Comparing Secret History Of Wonder Woman And Nama's Super Black

In both Jill Lepore’s The Secret History Of Wonder Woman, and Adilfu Nama’s Super Black the authors delve into the role superheroes have played in conveying empowering messages and images regarding women and African Americans in American society. Lepore focuses solely on arguably the most iconic female superhero of all time in Wonder Woman, while conversely Nama focuses on a number of different black superheroes, such as Black Panther, John Stewart as Green Lantern, Luke Cage, and Black Lightening to name a few. Although their approaches differ, both Lepore and Nama effectively convey the idea that these superhero icons were and effective means of displaying empowering images and messages regarding women’s and African American’s role in American

society.
In Lepore’s The Secret History Of Wonder Woman, Lepore effectively displays how Wonder Woman was (and still is) a powerful, meaningful, and empowering image for Women across America. Lepore provides us with the secret origin of the creation of Wonder Woman. This “secret history” as Lepore calls it, is crucial in understanding the importance that Wonder Woman has had on woman’s role in society. Lepore provides an in depth look at the life of William Marston, the creator of Wonder Woman. Through this in depth look, we see how his life experiences and attitude regarding the role of women in American society shaped an impacted the character of Wonder Woman. For example, in 1937, Marston held a press conference in which he said, “women would one day rule the world” (Lepore 169). This view was highly unconventional for the time, as the role of woman in American society at that time was predominately restricted to that of a housewife. This view was extremely progressive, and as we see in the Wonder Woman comic, specifically in her homeland of Paradise Island, this idea of woman ruling the world is conveyed, in that the Amazon is an island run by women, uninhabited by men. In that press conference, Marston also conveys the message that “Women have twice the emotional development, the ability for love, than man has. And as they develop as much ability for worldly success as they already have ability for love, they will clearly come to rule business and the Nation and the World” (Lepore 170). This view of women’s superiority to men can be seen in Wonder Woman comics as, Wonder Woman displays not only superior strength to men, but also a higher level of intellectual ability, such her being able to detect when someone is lying, simply by striking them with her lasso. This portrayal of women as the dominant rather than the suppressed was unique and unconventional. It gave woman hope for a brighter more equal future.
During Marston’s time as Wonder Women’s writer, all of her villains are opposed to women’s rights.

Lepore says, “But what the king of the Mole Men and all villains in Wonder Woman share is their opposition to women’s equality. Against each of them, Wonder Woman fights for a woman’s right to work, run for political office, and to lead. When Wonder Woman discovers the lost world of the Incas, she tells the chief’s daughter that she should gain the throne: “It’s time those lost Incas were ruled by a woman!”” (Lepore 217). Here we see that each time Wonder Woman commences in battle with one of her villains, Wonder Woman is not only fighting for truth and justice, but she is also fighting for the equality of woman in all aspects of life. She stands for not only the well being of the American citizen, but more importantly the equality for women everywhere. The views held by Marston on the role of women in American society are clearly displayed throughout Wonder Woman comics during his time as the lead

writer.
Wonder Woman’s aspirations to be more than what the typical women during the 1940’s encompassed was also extremely progressive, and something all women could look up to. For example, upon taking the identity of Diana Prince, Wonder Woman complains about being restricted to being nurse and eventually advances in the work force, becoming a secretary at the U.S military intelligence. Lepore says, “Wonder Woman complains about being a nurse (“In Amazonia, I’m a doctor.”) Then Diana Prince leaves off nursing and becomes a secretary at U.S. military intelligence” (Lepore 201).
Unlike the problems other heroes faced, an abundance of the problems Wonder Woman encounter were political and social rather than fantastical and mystical. Lepore says, “Marston’s Wonder Woman was a Progressive Era feminist, charged with fighting evil, intolerance, destruction, injustice suffering, and even sorrow, on behalf of democracy, freedom, justice, and equal rights for women (Lepore 211). Marston often had Wonder Woman at the head of political issues. For example in a number of issues she organized boycotts, strikes, and political rallies. During this time, women were not typically the leaders of such things. Having Wonder Woman at the helm of these issues was extremely progressive and contributed to making Wonder Woman a viable figure for woman across America to look up to.
Including the “Wonder Women of History” in each issue of Wonder Woman also added to the importance that Wonder Women as an icon has had. With the “Wonder Women of History” section, readers were introduced to impactful females in the real world, which they otherwise may not have known about. This newfound exposure for real life feminist icons would not have been possible if it weren’t for Wonder Woman.
Similarly to Wonder Woman’s impact on the empowerment of women in American society, black superheroes have also played a role in the empowerment of African-Americans in American society, as we see In Nama’s Super Black.

The first introduction of black superheroes such as Black Panther, Falcon, and to a lesser extent Black Lighting gave African-Americans significant fictional figures to look up to. Up until the introduction of Black Panther in 1966, the existence of black fictional characters that were meant to be looked up to, were almost non-existent. The typical fictional character that children were supposed to look up to was white. Nama talks about the famous doll study that exemplified this fact. He says, “Arguably, Kenneth Clark’s groundbreaking yet flawed doll experiment from the 1950s is a theoretical cornerstone for the racial anxiety associated with an absence of black superheroes and its impact on both black and white children. Clark’s work revealed that when given a choice black children overwhelmingly preferred a white doll to black doll and often associated negative qualities with the latter,” (Nama 9). At the time of this study, there was a clear lack of black fictional characters for African-Americans to look up to. Since then, an abundance of black characters have been introduced. Although some of these characters may have embodied black stereotypes at first, such as Luke Cage, Black Lighting, or John Stewart, their presence in a popular form such as comics

was crucial in contributing to the empowerment of African Americans in American society. As Nama notes later on, these characters have evolved past their original racial stereotypes, which has only added even more to the empowerment of African Americans. For example, Nama talks about John Stewart’s evolution as the Green Lantern as displayed in the Justice League television series. In the TV series, Stewart plays not only a significant role, but he is one of the only characters on the show to receive significant time in regards to his origin. Nama says, “But the John Stewart character of the comics and animation series has become one of the most traditional and successful symbols of racial diversity, and can be considered a mainstream superhero. A testament to Stewart’s foothold in the mainstream is the fact that several different versions of his toy action figure were made, a difficult feat for any black superhero” (Nama 34). The growth of black superheroes has continued to empower African Americans today. For example, Cyborg played a rather significant role in bringing the Justice League together in DC’s New 52 Universe.
The reason why Wonder Woman and black heroes were (and still are) an effective means in conveying messages of empowerment and equality for woman and African Americans in American society is because of the popularity and stability of the superhero genre. Superheroes have been around for over 75 years, and regardless of the success of comic book sales, superheroes will, and always will be culturally relevant in the eyes of the general public. There is always going to be some form of media that pushes superheroes to the forefront of American culture. Whether that be a television program, movie, or comic, the superhero will always be culturally relevant, and that relevance is what makes these characters so powerful in the eyes of the consumer. Our society is so ingrained with the idea of the superhero, that these characters have a large impact on society as a whole. Regardless of the fantastical elements that each hero possesses, people everywhere look up to these heroes and try to replicate what these heroes embody. By making these cultural staples as figure heads of both women’s and African American’s equality, the message of equality and empowerment is inherently strengthen in the eyes of the general public. It also gives members of these communities (Women and African Americans) icons to look up to.
Jill Lepore’s The Secret History Of Wonder Woman, and Adilfu Nama’s Super Black both convey the message that superheroes are an effective means in communicating empowering images and messages regarding the role of women and African Americans in American society. Wonder Woman, and the vastly increasing number of black superheroes will continue to effectively stand for equality for all members of society.