The Secret History Of Wonder Woman Analysis

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1. The Secret History of Wonder Woman is obviously a non-fiction book, but could also be classified under a feminist genre that starts as a bibliography of William Moulton Marston. Additionally, it shows characteristics of a cultural history because it educates the reader about politics, economics, and gender disputes during the early 1900s. The increasing number of radical reformers is an indication of this, along with the Wonder Woman comics directly targeting political and economic issues, being very high milk-pricing, which was consequently leading to malnourished children, textile workers striking, lower pay for women, etc. 2. Some themes of the book include the growing power of women, their civil rights, and the increasing number of…show more content…
One of the most exciting moments in the book is Sadie Holloway’s introduction and her childhood life being discussed. She grew up in a nearly anti-feminist environment, where women were highly discriminated and rejected as equal parts of society. This part certainly gets the reader thinking, and what struck out to me the most is when the Irish mother, who lived two doors down, accidentally killed herself after performing an abortion by the means of a wire through her cervix. Similarly, when Olive Byrne was introduced, Lepore informs the reader that as a newborn, Jack Byrne tossed her into the cold snow on one of his drunken nights and left her there unaccompanied. Luckily, Margaret Sanger retrieved her, but it was very clear that because of men and severe economical struggles, children were neglected. The struggle for birth control rights amongst Margaret Sanger and Ethel Byrne was very interesting because of the legal charges, trials, and imprisonment they faced just for being activists. The arrangement between Marston, Holloway, Byrne, and occasionally Marjorie Huntley was also striking, along with the part of the book that discusses the introduction of comic books in the late 1930s, especially the creation and publishing of Wonder Woman (one of my favorite parts is when the comics of Wonder Woman are actually shown). The debates over the comics were expected, yet moving, because it was a completely radical change and new ideas were brought about and into people’s heads, which they weren’t used to. Some came to the realization that women can actually be powerful and “superhero’s” simultaneously, while numerous people still continued to carry out the practice of discrimination. The feminist message that was being displayed in an engaging, illustrative manner was remarkable, and the fact that it became so widespread so quickly was also
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