It's strange to think that a book written about a man who created a legendary
feminist icon, spoke progressively on women's issues, and made the statement that
women would one day rule the world, could legitimately pose the question of whether or
not this man was truly a feminist. And yet, after reading The Secret History of Wonder
Woman, I cannot help but continue to question if this sentiment is true or not. Again and
again, I am led to believe that he simply is not.
William Moulton Marston is, no doubt, a colorful character. His early interest in
suicide, to his creation of the lie detector, to his unorthodox family arrangement all paint
the picture of a man desperate for recognition, to discover and bring light to something
important. As for his feminism, it's tremendously important to point out that this was a
man surrounded by strong women, who felt the first wave of feminism sweep over the
country, seeing it play out in real time. Marston was an extremely progressive man, a
rarity of the time period, who did seek to undo the inequity that had developed over time
between the sexes. However, he was not truly a feminist. But, what exactly is a feminist?
How one defines this term is the basis of answering the question at hand. A feminist,
defined from my own opinion, gathering of knowledge and research, and personal
experience, is someone who believes men and women should have the same rights,
economically, politically and socially. Even further, it is someone who does not define
others by their gender. For example, anyone claiming to be a feminist would not assume
a woman to like cleaning and housework simply because she is a woman, or a man to
enjoy brutality and violence simply because he is a man. One should take into account
that this definition of feminism is a modern view of the issue. Surely, Marston would
have defined the term differently, as would most people from that time period.
Nonetheless, Marston displays multiple actions and words that contradict feminism at its
foundation.
The issue of Marston's shaky terms on feminism begins with Marston's last and
most successful endeavor, the creation of Wonder Woman. It is at this point in the story
that I feel Marston's credibility as a feminist begins to become blurry. On the surface, it
would appear that Marston's creation of Wonder Woman fulfills his creditability as a
feminist. After all, Wonder Woman's story, from her origins on an All-female Island of
paradise to her fight against injustice in America, is one that stands for women and their
equality. And many of Marston's themes throughout the comic allude to greater meanings
in gender equity; equality in the workplace and women rebelling against the norm society
had shackled them to during the time period. However, Wonder Woman's image is
grounded in what I believe to be overt sexuality. Her clothing, her dress, her body shape
and her "pin-up girl" like look, all highlight her sexuality, specifically in terms of
appealing to a male audience. Marston was quite adamant about Wonder Woman being
good-looking, being the kind of woman that men were attracted to. In The Secret History
of Wonder Woman, Marston says "The obvious remedy is to create a feminine character
with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman."
(187) Wonder Woman became the "perfect woman" in terms of her having all the "good
characteristics" of the male gender and all the "good characteristics" of the female
gender. This does not uphold the definition of feminism. Secondly, Marston was slightly
obsessed with bondage, and the use of bondage in the Wonder Woman comics. Not only
is Wonder Woman finding herself tied up in every issue, but also most of the women
featured in the comics, such as the girls of Paradise Island and Holliday College, find
themselves chained and shackled as well. On one hand, the bondage is founded in some
historical feminist ground. Margaret Sanger and her sister, as well as others, repeatedly
chained themselves to fences in protest of women's suffrage and right to birth control.
Nevertheless, in creating Wonder Woman, Marston was extremely specific in his details
on scenes of bondage and wanted them drawn and portrayed in very precise, almost
explicit ways. As Jill Lepore puts it, "It's feminism as fetish." (236) Not only does
Marston display bondage excessively for purposes that don't seem to follow a feminist
approach, he also held beliefs about women's submission. "The secret of woman's allure
is that women enjoy submission - being bound." (237) This statement directly contradicts
the idea that no one should be defined by his or her gender. Marston is simply stating that
all women enjoy submission, even suggesting that it's apart of what makes women
tempting.
It's for these reasons I come to the conclusion that William Moulton Marston is
not truly a feminist, at least by a modern definition of the word. He used his physiological
background to justify many of these sexist approaches taken in creating Wonder Woman
and her image. His degree becomes a weapon with which he can rationalize very
simplified gender based thinking that was in truth harmful to women, the same women he
claimed to be fighting with the character of Wonder Woman.
Leopre, Jill. The Secret History Of Wonder Woman. New York. Knopf, 2014. Print.
Feminist’s Don't Know Love
Someone once told me "feminists don't believe in marriage."
I wondered how many people thought I dreamt of the demise of men, instead of a white
dress and something blue.
I wonder when equality and love became mutually exclusive.
I guess it lies in the history,
The women who came before,
The women who were told to make a choice:
Submit to him or live a rebel.
I wonder when equality and love became mutually exclusive.
I guess,
Unlike those who can't grasp the foundation,
People realize somewhere along the line that
Women are human.
"Radical Feminists" and "Man-hating-Feminazis" are human.
They fall in love and
Dream of forever.
I wonder why equality and love still live separately in the minds of those who claim to
know it best.