WONDER WOMEN
Discussion ONE:
Anti-Super hero comics
Women treated poorly in comic books
For example: killed, raped, dominated, disempowered, good vs. evil, emphasizing bodies, villain characters.
For example: women + the refrigerator series/syndrome (green lantern, fantastic 4 – invisible)
Samples of Wonder Women:
Sexuality of heros…sexualized or sexual freedom/empowerment?
One comic project: A female character – smart girl who can grow her skin to take on different gender, race, and ethnicity. She gains power as she gains perspective.
Another idea: a gender “spray†where one can literally spray on/paint one’s gender.
Question:
1. What if our intentions back fire? Are they then rendered hypocritical? Are they counter productive?Â
2. What is the ultimate solution? Can we be subtle and assertive, non-bipolar (i.e. resist dichotomies, extremes).
3. How do we resist mirroring polar opposites?
4. How are we heard if we are not placating to the cookie cutter shape of conformity?
The group considered their roles in relationships and discussed the social constructing of gender, especially how individuals experience voicelessness + marginalization (what are the factors that contribute to this)? What are the lessons we learn as we “watch†relationships, films, searching for ‘the other†(which seems to be what we are told to do from the media)? How do we question what this pull is? How do we resist this pull towards forgetting what we have in ourselves instead of what we lack that is in the control of others?
The Wonder Woman:
Wonder Women stands alone. Her power is however, somewhat relating to a dominatrix. She lives in a matriarchal society, but yet, is always lonely and always sad. She experiences romance, but is always searching. Her side kick is a Cheetah, and she flies an invisible plane. Many young girls looked up to her, but the image has stayed with them that Wonder Woman stands alone on top of a building. Some of her attributes of strength are confusing. She has a shield, lasso, cuffs (bondage), wore a tiara (princess), and a bikini.
How does this relate or affect the Representation of American Women from International perspectives?
American women are pretty & attractive (or should be). She wears little clothing (a bikini) and tall boots. There is an importance of looking good over saving people or kicking ass. Women are strong, can be powerful, but within limits.
Young girls NEED to have REAL role models. How do we help them when they are saturated with these images?
Discussion of Drag:
Is Wonder Woman a man in drag? What would that seem like, change our perspective (for men or women). The “costume†– of heroism – psychological drag of masculinity. Characters are mimicked, glamorized, fetishizing extremes, mocking, and/or passing.
Passing: both empowering/powerful and humiliating; invisible vs. on the spotlight; the experience of being “found out.â€
Stories encountering teenage boys: do men hold the cards or do we? Why are those who are different treated as objects of hilarity? How do we rectify powerlessness moments? Do we have authority and do we even need it?
BACKLASH:
Feminism has embraced marginalization – what has happened now politically + socially? The sixties we had statistics. And action that began change. Now we have been told to remain incognizant, that the work of the past is completely successful (when it is not), and that our leaderships have dissipated/been vindicated. We are more and more pushed into fixed categories of societal expectation, and like an ooze, subtly covered.
We NEED documentation and history (written by those in the margin). We are at a time of a political war and what can be a progressive movement. What is outside of the circle – is their power in abnormality and what is the space between abnormal and normal? We have been told the fight is over. But it is not. We must teach, we must share, we must created. Women have long since had oral history (very fluid and changing) while it has been favored to have written history (a hierarchy of information and identity expression).
With resisting perfection, idealization, compounding of images, we must continue to learn, reflect, challenge, experience, take risks, and share. We must resist the values of consumption! And instead, embrace our uniqueness and individuality.
