Natasha Rao (University College London)
"My country is all women. To us, it’s not ‘gay’ marriage, it’s just marriage.”
As a character with anti-traditional origins – having been created in the 1940's by polyamorous psychologist William Moulton Marsden – Wonder Woman has long been embraced as a feminist and LGBT icon. In 2016, fans finally found validation when comic book writer Greg Rucka finally confirmed that the character was canonically bisexual. However, the U.S. film industry continues to show reluctance to embrace Wonder Women's fluid sexuality, most recently in the 2017 and 2020 films starring Gal Gadot, raising questions about continued censorship of LGBT representations in mass media.
This paper discusses historical representations and receptions of Wonder Woman's sexuality from the 1940s to the present day, with a focus on how these have played a part in wider discussions around LGBT rights. In particular, I posit a connection between the character's dual identities and dual sexualities (goddess / queer and human / non-queer), which have both been placed in conflict in visual media throughout the character's life: in Wonder Woman (vol. 1) #179 (Nov. 1969), for example, Wonder Woman renounces her Amazonian identity (and, by association, her LGBT past) in favour of her human identity and her relationship with Steve Trevor – an event that didn't go unnoticed by the LGBT or feminist community (Gloria Steinem successfully lobbied D.C. Comics to restore the character). I also explore the queer subtext behind visual representations of the character, with a particular focus on the character's 'transformation' scenes and the use of rainbow imagery.
This paper also explores the political context behind representations of Wonder Woman and situates them within the wider framework of developing attitudes towards homosexuality in the U.S.. In particular, I discuss the impact of Wertham's 'Seductions of the Innocent' (1954), which led to mass censorship within the comic book industry out of fears that depictions of LGBT superheroes (such as Wonder Woman) would undermine the heteronormative nuclear family structure. I also explore the ways in which the landmark 2015 Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage has created possibilities for writers and artists to explore the character's bisexuality.
Ultimately, this paper seeks to construct a narrative that firmly situates Wonder Woman within LGBT history in the U.S. and looks to a future in which the character is able to embrace her queerness in this reality, not just in the world of Greek mythology.