The Believability of Wonder Woman

In both reading Wonder Woman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told and watching Wonder Woman (1975), Episode 1 I found myself questioning the believability of Wonder Woman, mainly due to the depiction of her clothing and physicality. As discussed in class Wonder Woman is problematic in a number of ways. The emphasis placed on her appearance and stereotypical female behavior is illustrated when she arrives on earth saying, “Now what do I do with my time? Hm-m! Mother told me so much about styles of American women that I’m dying to see them” (20), and her dependency on a man can also be seen in statements referencing Steve Trevor such as, “...He called me an angel--a beautiful angel. That’s the first time a man ever called me--beautiful” (19). Although unprecedented for its time Wonder Woman contains several shortcomings from the perspective of Third-wave feminism. Arguably throughout time one of the comic’s most enduring flaws is the impracticality of Wonder Woman’s costume, an issue difficult to ignore regardless of whether one is critically or recreationally reading/watching the comic.

Wonder Woman is described as maintaining superhuman strength and speed but her costume looks ill-suited for any sort of physical activity. She wears high heeled knee high boots, a short skirt, a bandeau style top, and her hair down, all features that left me scratching my head. In this light, Wonder Woman becomes humorous because her unrealistic costume looks like it would impede her in any sort of heroic act. Particularly from the perspective of a female reader her costume is tiresome, striking resemblance to an all too familiar and simplistic depiction of the female form from the eyes of the male gaze. Perhaps a happy medium can be met between feminine expression and practicality. Regardless, Wonder Woman’s suit could use an upgrade.