Marston and the feminine domain

        As Jill Lepore explains in The Secret history of Wonder Woman, William Marston's attempt to create a positive and empowering role model for females in America is well-intentioned, but largely problematic. In the early Wonder Woman comics, Wonder Woman embodies a powerful female figure, but is limited by the stereotypically feminine domain within which she is presented. First in foremost, the Amazons, Wonder Woman, and Wonder Woman's expeditionary force, are objectified in ways previously depicted male comic figures are not. Wonder Woman is characterized by her beauty and when she first arrives in America, is described as a "scantily clad" figure whom other women should wish to look like. Likewise, her expeditionary force is comprised of "a hundred pretty girls" (pg. 40). The necessitation of beauty implies a connection between beauty and power and beauty and strength. The emphasis on beauty furthermore objectifies the female figures, making them the object of the male gaze (including both the male characters and the male audience).
        In addition to this emphasis on aesthetic value, Marston's portrayal of Wonder Woman is that of the previously conceived female stereotype. She is first a nurse, and then a secretary, both jobs traditionally considered suitable for women. Furthermore, she is obsessed with clothes, glamour, and sports, swooning at any opportunity to work with Steve Trevor. Likewise, the college girls, of whom her expeditionary force is composed, are scantily clad, wearing heels, bearing skin, and accused of engaging in sorority hazing rituals. As Etta Candy explains, "if you're out to catch men, every girl in college will be glad to help" (pg. 40). This obsession with men and with romance undermines the women's strength, whose physical power is oftentimes portrayed as a means by which they may approach or assist male figures.
        Lastly, as we discussed in class, one of Wonder Woman's most prominent tactics involves her subjecting herself to the position of the victim. In order to accomplish that which she sets out to do, Wonder Woman first presents herself as a helpless female or damsel in distress. She pretends to be frightened or allows herself to be tied to a bed, so as to maintain the normalcy of female submission, drawing attention away from her strength. As a result of these three (among other) limiting factors, Marston's portrayal of Wonder Woman empowers women within the realm they already occupy. Wonder Woman thus undermines some aspects of female submission, but abides by and therefore upholds the limitations of the traditional female domain.