. In the film they describe how she originates from the Greek myths of
the Amazonian women.
With her evolution through
American history, though, “all forms of talk and storytelling are subject to
the exchange conditions of the market-place.”(p. 6) For example, when women
were encouraged to leave their homes to enter the workplace during World War
II, Wonder Woman represented that women could go out and do some good outside
of the home. But when men returned home from war, Wonder Woman was used by the
market-place to represent women leaving the man’s world. She left the superhero
world and opened up a clothing store while women were encourage by the media to
leave the factories and return to taking care of their children. Where men have
the means to production, they decided “women should be downplayed” and this
occurred across the board with Cat woman, Lois Lane, Bat woman, etc.
Zipes states that “Thus, the
emancipatory potential aesthetically conceived in the folk and fairy tales is
rarely translated into social action, nor can the tales nurture sufficient
discontent to make their effects reasonably certain.” Here, I disagree with his
statement because although Wonder woman was commercialized and was used as a
tool of the patriarchal media. she still stands as a symbol of hope. And the
change in her character did prompt action. Fans and feminists were able to
convince DC comic creators to change her back to the strong character she was.
Her superhero powers were restored. She went back out and did good.
Profit does,
however, “mar [her] stories and [her] cultural heritage.” Because of her
commercialization through the culture industry she is objectified. As one of
the men in the film says, “She helps teenage boys through puberty.” But she
does more good than harm despite the way she is portrayed. She fulfills one of
the folk takes original purposes “to express the manner in which they perceived
and perceive nature and their social order and their wish to satisfy their
needs and wants.” Women need to be more respected than they are and with so few
women role models in the media, Wonder Woman provides that. “As August Nitschke
has demonstrated, the tales are reflections of the social order in a given
historical epoch, and, as such, they symbolize the aspirations, needs, dreams,
and wishes of common people in a tribe,
community, or society, either affirming the dominant social values and norms or
revealing the necessity to change them.” Wonder Woman reveals the necessity to
change them. And she is a symbol to those who are changing them. One example
includes the “Wonder Woman day” held to benefit domestic violence shelters. The
other is the little girl featured in the documentary that finds comfort and
inspiration in Wonder Woman.
"Not only did the tales serve to unite the people of a community and help bridge a gap in their understanding of social problems in a language and narrative mode familiar to the listeners' experiences, but their aura illuminated the possible fulfillment of utopian longings and wishes which did not preclude social integration."(p. 6) In spite of the commercial quality of wonder woman, it does unite females and illuminate a possible fulfillment that women can be powerful even though other media tells us otherwise.
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