Wonder Woman

"Wonder Woman is physically very powerful, tortures men, has her own female following, is the cruel 'phallic' woman. While she is a freightening figure for boys, she is an undesirable ideal for girls, being the exact opposite of what girls are supposed to be."

"Fans know that she carries a golden lasso that compels anyone caught in it to tell the truth. But fewer realize that her creator, psychologist William Moulton Marston, also helped develop the first real-life lie detector. Marston, who earned his PhD from Harvard in 1921, and his wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston (who earned a master's degree in psychology at Radcliffe), conducted the first research that linked systolic blood pressure to emotion—a key part of the modern polygraph."

"Marston set the foundation for what to expect from Wonder Woman comics in the early 1940s. Stories that take place after Marston' death carry the same elements, although not as overtly. Wonder Woman relies on inducement to lead others and fought against the practice of domination, sometimes in the form of corrupt regimes or abusive men. Compliance, including fear, is a cause of concern for Wonder Woman as she protects others. She approaches her enemies with inducement rather than domination, extending her hand when she can. Diana submits when appropriate, especially to her gods and her mother. Without Marston's theory of emotions laying the foundation for his superheroine, Wonder Woman would not embody the spirit of loving submission readers have seen over the decades."

"My favorite thing was the bracelets. I mean, the bracelets are cool, but how do I make that work? In the original comic book, they needed them because they fire guns on Paradise Island. I don't think I'm going there."

"There was a lot in these stories to suggest that Wonder Woman was not so much a pitch to ambitious girls as an object for male sexual fantasies and fetishes."

""Wonder Woman" was conceived by Dr. Marston to set up a standard among children and young people of strong, free, courageous womanhood; to combat the idea that women are inferior to men, and to inspire girls to self-confidence and achievement in athletics, occupations and professions monopolized by men....Since millions of young people are reading "wonder Woman" today, it is quite possible that their acceptance of this womanly ideal may alter our whole standards, as to what is admirable in women. Children who admire the heroic type of woman will no longer have any use for the timid, physically weak, dependent and emotionally possessive woman of the old school, and will model themselves on the self-reliant, strong comradely woman who can be honest and fearless because she is not dependent upon a man for her living."