The strength of Hercules, the wisdom of Athena, the speed of Mercury... the feminism of Diana

When given the task to choose a topic for my Women's Studies praxis project, at first I drew a blank. Then one day I sat in the library and thought. I wasn't sure where to start or where to take it. My first thought was the great suffragette, Alice Paul, but the thought didn't grab me, despite my admiration and respect for her. Then inspiration hit in the form of two words:

Wonder Woman.

From there the whole project seemingly fell into my lap. She's the perfect topic given her creator's feminist theories, all the critiques and misconceptions about her, and the powerful and influential figure/icon that she is in comic book and mainstream culture. With this blog, I hope to explore some of the many facets of Princess Diana, her history and how they can fit with a feminist/gender studies framework.

But I might be getting a bit ahead of myself. To really understand Wonder Woman you must first understand her creator, William Moulton Marston. With that in mind, in my next entry, the topic I will be covering will be Marston and his theories.

Works Cited

This entry will serve as the masterlist of every source I use in the course of this blog. I'm expecting some sources will be used in multiple entries, but most will be catagorized by the entry they are unique to.

Special thanks go to the wonderful people over at Comicunity, without their generousity I wouldn't have the actual Wonder Woman comics in my possession.

The Man Behind the Amazon
- Crawford, Phillip Charles. “The Legacy of Wonder Woman.” School Library Journal 53.3 (2007): pp30-31. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 May 2011.
- Colgan, Richard T. “Tickle Their Imagination.” Peabody Journal of Education 43.3 (1965): pp138-144. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 May 2011.
- Edgar, Joanna. “Wonder Woman Revisited.” Ms. July 1972: pp52-55. Print.
- Gillespie, Nick. "William Marston's Secret Identity." Reason 33.1 (2001): pp52-53. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 May 2011.
- Moore, Mark Harrison. The Polygraph and Lie Detection. Committee to Review the Scientific Evidence on the Polygraph (National Research Council (U.S.)), 2003. Wed. 3 May 2011. Here.


The Beginnings of the Myth
- Moulton, Charles, and William Moulton Marston. Wonder Woman. Vol. 1. New York, NY: Wonder Woman Publishing Company/DC Comics, 1942. Print.
- Potter, Greg, and George Perez. Wonder Woman. Illus. John Constanza. Ed. Karen Berger. Vol. 1. N.p.: DC Comics, 1987. Print.
- Waid, Mark. "The Origin of Wonder Woman." Comic strip. DC Universe. Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, n.d. Web. 10 May 2011. Here.

Wonder Woman's Cultural Impact
- “Hot and Happening Lynda Carter.” Wonder Woman for DC: Unofficial Fansite. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2011. Here.
- Snarker, Dorothy. “Wonder Woman: Feminist icon, or just a painted lady?” AfterEllen.com. Logo Online, 18 Jan. 2008. Web. 10 May 2011. Here.
- Thompson, Margo Hobbs. “Body-swapping, Empowerment, and Empathy: Linda Stein’s Recent Sculpture - 2009.” Linda Stein. Caligraphy Studios, Inc., n.d. Web. 9 May 2011. Here.
- “William Moulton Marston.” Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2011. Here.
- “Wonder Woman in Cartoons.” Wonder Woman for DC: Unofficial Fansite. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2011. Here.


Diana as a Feminist Hero
- “Controversy on Costume.” Wonder Woman for DC: Unofficial Fansite. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2011. Here.
- Crawford, Phillip Charles. “The Legacy of Wonder Woman.” School Library Journal 53.3 (2007): pp30-31. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 May 2011.
- Edgar, Joanna. “Wonder Woman Revisited.” Ms. July 1972: pp52-55. Print.
- Knox, Shelby. "Wonder Woman Makeover: Death of Feminist Icon?" AlterNet. N.p., 1 July 2010. Web. 9 May 2011. Here.
- Plubell, Philip. “’Joanne Edgar in ‘Wonder Woman Revisited’ (July, 1972) clearly believes...’” Letter. Ms Sept. 1972: pp5-6. Print.