Does Wonder Woman Getting A Father Make Her Lose Her Feminist Edge?

I really loved the first issue of Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang’s Wonder Woman. Like, a lot. I knew that new Wonder Woman writer Brian Azzarello was not a fan of the character prior to coming onto the book, so I’d be lying if I said I didn’t initially think he was going to change everything about her. In many interviews prior to the release of Wonder Woman #1, Azzarello went on the record stating he was not a fan of the character and never really read any comics regarding her. While sometimes having a fresh take on a character and not a hard core fan’s take is refreshing, when you do get a non fan, it can also result in someone who doesn’t quite understand what makes that character tick. But after reading that first issue, it seem all my worrying was for nothing. 

But when the story hit the NY Post this week that Wonder Woman’s origin would be “fundamentally changed,” suddenly all of my worst fears were realized. Wonder Woman would soon get a daddy.

For those reading this who don’t know, the classic origin of Wonder Woman is that she is the daughter of Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons, who asked the Goddesses of Olympus to bring her a child. Transforming a clay statue (and in later versions, a mound of clay on a beach) into her daughter Diana. In her original inception, Wonder Woman had no father. As of Wonder Woman #3 released next month, it will be revealed that Diana’s mother lied to her all this time, and that her father was really Zeus, King of the Olympian Gods all along.

Of course, we don’t know yet just how Zeus is going to be Wonder Woman’s father. “Father” may be more of a figurative term in this case.  Maybe Zeus breathed his “divine spark” into the clay statue of baby Diana giving it life, and she wasn’t the product of an illicit affair between himself and the Amazon Queen Hippolyta. If that is the case, it still sucks, and makes a far more powerful male figure the more important role in Diana’s creation, but it sucks slightly less.

I will stick around to see how the story plays out. But so far all the quotes from Azzarello and Jim Lee seem to suggest that Zeus is the father to Diana in the traditional way. Most importantly, seeing as how DC decided to get press for this comic in the mainstream, it would suggest this is going to be far more likely a traditional father relationship. A “slight” change like Zeus playing the Blue Fairy to Wonder Woman’s Pinocchio isn’t enough to make headlines. So I’m writing this article based on that assumption. If I’m proven wrong I’ll happily eat crow later on.

I can think of a lot of reasons why this is stupid and against the feminist intent of the character, but for the purposes of this article I will just keep to the top five reasons why this change to Wonder Woman’s paternity is a slap in the face to everything she was created to stand for. 

#1. It Doesn’t Respect History, Or The Intent of Wonder Woman’s Creator 

People often talk about super heroes as our modern myths, and they’re right…they very much are. And although aspects of those characters may change with each decade, their core aspects remain. Superman is and always will be Kal-El, rocketed to Earth from the dead plant Krypton. What Krypton looks like might change, but that core concept does not. And when there are hints that it might change, just watch the fans uproar. A few years back, JJ Abrams wrote a movie script where Krypton did not explode and his parents didn’t die; fans had an online riot. That version of Superman was never produced, and many say the fan’s reactions to this huge change in the mythos was the reason. Same with Batman; he will always be the little boy who lost his parents in that alley. Certain aspects of these stories are just sacred. 

When William Marston created Wonder Woman in the early 40’s, he knew exactly what he was doing. He didn’t simply forget to type in the name for Wonder Woman’s father in that first story, he deliberately made Diana the creation of a woman, birthed magically into life by a female Goddess, and raised and trained by an army of powerful women. For Marston, the notion of female strength not reliant on men in any way was paramount to what he was trying to convey to young girls. For DC to go and change that very crucial aspect now is like spitting in the eye of Marston and what he wanted Wonder Woman to represent.  

Wonder Woman was a hero who didn’t need a powerful male figure to set her on her hero’s journey. Her power, her family, her closest supporting cast (minus love interest Steve Trevor) were all women. It was a radical as Hell concept in 1941, and apparently it is still too alienating for the vast majority of heterosexual male readers who need some kind of male power to be behind any strong woman, or they just can’t relate to it. 

It should be noted that this would not be the first time Wonder Woman was given a father. Her original 1942 origin story by creator William Marston had her as a clay statue brought to life by Aphrodite, and born on Paradise Island. However, after the 1954 publication of  “Seduction of the Innocent” and the implications that the Amazons were all lesbians, DC re-wrote the Amazonian history. The Amazons now all had husbands who died in some far off war, leaving them all grieving widows who went to grieve forever on some distant island (how healthy.)  Diana presumably had a mortal father (who is never named) and gets her powers from a variety of Gods and Goddesses upon birth, including Hercules, who according to ancient myth, raped Diana’s mother Hippolyta. That must have made for one seriously awkward christening party. 

However, this new origin didn’t last too long; by the early 70’s, the classic “clay statue comes to life” origin is restored, and the notion of Diana ever having had a father is dropped. Her post Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot reinforced the notion of Diana being born from clay, only this time at the moment of her birth the Goddesses of Olympus each granted Diana a special gift. (Hermes was the only male God who gave Diana any powers this time) It was a nice combination of both her earlier origin stories, but kept Diana fatherless as was the original intent. 

#2. The “She’s Too Unrelatable” Excuse Is Stupid.

