Negotiating the Third Wave of Feminism in Wonder Woman

Created by lawyer and psychologist William Moulton Marston, Wonder Woman first appeared more than 70 years ago, "as lovely as Aphrodite, as wise as Athena, with the speed of Mercury, and the strength of Hercules" (Marston and Peter 1941). While she conforms to traditional articulations of gender in the way she performs an attractive, female, white, heterosexual, middle-to-upper class woman, she also unsettles gendered boundaries through performing a determined, astute, formidable warrior at the same time. This has led to a number of writers exploring whether Wonder Woman can or should be viewed as feminist.