Superman and Wonder Woman in the 1940’s comics are drastically different from their present-day counterparts, despite staying the same gender. This essay touches on what contributed to those differences, by focusing on how society and the environment changed and influenced both Wonder Woman and Superman. This essay proves our environment influences the way our personality and nature are shaped, more than our biology, by examining the environments influence on Wonder Woman and Superman and what made them different than their present day counterparts. Two factors must be taken into consideration while comparing Wonder Woman and Superman; they are genetic influences and environmental influences. Nature vs Nurture. Our biology partly influences …show more content…
When William Marson created Wonder Woman, he based her on his wife, and wanted to envision her as a symbol of women empowerment and equality ("History Of Wonder Woman- A 1940'S Rosie"). Amazons themselves were a symbol of feminism among patriarchy. Greek mythology is known to be patriarchal and paternalistic, Amazons being a female only race stood out. During the 1940’s, many men were going out for war, leaving women to take over the jobs left by them. While the men were out fighting in defense, woman were changing their ways and fighting out of love of men who left them. A quote by Gail Simone says: “If you need to stop an asteroid, you call Superman. If you need to solve a mystery, you call Batman. But if you need to end a war, you call Wonder Woman.” (Simone, Gail). This demonstrates Wonder Womans love for mankind and her desire to end war and bring peace. Marson created Wonder Woman similar, to fight out of love rather than defense. However that isn’t all to it. The male dominated society of wonder woman is visible in the comics. She is often tied and bound or gagged, trapped and needing help. Wonder Woman also have Willian Marsten, the creator of Wonder Woman, was involved in the suffrage movement himself. His wife was a revolutionary member who influenced wonder woman greatly as well. This is a display of wonder woman being influenced by her …show more content…
After the Cold War, we saw the rise of secular humanism in the world. Thus was born todays perception of Superman, a more gentle, humanistic hero. Superman loves humanity, and rather than focusing on the flaws of humanity, focuses on their goodness and wholeness. The superman of the 1940’s reflected the nature of men then, stern, rigid with fixed values. The superman today is more lenient, more loving, and more gentle. Man of Steel focuses on Superman as a human, more than superman as a hero. Wonder woman of today is also fiercer, more independent, and less of a damsel in distress. While the 1940s Wonder Woman by Marson is often bound and gagged, todays Wonder Woman in her 2017 DC comics movie never appears bound or tied up. This is a display of Wonder Woman’s and Superman’s’ differences to their future day counterparts.
Epigenetics is the science of how the environment influences how our genes are expressed. This article by Aaron Goldberg on science direct explains the nature of epigenetics: the reason Wonder Woman and Superman are different then their present day counterparts is because their genes are being expressed differently (Goldberg, Aaron D. et al.). This is due to our change in environments over the years, where men and women our vocal about many things such as their
Wonder Woman choose to save people's lives. They both did what they had to do to save many people's life. In the same same way Helen was taken away from her husband and the imbalance or injustice in the hero’s life would be when Odysseus needed to control his ego example “Odysseus, raider of cities” (9:418) he's bragging about what he can do. In the beginning of the story so he wasn't all about him and what he can all do for himself to show off he says, “I would not need them in my way glorying spirit/but let my anger flare and yelled” (9:414-415). The imbalance or injustice for Wonder Woman would be she could choose to help people but many people thought she was a big thing “Go in peace my daughter. And remember that, in
Women aren’t represented as incompetent, but rather as limited. In “The Woman Precedent Female (Super) Heroism on Trial”, Julie O’Reilly analyzes the distinctions between the ways male and female superheroes are “put to the test” in narratives. She also describes how male superheroes are the ones who are accepted into the world of fighting and protecting against evil; while the females have to go through much more than males in order to be recognized for their efforts. “What really is on trial, then, is a female superhero’s ability to be a fully recognized subject” (O’Reilly 452). The “heroine in her own right” should be acknowledged just like how male superheroes are recognized. Female superheroes deserve the right of being able to do just as much, and possibly even more, than a male superhero can and they should be given the appreciation as well as the acknowledgment that they rightfully deserve. For example, one book written by Stieg Larsson called “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” depicts the life of a very strong female protagonist. The literature illustrates two people who are trying to solve the mystery of the disappearance of a young girl in the 1940’s but the woman isn't getting much credit or motivation as the other characters.
We are currently living in the Golden Age of Superheroes. They dominate our cultural life, and have become seemingly permanent fixtures in modern media. Since X-Men burst onto the screen fifteen years ago, we have witnessed the release of over forty superhero movies. By 2020 we will have seen the release of more than twenty-five more. Today, the much anticipated film Superman vs. Batman has come to theaters. Though a plethora of superhero movies have been released, it is to the dissatisfaction of many, having long been exhausted by the stories of the Hulk, Batman, and Spider-man. Although I must agree that it is quite easy to get bored with the constant action, and flashing colors of these films, if one looks deep enough into the story they will discover universal themes and metaphors. Though they may be fighting off alien invasions, these heroes are also battling with their personal challenges, challenges which we can
With reference to “Superman 1”, the leading lady, Lois Lane, is often placed in the face of danger and needs to be rescued. In the year in which “Superman 1” was created, woman were not yet seen as equal to men as they are in the present. With that in mind, Lois Lane would have been seen as a more independent woman as she was living alone in an apartment, working in a career field often dominated by men at the time of the movies creation, but never the less, Lois is still a passive woman who often is not able to escape from danger by herself. In “Superman 1”, the criminal Clark Kent and Lois Lane encounter, is a male who in actual fact
The epigenome marks the genome, determining whether or not a gene is expressed and if so, to what level. It does this in two ways, DNA methylation, and histone modification. DNA methylation is where a methyl group, a tag of carbon and hydrogen, connects to a part of DNA (to the gene) and decides for it to be expressed or not. Histone modification is where a chemical tag secures a histone, or a protein, and tightens or loosens the gene's coil around it to determine how greatly the gene is expressed.
