athelind: superdames: I’m so done with the modern image of blood-spattered, sword-wielding wa

athelind:

superdames:

I’m so done with the modern image of blood-spattered, sword-wielding warrior Wonder Woman. I miss the days when the Amazons were considered superior warriors because they actually lived in a utopian society that was more enlightened in every way—including science and medicine, and writers did not feel that they had to prove how badass the Amazons were by making them fight bloody wars all the time.

—Sensation Comics #28 (1944) by William Moulton Marston & H.G. Peter

Absolutely.

The first couple of times they had her with sword or battle-axe, it was a moderately effective visual shorthand for “this is an extreme situation, and to show how high the stakes are, we’re going to have Diana armor up and carry deadly weapons”, and allowed them to play around with costume design (which always makes artists happy).

That was one thing, and it had dramatic impact – particularly since it was a profound divergence from her usual approach. As TV Tropes says, OOC is Serious Business.

When it became not just her routine but her default – when it became partof her character – it not only trivialized the significance of turning to potentially-lethal weapons, it cheapened the very concept of Wonder Woman.

Please note: the Amazons as depicted in the Golden and Silver Ages were always determined to find a course other than war, to either reach out to their adversaries to foster peace and understanding, or to remove themselves from the conflict and stand their ground. Just sending someone to Man’s World to aid in the war at all was “stepping OOC”, an extreme action for an extreme situation, and that origin story did not skimp on portraying it as a matter of debate among the Amazons.

I can think of no better summary of how thoroughly Wonder Woman has been co-opted by the aggressive values she was created to challenge than to note how regularly she is depicted with sword in hand. Marston would have identified the subtext immediately: to appeal to a reader base terrified of “emasculation”, they’ve given her a symbolic phallus.

Reblogging from 2014 to make sure it’s on THIS blog, because it seems to have mysteriously vanished from my archives unless I use a direct link.