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Where are all the Wonder Women of fiction?
August is Women’s Month in South Africa and this got me thinking about fictional women.
The powerful women in fiction have never really been what one would call “nice”. Not that powerful men are always swell folks, but frankly from The Wicked Witch to The Snow Queen there is usually something awfully evil about the powerful women.
Recently, about 70 years ago, William Moulton Marston decided he was fed up with reading stories of damsels in distress and heroes and Evil Faerie Queens. He put ink to paper and whipped up Wonder Woman – the first, and still the strongest – female comic book heroine.
With super powers like speed, agility, super-strength – and the ability to be drooled over by teenagers – Diana Prince lassoed her way into the hearts of young girls looking for a hero that brushed stereo-types aside with a flick of her wrist. Wonder Woman, though still very much a product of the times, blazed a trail for strong female protagonists.
Today, we can look back at The Wicked Witch and Maleficent and ask why we were so ready to just accept them as two-dimensional. So, here’s to the first Super Heroine and to all the ones yet to be written.
Who are your favourite strong female characters?
by Christopher Luke Dean. Christopher is busy with his Masters in Media Studies at Wits. He tutors critical thinking skills and literacy to undergraduate students.
Christopher writes and facilitates for Writers Write. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisLukeDean
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Posted on: 16th August 2014
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0 thoughts on “Where are all the Wonder Women of fiction?”
My favorite strong, heroic female character(s)? I like Tris from Divergent, Bella from Twilight, Jane from Jane Eyre, Esther from the Bible… I don’t like sexualized female characters. A man is not judged by his genitals to see how tough he is; I don’t think a woman needs to be portrayed in porn-star fashion to prove herself either… I’ve written a book, called (at least for now) Out of the Blue, about a strong female character, who doesn’t use sex to sell her abilities. You can check out the first chapter on my webpage at: http://www.lovewritelive.com just click the “A Novel Idea” tab at the top. It’s in the process of being published…