the secret history of wonder woman by jill lepore

In a certain way it is very funny - like that they're putting one over on everybody.

On the secret life of Marston and his mistress She has a magic lasso - a golden lasso - anyone she ropes has to tell the truth. This is in 1941.Īnd comes to call herself 'Wonder Woman' because she has superhuman powers that only Amazons have. military intelligence officer, back to the United States. So she stitches for Wonder Woman this star-spangled costume, and Wonder Woman flies in her invisible jet with her man-captive Steve Trevor, who is a U.S. And a plane crashes on their island carrying a man - and Wonder Woman's mother decides he needs to be brought back to where he came from because they can have no men on Paradise Island. And they lived on Paradise Island and had eternal life. Wonder Woman is an Amazon from an island of women who left ancient Greece to escape the enslavement of men. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. 'Is this a feminist project that's supposed to help girls decide to go to college and have careers, or is this just like soft porn?' 'Ĭlose overlay Buy Featured Book Title The Secret History of Wonder Woman Author Jill Lepore 'There are a lot of people who get very upset at what Marston was doing. 'There's no simple story here,' Lepore says. Her costume was inspired by Marston's interest in erotic pin-up art. She was a controversial figure in the 1940s because of her overt sexuality and her link to bondage. He was interested in the women's suffrage movement and in Margaret Sanger, the birth control and women's rights activist - who was also his mistress's aunt.Ī feminist icon, Wonder Woman was an Amazon who forced people to tell the truth with her magic lasso.

Marston, who was a famous psychologist, made up Wonder Woman in 1941. 'Is this a feminist project that's supposed to help girls decide to go to college and have careers, or is this just like soft porn?'Īuthor Jill Lepore on early reactions to Wonder Woman There are a lot of people who get very upset at what Marston was doing.

The secret history of wonder woman by jill lepore