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Wonder Woman and Body Issues

Wonder Woman has had one thing that has stayed the same throughout her entire career. Regardless of who was drawing the comic, Wonder Woman was always beautiful, at least in the eyes of her creators and the majority of her fan base. She’s always been shapely overall and top-heavy enough to fill her costume. Furthermore, those costumes have always been at least somewhat tight and/or revealing.

Is such a character really a great image for women to latch on to? This and other concerns about Wonder Woman, such as her weakness to being shackled by men, or her early departure from home for the love of a man, may have made her a problematic role model for some. Does her beauty make her better or worse as a role model? How is Wonder Woman different from, say, Xena/Lucy Lawless?


Comments

Anonymous said…
Does her beauty make her better or worse as a role model? How is Wonder Woman different from, say, Xena/Lucy Lawless?

That Wonder Woman/Diana Prince is not a feminist icon to look to in my eyes, being that she has A) She literally has virtually no flaws, a perfect being, which makes her awfully dull and B) Her characterization of being the most beautiful woman being a necessity is very much bothersome to me. She was crafted by the ancient Greek Gods, given the best attributes (Aphrodite gave her her beauty). What is the point, than? No one is perfect.

I like Xena/Lucy Lawless a whole lot better than Wonder Woman.
April 21, 2008 at 11:10 PM
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