Capitalism; The Real Popularity Contest

Capitalism is just another way to say manipulation. The reason I state this is due to the overwhelming amount of information that accuses the act of pursuing capitalistic superiority, as manipulative and surprisingly influential. This influence and manipulative acts are what psychologist, William Marston, had spent his life studying, behavioral submission and dominance in the context of sexuality (Pereira, 35). In K. L. Pereira’s article, Female Bonding; The Strange History of Wonder Woman, it is clearly discussed that the reason Marston had created the long-time famed comic book character Wonder Woman was to fulfill “his duty to make people realize that the only way to peace and justice was through the leadership and advancement of women” (35), which others only saw the Wonder Woman character as a way to make profit.

Making profit is the end goal for most businesses these days. As viewed in the PBS’s Frontline television series episode, The Merchants of Cool, it is clear that profit is the main agenda and targeting a specific audience is what is going to generate the desired profits. There are specific processes that businesses embark on that help them attain the end goal, creating a product that is attractive to a specific demographic, the 13-25 year old consumer.

This need for the constant acquisition of new customers has led many theorists and psychologists to formulate theories with hopes of being able to help “delineate the operation of patriarchy, and “show how sexuality and gender identity are acquired at a conscious and unconscious level through language acquisition and family interactions” (Buckley, 251). Cheryl Buckley states is her essay, Made in Patriarch: Toward a Feminist Analysis of Women and Design, in order to understand the context, matriarchal or patriarchal, there must be an analysis of how the different genders interact with design, and examine the way the interaction was recorded (251).

When examining these three very different opinions of capitalism, it became very clear that all three were addressing one very specific entity, sex. What caught my eye the most was the detailed account of William Marston’s sex life and how it directly influenced his formulation of the Wonder Woman character. Considering he was the “top researcher in submission and domination sexuality”, it played a significant role in formulated the many “bondage” frames found in the early editions of the comic (Pereira, 35). Another driving factor for the rise in fame for Wonder Woman was because of the influx in readership of comics and comic books.

During the 1940’s comics “were the fastest growing creative medium” and 90 percent of readers were young males (Pereira, 36). Armed with this information and the fact that Marston “wasn’t ignorant to the fact that bondage was also sexually stimulating” (Pereira, 37), he had figured out that sex will sell a product and sell it well. This concept is further reinforced in the Frontline episode The Merchants of Cool, which indicates that Marston’s concept is still prevalent within our current culture.

One very specific phase from the Frontline episode caught my attention, The Midriff. This area is a particular portion of the body that has seem to be deemed the most ‘G’ rated portions of the body that is closest to the line of becoming sexual. Many of the large “key players in the media industry” have created a specific stereotype that is forced on the public. This stereotype depicts girls as sexual objects that are “seen as prematurely adult…consumed by appearances” (PBS). This sexualizing of girls and females was the exact opposite of what Dr. Fredric Wertham did to Wonder Woman in the 1950’s but indirectly caused the aggressive and methodical marketing schemes of today’s capitalism.

After Marston’s death in 1947, it wasn’t long before the message of empowerment found in the Wonder Woman brand was replaced with a message of submission. Since Wertham was so persistent with his anti-homosexuality, he was able to influence the Comics Code Authority which extinguished the “morbid ideals of female independence and strength or nonheteronormative sexuality” (Pereira, 38). What was left of Wonder Woman was a “caricature, a weak figure with no personality or wit…virginal, domesticated…whose goal of fighting injustice was abandoned for marriage and shopping… The most important thing about this Wonder Woman…was the way she looked” (Pereira, 39).

It is extremely unfortunate that the real character of Wonder Woman has been lost to the public. The idea of having a superhero that is not only female, but is a strong, sexy, intelligent, independent, and determined, is a great role model that is being silently missed. What has this world of media and entertainment in a knot is the act of being a mirror of the culture they are trying to captivate. This mirroring has only created a giant feedback loop that has dumbed down society and squashed unique creativity.

“It’s not only tough being a woman in today’s society,

It’s tough being a human in today’s society.”

nora dragoon williams

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Works Cited

Buckley, Cheryl. "Made in Patriarchy: Toward a Feminist Analysis of Women and Design."Design Discover (1989): 251-262. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. "The Merchant of Cool." PBS: FRONTLINE. WGBH educational foundation, Feb. 2001. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=frol02s483q70&continuous=1>.

Pereira, KL. "Female Bonding: The Strange History of Wonder Woman." Bitch (2006): 35-39. Web. 18 Apr. 2013.