The Power of a Woman

After reading a few Wonder Woman comics and watching an episode of the 1975 Wonder Woman TV series, I discovered that there were things that happened to Wonder Woman only because she is a woman. In “Wonder Woman Comes to America,” people on the street don’t take her seriously. They make remarks about her minimal clothing and even the fact that she is a woman: “What th..? It’s a dame!” (20). In the movie, the police officers and street bystanders ogle at Wonder Woman walking down the street. Whether because of her outfit or because she is a woman, I assume that a male superhero wouldn’t have elicited the same kinds of looks on the street. On page 43 of “Dr. Poison,” Wonder Woman reveals Dr. Poison’s secret by saying “I knew you were a woman—your delicate hands betrayed you!” This might suggest that a man wouldn’t have noticed someone’s hands and recognized whether it was a man or a woman. Wonder Woman knew this secret because she and the doctor shared seemingly noticeable physical similarities, their hands. Also in this comic, Wonder Woman convinces one hundred girls to band together to trick one hundred male spies. She teaches the girls how to use handcuffs while men are distracted. Again, the women are not seen as a threat as they are let into the house in the first place, but it’s even more surprising is that they get away with fooling all the army members just because the men were looking for some fun.

In class, Professor Serrano said that Captain America is the male version of Wonder Woman. I wonder what would have happened if Captain America were put in these situations instead, and how he would have defeated the bad guys. As a male, he wouldn’t have been able to use the methods Wonder Woman used to get the bad guys. Of course, Cap would always have a way, but it would be interesting to see what kinds of methods he, or even any other superhero, would use compared to those of Wonder Woman.