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Wonder woman and second wave feminism
Wonder woman and feminism essay
Feminism analysis on wonder woman
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While browsing Amazon.com, I noticed in the newly released movies section an advertisement for the film Wonder Woman, which came out earlier in the year. The image used for the film features actress Gal Gadot in the title role, wearing the character’s iconic costume and looking ready to go into a battle. Next to the Wonder Woman advertisement, other films such as Guardians of the Galaxy 2, The Mummy, and Spiderman: Homecoming were also being put on display, all of which featured heroic-looking males at the forefront of their imaging. Seeing a powerful woman being the sole character on a film poster made me think about way Wonder Woman connects to the feminist readings and lessons from class. One of the concepts discussed in article by Pamela Aronson is that feminism can be an identity. The character of Wonder Woman has always been held up as a feminist icon for her strength, courage, and virtue. At the same time though, she was created by a man, William Marston, and continually depicted in revealing amounts of clothing. The Wonder Woman depicted in the …show more content…
Alison Crossley discusses how for millennial feminists, “a central feature of many of these participants’ feminism was action or activism” (2017: 2). In the advertisement, Wonder Woman is in the middle of action, deflecting a bullet off of her armored bracelet. The character is the embodiment of the millennial feminist: pushing forward through adversity to make the world a better place. Crossley addresses the stereotype, “that millennials are selfie-obsessed narcissists clueless about the inequalities all around them” (2017: 1), and instead discusses how millennial feminists are passionate, vocal, and fighting injustice. Wonder Woman, in the film, is seeking to end World War I due to the injustices she sees being committed. She does not sit back and ignore the problems around her; she recognizes the world she is in and works to achieve her
In the article “Wonder Woman” Gloria Steinem expresses that the making of female super-heroes empowers females by reducing the fixed theme of a Caucasian male saving an inferior female. She displays this by showing how inferior women were before in male super-hero comic books, compares what it was like personally reading female super-hero comics to male super-hero comics as a child, the fight with other women to have the original Wonder Woman published in Ms. Magazine and how even males were changed by the making of Wonder Woman.
Mainstream movies are about men’s lives, and the few movies about women’s lives, at their core, still also revolve around men (Newsom, 2011). These female leads often have male love interests, looking to get married or get pregnant. Strong independent female leads are still exist for the male view, as they are hypersexualized, or the “fighting fuck toy,” (Newsom, 2011). This depiction has created a culture where women are insecure and waiting for a knight on a horse to come rescue and provide for her as well as the acceptance of women
In L. Frank Baum’s second Oz novel, The Marvelous Land of Oz, he includes a prominent philosophical theme of feminism. During his novel, conflicts arise among powerful male figures, such as the Scarecrow King, and oppressed females, including those in General Jurjur’s Army, that demonstrate the inequality between the two genders. However, Baum’s incorporation of a strong sense of feminism is present to illustrate independent females longing for the establishment of an equal status quo in society. The overall solution to injustice treatment of women is present in Baum’s plot twist that ended with a highly liked, powerful female ruler over the Land of Oz.
The impact of taking away a character’s voice and actions results in dehumanizing that character. Within “The Reeve’s Tale”, the two women in this tale are not equals to the men of the story and are interchangeable with a few bags of corn. This is noted by the constant objectification of women and traditional gender roles that do not allow for a female voice. The dehumanization of women allow the reader to feel little to no sympathy when they are the equivalent to an object. In “The Reeve’s Tale” of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffery Chaucer, the use of fungibility, ownership, and traditional gender roles
For over 60 years, Wonder Woman has filled the pages of her magazine with adventures ranging from battling Nazis, to declawing human-like Cheetahs. Her exploits thrilled and inspired many young girls, including Gloria Steinem. Through all of this, she has had to pilot her invisible jet through territories that her male counterparts have never had to. She is constantly pulled in two directions; her stories must be entertaining and non threatening to the male status quo, while simultaneously furthering her as the original symbol of 'Girl Power.' She is praised for being an icon of strength to women everywhere, but chastised for wearing a skimpy costume and tying men up, as if she were no more than a male fantasy. No comic book character has had to endure as much scrutiny as Wonder Woman. That's because Wonder Woman represents an entire gender, at a time of important social flux. Although she was created by a man to influence a male audience, Wonder Woman has evolved into an important symbol of the feminist movement.
Margaret Mitchell’s novel Gone With the Wind, a classic that gives insight into the Confederate lifestyle before and after the Civil War, is known as one of the greatest American novels ever written. The story centers around a former Southern belle named Scarlett O’Hara who grows up in the heart of Georgia on her plantation named Tara. Scarlett doesn’t care about anything or anyone except for her lover, Ashley Wilkes, and finds herself heartbroken when he marries his plain Jane cousin, Melanie Hamilton. As the Yankees get closer and closer to her beloved home, destroying everything she’s ever known and forcing her to flee to Atlanta, Scarlett finds herself forced to fight for what she loves. Though
Wonder Woman is the most famous heroine and the reason behind this statement is that she is the most displayed character in media compared to other heroines. For this reason, it is easier for girls to imitate Wonder Woman and by doing so they are obtaining some of her qualities from her persona. A study on the brain and children’s drive to imitation, states, “[the] Theory of Mind depends to a considerable degree on an early capacity for imitation Merleau-Ponty (1962: 162) wrote that we are a ‘continuum of interacting embodied subjectivities’, and imitating and being imitated constitute one small aspect of how such interactions help us learn how to become a person within a given culture” (Music 78). Wonder Woman heroine’s qualities that girls learn are the following: helping others, promoting sisterhood, being compassionate, and use violence as the last resource. Also, this heroine encourages girl power, she has said “[that] girls are taught that if they ‘feel [they] can do things, [they] can do them,’ and women are exhorted to ‘get strong and earn your own living’’” (Emad 959). According to the empowerment theory, Wonder Women is encouraging girls to become better beings. Galleotti says, “Empowerment theory […] empowerment was defined as the process of building and instilling hope in order for an individual to improve their situation or
Throughout the 21st century we have been immersed in a world in which is almost wholly dominated by the media. It is appropriate to say that many ideologies have been indeed challenged by the media, including the ideology of feminism, which I aim to focus on in this essay. Firstly, it is necessary to think about what the founding concepts of feminism actually are and how the ideologies of post feminism and antifeminism are using the contemporary media to question feminism. Texts such as Bridget Jones’ Diary and Desperate Housewives are fitting examples of how post feminism has penetrated through the media challenging feminism. Similarly elements of anti-feminism are evident when looking at films such as the new adaptation of Cinderella .
