ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we will discuss Wonder Woman’s unusual origins as the creative brainchild of William Moulton Marston. Marston believed that humankind would be better off if men submitted to women and allowed them to take control of political, social, and cultural institutions. He lived in a polyamorous relationship with three women, all of whom took responsibility for some aspect of family and professional life on behalf of the family. Being one of the first commercially successfully female superheroes in the midst of a male centric conflict (war), the character of Wonder Woman was loaded with potential meaning from her conception through the free love and second/third wave feminist movements, the socially conservative and religiously dominated cultural landscape of Reaganism and, more recently, as a refutation of the war and destruction America has engaged in post 9/11. We will dissect the changes Wonder Woman went through in the hands of both male and female writers in the 70’s. 80’s and 90’s and analyze the recent post 9/11 reboot and Wonder Woman’s place in the Justice League lineup. The post 9/11 analysis will be anchored in contemporary feminist discourse and make references to the current political climate for women’s rights as well as how the feminist movement has been divided over the reboot movie, with some co-opting wonder Woman as a positive feminist symbol and others contending that she represents what they see as an oppressive white centric feminism which excludes trans women and women of color.
