Wonder Woman as an Icon
As a person who has never really read comics, learning about the history of Wonder Woman was especially intriguing. What I found most interesting about the lecture was the forming of the appearance of Wonder Woman, from her hair color to what she wore. One of the questions asked during the Q&A was why Harry G Peter decided to make Wonder Woman brunette instead of blonde, because blonde women are often preferred by men. I think it was important that the original creators of Wonder Woman thought carefully not to over-sexualize her character so she can be recognized as an icon for women’s rights rather than as a sex symbol.
This idea of portraying women as powerful reminded me of Melville’s poem “America” in Battle Pieces. Melville personifies America as a strong woman who is not brought down by the battles she is put through during the Civil War, but she is resilient and strong like Wonder Woman.
I too do not have a background at all in comics and didn’t think I was going to enjoy the Wonder Woman talk. But I agree, finding out the history behind her character was so interesting. It was crazy the amount of influence that went into Wonder Woman, between the amount of different people she is modeled after and the amount of parallels to the women’s rights movement that Mrs. Lepor pointed out. I always just thought Wonder Woman was added to comics as a sex symbol, but it was really cool to find out that I was wrong.
Hi Haley, I don’t read comics much either, but what I found most interesting about the Wonder Woman talk was that Wonder Woman’s creation so closely tied to the women’s movement. I first came across Wonder Woman when I watched the Justice League cartoons on TV as a little kid; I didn’t think much of her character at the time. But today I find it ironic how Harry G Peter wanted Wonder Woman to not be hyper sexualized, yet, the attire she dons is excessively revealing. I think that at the end of the day, despite giving her brunette hair, Peter nonetheless realized that his comics catered to a predominantly male audience so to keep their attention, Wonder Woman needed to be presented in a fashion that men find appealing. I think Wonder Woman’s skimpy tube top makes her seem more like a sex symbol than the color of her hair.