Wonder Woman's origin was tackled in the book, entitled "The Secret History of Wonder Woman," released this week in paperback, by historian Jill Lepore.
NPR detailed an archived broadcast soundbite of the conversation that transpired between "Fresh Air" host Terry Gross and author Jill Lepore last year. Their discussion broached on the subject of Wonder Woman's secret past and her evolution.
A round up on why Lepore was enticed into writing the best-selling book was revealed. The American history professor of Harvard and one of New Yorker's staff writers stumbled upon the connection of William Moulton Marston, creator of Wonder Woman, and Margaret Sanger, women's rights and birth control activist, while investigating two unrelated topics. One involved the legal story of Marston's lie detector invention before he founded Wonder Woman. The second was a history of Planned Parenthood and its maker, Margaret Sanger.
Marston, led a covert life with his wife, Sadie Elizabeth Holloway, and his mistress, Olive Byrne, who was Sanger's niece. He fathered four children to the two women, and they had a complicated setup because they lived altogether in one house, a menage a trois. Another woman, Marjorie Wilkes Huntley joined them later on.
His vision for Wonder Woman reflected his interest in the women's suffrage movement and in Margaret Sanger, the birth control and women's rights activist who also happened to be his mistress's aunt.
His interest in the movement for women's suffrage and in Margaret Sanger was reflected in his vision for his character. One of Wonder Woman's defining component: if a man wraps her in chains, all her Amazonian strength is lost. Thus, in almost every installment of the early comics, which were written by Marston, she's always roped up or chained up. She then has to break free from her bonds, and that's in order to manifest her liberation from men. Those chains play an extensive part of the suffrage and feminist struggles that Marston was exposed to in the 1910s.
Meanwhile, have you ever wondered how Wonder Woman's costume was developed?
Lepore revealed that Marston wanted a female superhero who could have powers that would center on love, beauty and truth. These would make the comic books reach out to women audience, who would be critical because she could show them that they're capable of doing other things.
Marston suggested that Wonder Woman be visually made to look like a Varga girl, who was a very provocative pin-up girl. The Varga girls were featured in the 1940s in the centerfold of Esquire. These girls exude sensuality and have the kind of oddity that Wonder Woman exudes.
Wonder Woman made her first appearance in comics in 1941, three years after Superman did and two years after Batman did. All three characters will share screen-time in the upcoming DC Comics movie "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice."
Talking about the upcoming movie "Batman V Superman," Gal Gadot is portraying the Amazon woman. The actress revealed in an interview that what assisted her to prepare for a Hollywood career is her Israel Defense Forces (IDF) service. She stated that her famous character "is the ultimate symbol of strength. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd grow up to be in a movie playing someone who influenced as many women as she has," as per The Algemeiner.
In addition, Forbes has learned that Wonder Woman appeared in the "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice" trailer that was shown to Comic-Con 2015 attendees before it landed online.
