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Suffering Sappho! Female Friendships In Superhero Comics, 1940s To 1960s And Today, Hannah R. Costelle Dec 2016

Suffering Sappho! Female Friendships In Superhero Comics, 1940s To 1960s And Today, Hannah R. Costelle

Honors Theses

Comic book superheroines are the goddesses of modern times; they are the ideal beautiful, powerful women of America’s collective imagination whom girls have looked up to and emulated for decades. But these iconic examples of womanhood usually lack one of the key elements of humanity that enrich real women’s lives, an element that has been proven to increase women’s autonomy and confidence: female friendships. Wonder Woman may have led armies of female friends in the 1940s when superheroines first appeared in the comics pages, but by the 1950s and ‘60s, female characters confiding in one another and working together in …


“Forget The Old . . . The New Wonder Woman Is Here”: The New Wonder Woman And The Feminist Movement, 1968-1972, Kristi N. Fleetwood May 2015

“Forget The Old . . . The New Wonder Woman Is Here”: The New Wonder Woman And The Feminist Movement, 1968-1972, Kristi N. Fleetwood

Honors Theses

In 1968, Wonder Woman gives up her powers and embraces her human identity as Diana Prince. Powerless, she learns martial arts and continues to fight. The majority of discussion surrounding the Diana Prince era—Wonder Woman #178-204—argues for the period as embracing anti-feminist sentiment. This analysis of the Diana Prince era argues that the portrayal of Diana Prince without her superhero persona aligns with the ideals of the 1970s feminist movement. By incorporating general themes and ideas of feminism, the comic portrays Diana Prince in a feminist light throughout the comic. Even though her powers are striped, she is able …