“In this case, making her a god actually makes her more human, more relatable,” DC co-publisher Jim Lee   

This is just lame to me. Not a single comic book reader who reads Superman is the sole survivor of their species and was rocketed to Earth. Not a single reader of Batman was a billionaire who watched their parents die and spent his whole life training to be a super hero. So I fail to see how having a father who is a philandering God is more relatable to readers.  

“Everybody’s got a father, Even if he’s not the nicest guy in the world.” – Brian Azzarello

 No. Some people don’t have fathers. They just have sperm donors. Thousands of women use modern science to have children without fathers in everything but the technical sense. Diana does not need to have a father figure to be relatable. 

Being birthed from clay is part of Greek mythology. In myth, the Titan Prometheus formed mankind out of mud and clay and gave them life. The Ancient Greeks would create clay statues of bulls and “imbue” them with life before destroying them in a “sacrifice” to honor their Gods. Having Diana being birthed from clay simply keeps the character rooted to her Greek mythological roots. And seriously, if you’re reading super hero comics about people with magic powers fighting mythical beasts and are worried about that aspect being too far fetched, you’re into the wrong genre. Go watch Grey’s Anatomy or something.

#3. Queen Hippolyta Was The Ultimate Bad-Ass Single Mom 

You might say to yourself “well, isn’t she still?” After all, indications are that new parentage or not, Zeus was not around to raise the young Princess Diana this time either, leaving Hippolyta as a single mother still. The difference is that before, Hippolyta was a single mother because she CHOSE to be one, not because she got wooed by a God who then kicked her to the curb. It makes Hippolyta look very foolish, especially considering she was once duped by Hercules, resulting in her people being conquered and raped. And then centuries later, she falls for the same line with Hercules’ own father Zeus?? Way to make Hippolyta a weak character DC. Thanks a lot. 

 #4. Daddy Issues For Super Heroes Is Soooo TIRED 

It seems all super heroes these days have “daddy issues.” Superman is seemingly always trying to live up to the expectations of both of his dead fathers, Jor-El and Jonathan Kent. If you look at the 1978 movie, Superman has this strong relationship with Jor-El beyond the grave, and yet we don’t know jack about his mother Lara. While Marlon Brando talks and talks, she is just nowhere. She is essentially a non character. It is more or less the same in the comics too.

Batman doesn’t fair much better. Thomas Wayne’s great deeds and his legacy to the city of Gotham are always mentioned in the comics and in Batman Begins, but Martha Wayne is just a series of pearls hitting the pavement. Again, it seems the mothers of the two most well know super heroes are not much more than birthing cows. Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben is the father figure who imparted knowledge about being a man to Peter, and while his Aunt May is still alive, she’s just a doddering old woman who exists mainly to give Peter someone to worry about constantly. Then there’s Aquaman, Green Lantern, Iron Man, Thor, Daredevil…the list of major super heroes with father issues is a long one. And it doesn’t need to get any longer. 

Wonder Woman was different though. The only strong parent figure in her life was her mother. Now with this change, it means the true source of her power is an absentee father. She’s either going to be constantly trying to live down or live up to Zeus.  

This is not to say you can’t be a strong female character and have a father figure. That would be an incredibly silly notion, as most women have fathers and many have amazing father figures. But to take a seventy year old story that didn’t have a father figure on force one onto it to make it “more relatable” is insulting. It was insulting to Marston’s legacy when it was done in 1958 to keep in line with American social norms, and it is just as insulting now.

#5. This Is Already Wonder GIRL’S Origin!! 

The half breed Demi-God origin has already been used, by none other than Wonder Woman’s protégé Wonder Girl. Not the original Donna Troy version, but Cassie Sandsmark, the second Wonder Girl. Her mother was a mortal romanced by Zeus, which resulted in her super powered birth, and that’s where she gets her powers from. Transferring Cassie’s origin story to Wonder Woman feels like a demotion for Diana. I wonder how angry fanboys would be if DC changed Bruce Wayne’s parents to circus performers like Robin’s were. THEN we’d see some serious nerd outrage. 

It’s also just very unoriginal. Zeus fathered tons of half breed Demi-Gods in mythology, most notably Hercules. Why just make Wonder Woman a female Hercules? And being the daughter of the King of the Gods is already Thor’s deal. Birthed from clay was (in terms of comic book super heroes) unique to Wonder Woman. Making her just like Marvel’s Herc and Thor is just another effort from DC to make Diana less like herself and more like characters from other places who happen to sell more comics. And just shows how seemingly ashamed DC is of all the things that make Wonder Woman unique. 

DC has been criticized a lot since this “New 52” initiative was announced as being ant-feminist, and in the cases of Catwoman and (especially) Starfire in Red Hood and the Outlaws, downright misogynist. Aside from Gail Simone, there are no female creators as part of the new 52 line of books, something they have taken a lot of flack for. And now they’ve taken a crucial feminist aspect of their premiere female character and removed it. If there was any indication that there is no female oversight at DC editorial, this has gotta be it. I simply can’t imagine the DC of old, run by the likes of Jenette Khan, would have allowed something like this to fly. But it’s a boy’s club at DC now it seems, and Wonder Woman is seemingly just the latest victim. I just hope she’s the last.