Issue 19: Superhero Information Initiative
By The Dude

Wonder Woman, Sex and the Trinity

Don’t get too fired up over the title, you perverts. The Dude is just looking for some Google hits. Although The Dude thinks Wonder Woman is the archetype of the superheroine, it is probably for much different reasons than some might expect. Mostly The Dude feels that Wonder Woman is one of the most important people missing from the Superhero Information Initiative thus far. She was the first major female comic heroine, the first female member of most DC teams, the first female to have her own comic book, (in America), the first to have her own TV show, and the only member of DC’s Trinity that the Nerd City has not covered. So she should be the first superheroine we discuss.

The Dude understands how most people equate Princess Diana to mom and apple pie. Wonder Woman is basically that American. She is the girl next door. That is, if you live next to an island of hot Amazonian warriors. That, my Google perverts, gets to the heart of the issue. Wonder Woman is the ultimate male sexual fantasy. She is the girl next door, dressed in a dominatrix outfit, and living on an island of all women.

The Dude thought he might have been way off base when this crazy idea popped into The Dude’s head. Wonder Woman a dominatrix? Then The Dude discovered that William Marston, creator of our favorite heroine, had some series sexual issues. His wife Elizabeth was the ‘40’s era example of what a liberated woman should be. The Marstons went so far as to live in a polygamous/polyamorous relationship with Olive Byrne. Which only lead The Dude to wonder: “wo/man what else is hidden in that closet?”

Well, The Dude discovered that Marston had been a prison psychologist, and had a fascination with bondage and submission elements of rehabilitation. So in a lot of earlier Wonder Woman comics, she strips her captives down to loincloths and ties them up. These captives were often women, and they were being bound for punishment. (Anything starting to sound dominatrix to you?) At which point, the Lasso of Truth would be used to bring these “bad girls” into submission. The Dude can hear the conversations now…

Wonder Woman: Bad girl! You’ve been a very bad girl!
Prisoner: Yes Mistress…Uhmmm, I mean…Princess Diana.

The Dude is further intrigued by the fact that in the mid 1950’s the United States Senate held hearings on juvenile delinquency. What was one of the topics discussed? Wonder Woman comics, and if they promoted lesbianism. The Dude can’t believe he has always just seen the girl next door, taking care of Bruce and Clark like a big sister, and the U.S. Senate actually debated over her promoting lesbianism. The Dude forgets, which flag does her outfit resemble?

Obviously The Dude did not cover bullet-proof wrist bands, invisible jets, being related to Olympian Gods, and shacking up with Birdman (Who?). The Dude will leave that for some other time and place, maybe over coffee on Paradise Island. Then you and The Dude could also watch some captive in loincloths being punished into submission. The Dude felt it was more important to first look at the underlying truth of why Wonder Woman is the archetype of superheroines. Basically she appeals to what every male and female thinks the perfect woman should be, powerful and yet sexual.