In the Greek society women were treated very differently than they are today. Women in ancient Greece were not allowed to own property, participate in politics, and they were under control of the man in their lives. The goddess Aphrodite did not adhere to these social norms and thus the reason the earthly women must comply with the societal structure that was set before them. Aphrodite did not have a father figure according to Hesiod, and therefore did not have a man in her life to tell her what to do. She was a serial adulteress and has many children with many men other than her husband. She was not the only goddess from the ancient Greek myths to cause doubt in the minds of men. Gaia and the Titan Rhea rise up against their husbands in order to protect their children. Pandora, another woman in the Greek myths, shows that all evil comes from woman. Aphrodite, Gaia, Rhea, and Pandora cause the ancient Greek men to be suspicious of women because of her mischievous and wild behavior.
Alexie, Sherman. "Superman and Me." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 19 Apr. 1998. Web. 14 May 2014. http://articles.latimes.com/1998/apr/19/books/bk-42979
... nurturing. All the while balancing family issues and fighting against stereotypes. As her comic book moves ahead, Wonder Woman will continue to tackle issues relating to every woman, and even, every human.
Epigenetics is the word that is used for genes that are modified in order to assist certain genome sequences that lead to diseases and disorders. Epigenetics has come a long way since the first genome sequence had its draft breakthrough in the year 2000 (NOVA 2012). From depression to cancer, epigenetics has made its way through to provide families with the appropriate knowledge and perhaps medication in order to avoid these diseases and disorders in the future.
Watchmen is a revolutionary piece of literature. It is technically a comic book, some prefer to call it a graphic novel. There is a negative connotation that goes along with that. Graphic novels are frequently presumed too childish and fantastic to actually teach any insightful lessons or even make you ponder them at all. Watchmen is a graphic novel that transcends this undue criticism of comic books. It is, “One of the first instances ... of [a] new kind of comic book ... a first phase of development, the transition of the superhero from fantasy to literature." (Klock, pgs. 25-26)
Every child in the United States has heard or read the Marvel and DC comics books. If you have not then you have probably have heard of their characters like the famous star spangled hero, Captain America, or the Dark Knight himself, Batman. Both Marvel and DC has influenced the children and adults of American in its darkest times. The great wars affected many by its poisonous grasps, and its victims sought comfort with the antidote provided by the marvelous illustrators and writers of comic books. Now their cinematic counterparts are here to inspire the 21st century. The Marvel and DC cinematic universes have similar content, they both have unique characteristics that set them apart.
Epigenetics is the study of both heritable and non-heritable changes in gene translation, which do not stem from mutation. Epigenetic alterations to DNA may occur in several different ways; histone modification, DNA methylations, expression of microRNAs, and changes of the chromatin structure (Ntanasis-Stathopoulos et al). Depending on their presentation, they may be passed on to offspring. The exact mechanism of heritable epigenetic modification has not been discovered, but all of these alterations may have some impact on a wide range of disorders and have far reaching implications in the medical field. The study of epigenetics seeks to answer the age old question of whether nature or nurture is responsible for our phenotype, and it has arrived at the answer that in fact, both are. The discovery of epigenetic changes may lead us to cure many disorders, and even personality problems.
To conclude, the graphic novel Watchmen presents the non-fantastic representation of a superhero, implying that not all heroes are like Superman. This notion is explored within the novel by mentioning the realistic motives of the characters choosing to become superheroes, by Rorschach’s representation and through the heroic reactions of the New Yorkers to a street crime. These elements all contribute to Watchmen’s uniqueness and complexity as a superhero comic.
Things only get more complicated when you consider the frame narrative that explains Wonder Woman’s existence. She was born as Princess Diana (interestingly paralleling another icon of womanhood) in an Amazon community that seems pretty clearly grounded in lesbianism. Although the women in this harmonious and idyllic Amazon community have gone to great lengths to hide and protect their island from incursions by men, they are nonetheless delighted when a male American army officer inadvertently crash-lands in their utopia. So smitten with him are they, in fact, that they stage a ruthless physical competition to decide who will get to pair off with him. When Diana (later Wonder Woman) wins, she happily abandons her position as a royal ruler of the Amazons to accompany him back to the United States and take a boring desk job as a lowly secretary in the army. She even trades in her cool Amazon garb for a pair of gl...
Being a hero means that one can show courage when it comes to facing a problem. It is a person who helps others in many ways, such as a person in danger. In the modern era, the creation of superheroes have become popular when it comes to producing films. Viewers can choose their favorite heroes due to the idea that there a many of them. However, most fans argue which superheroes are better. Two of the most popular superheroes are DC’s Batman and Marvel’s Iron Man. Although Batman and Iron Man are loved by many viewers because of how they help people in danger, they still demonstrate imperfections which can cause viewers to dislike them. However, both superheroes share similarities and differences between themselves. Batman and Iron Man have