Wonder Woman is a feminist icon as the Princess of the Amazons who is gifted with superhuman abilities. However, she exists in a comic book universe that is traditionally male-dominated. This presentation examines the portrayal of women like Wonder Woman in comic books from their origins in the 1930s to modern times, exploring how female characters have often been depicted through negative stereotypes but are beginning to evolve into more respected roles.

1. Women In The Comic Book Universe -Examining the portrayal of women in comic books- -By Yazan Rantisi-

2. Meet Diana Prince. She is the Princess of the Amazon and gifted with superhuman abilities by the gods.

3. She is Wonder Woman — “beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, stronger than Hercules, and swifter than Mercury”. With her powers she stands equal to other heroes including the iconic Superman and the Incredible Hulk. Wonder Woman is a feminist icon as she stands strong in a world dominated by men.

5. But wonder woman can not escape the world in which she was created. She exists in the comic book universe, where women are not equal to their male counterparts. This presentation will explore how women like Diana prince are portrayed in the male dominated world of comic books.

6. History of Women In comics

7. American comic books began in the 1930s. During this time, women in comics were primarily seen as career girls, romance-story heroines, or perky teenagers.

12. The portrayal of women has also changed as female comic book characters have evolved.

14. The Women of the X-Men

18. Patriarchy in Comic Books The most popular heroes in the comic book universe are men. Batman, Superman & Wolverine The most powerful heroes as well as the leaders of superhero groups are men. Odin (left) & Ironman Comic book movies are more often based on male characters. Green Lantern, Capitan America, & Thor

19. Batman

21. Three of this summer’s batch of movies based on comic books. All based on male heroes

22. Meet the Avengers and their leaders: The Mighty Thor The Invincible Ironman and Capitan America

25. Female Gender Roles Women in comic books generally fall into a few categories: The Romantic Role THE DAMSEL IN DISTRESS Good girl and bad girl Side kicks Victims

28. Women seem to always be helpless in the comic book universe. But don’t Worry, a man will save the day A clip from the movie Spiderman

29. DAMSELS IN DISTRESS

30. Good Girls and Bad Girls

31. Often female comic book characters are injured, killed or depowered as they are frequently used as plot devices. Writer Gale Simmons was the first to call this use of women in comic books as “Women in Refrigerators.” The picture to the right was her inspiration. (Above) The Green Lantern’s girlfriend has been killed and stuffed in a refrigerator.

32. Bullseye kills Elektra

33. Sexuality in Comic Books Women are often objects of sexual desire in comic books. They tend to wear very revealing clothing while having an unnatural body type.

35. Times are Changing Recent decades have seen improvement in the way women are portrayed in comic books. This reflects societal changes as well as an increase in the number of women reading comic books. Also, with more women creating comic books for both Marvel and DC (the dominant comic book companies) the female characters in the comic universe are evolving. Female superheroes are more respected and have more important roles in story lines.

36. A women in power

37. Wonder Woman has always been one of the strongest female characters in the DC universe but recent storylines have increased her prominence. Now more than ever she stands as Superman’s equal while fighting crime as well as the famous Batman.

39. New comic books are being created about groups of superheroines such as this one.

40. The Birds of Prey

41. The future of Women in ComicBooks Recent decades have brought an improvement to how women are portrayed in comic books. Undoubtedly this will continue in the future.