Feminism is a movement that supports women equality within society. In relation to film, feminism is what pushes the equal representation of females in mainstream films. Laura Mulvey is a feminist theorist that is famous for touching on this particular issue of how men and women are represented in movies. Through her studies, she discovered that many films were portraying men and women very differently from reality. She came up with a theory that best described why there is such as huge misrepresentation of the social status quos of male and female characters. She believed that mainstream film is used to maintain the status quo and prevent the realization of gender equality. This is why films are continuously following the old tradition that males are dominant and females are submissive. This is the ideology that is always present when we watch a movie. This is evident in the films from the past but also currently. It is as if the film industry is still catering to the male viewers of each generation in the same way. Laura Mulvey points out that women are constantly being seen as sexual objects, whether it is the outfits they wear or do not wear or the way they behave, or secondary characters with no symbolic cause. She states that, “in traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote it-be-looked-at-ness.”(Mulvey pg. 715). Thus, women are nevertheless displayed as nothing more than passive objects for the viewing pleasure of the audience. Mulvey also points out through her research that in every mainstream movie, there is ...
In just a few decades The Women’s Liberation Movement has changed typical gender roles that once were never challenged or questioned. As women, those of us who identified as feminist have rebelled against the status quo and redefined what it means to be a strong and powerful woman. But at...
You all know of the wild and eccentric Harley Quinn from the Batman franchise. Many of you may know her from the smash movie hit "Suicide Squad." Regardless of how you know her, the fact remains that you must already know that she is one awesome baddie that really knows how to handle her own on the battleground. Harley is often portrayed in popular culture with a massive amount of sex appeal and a whole lot of crazy, and many people see that as a novelty. Not many would look at her and see a feminist icon, but that's because they aren't looking hard enough! I implore any young woman to dig deeper into Harley Quinn history and read more into her, the reason being, is that for young women everywhere she has inspired and changed lives.
Feminist theory was derived from the social movement of feminism where political women fight for the right of females in general and argue in depth about the unequality we face today. In the aspect of cinema, feminists notice the fictitious representations of females and also, machismo. In 1974, a book written by Molly Haskell "From Reverence to Rape: The treatment of Women in Movies" argues about how women almost always play only passive roles while men are always awarded with active, heroic roles. Moreover, how women are portrayed in movies are very important as it plays a big role to the audience on how to look at a woman and how to treat her in real life due to the illusionism that cinema offers. These images of women created in the cinema shapes what an ideal woman is. This can be further explained through an article 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema' written by a feminist named Laura Mulvey in 1975. She uses psychoanalysis theories by Sigmund Freud to analyze 'Scopophilia' which is the desire to see. This explains how the audience is hooked to the screen when a sexy woman is present. In a bigger picture, where Scopophilia derives from, 'Voyeurism' is also known as feeling visual pleasure when looking at another. Narcissism on the other hand means identifying one's self with the role played. It is not hard to notice that in classical cinema, men often play the active role while the women are always the object of desire for the male leads, displayed as a sexual object and frequently the damsels in distress. Therefore, the obvious imbalance of power in classical cinema shows how men are accountable to moving the narratives along. Subconsciously, narcissism occurs in the audience as they ...
There is a fine line between BDSM and Abuse. BDSM is consensual, it requires respect and trust, and is meant to be sexually arousing. While an abuser has no respect for another’s feelings and inflicts pain. Liberal Feminist Tropes Debunked is a blog written by a radical feminist who does not reveal her name. She discusses a variety of topics including gay rights, abortion, and BDSM. She has said that radical feminists believe that BDSM is degrading to women and is a part of the rape and abuse culture. Radical feminists oppose anti-egalitarian human interaction. Fundamentally the difference between abuse and BDSM is that abuse is out of terror, rage, hate, and psychological torment. While BDSM is meant to be for fun, joy, love, and connection.
Feminism is not only a theory but it is also a cultural movement for change and equality. Feminism has been defined as ‘the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of equality of sexes’.1 Feminism offers representation to all kinds of women, highlights the inequality within society regarding women and challenges these inequalities. Feminism has changed along side the changing position of women in today’s modern society and emerging from these changes are new theories such as post feminism and antifeminism. In this essay I will discuss how both antifeminism and post feminism has challenged the founding concepts of feminism in today’s modern society. I will highlight my points through contemporary media examples such as the work of Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga.
Why has this book become so popular in rapid time? Why are women flocking to buy the book and why are they talking about it with their friends? More importantly, why was I a part of the craze? These are all valid questions I would like to find answers to. In my opinion, the book negatively portrays women, and yet women, and some men, are still reading it. It is alarming that so many readers are blinded by the message of the book because they are so wrapped in the content. This is why I find the book worth studying. In order to find answers to my questions, I will look to feminist criticism to better understand my topic.