Radio: The Secret Feminist (and poly) History of Wonder Woman

A2Poly

New member
I really enjoyed that show too. I had no idea of Wonder Woman's backstory! And to be fair to the broadcasters, at the time of when their relationship happened, the woman who was the unmarried partner would have been the 'mistress'. There wasn't much vocabulary available to describe her otherwise. But it does seem no matter what the society of the time might have called her, all three had a strong connection.

Oh, oops. I thought the link was to an American public radio show, 'Fresh Air', which did a similar show about them.

And Jill Lepore, who wrote the book, is a great historian. Her other books are well worth reading.
 
to be fair to the broadcasters, at the time of when their relationship happened, the woman who was the unmarried partner would have been the 'mistress'. There wasn't much vocabulary available to describe her otherwise.
...
And Jill Lepore, who wrote the book, is a great historian. Her other books are well worth reading.

True, but current broadcasters should use current language.

Thanks for the rec, I'll look for more of Jill Lopore's books :)
 
Just finished listening to the whole interview, and found it rather interesting. I don't think they were trying to paint polyamory in a bad light, it's more that they were explaining why Marston and the two women in his life would want to keep their polyamorous relationship a secret. Reason being, short and sweet, that mainstream society wasn't ready to hear about and accept polyamory -- just as they're not ready for it today. So when they say "mistress," I think they are describing the way mainstream society would have looked at the arrangement.

Most of the Wonder Woman story is centered around feminism, and its feminist strength seems to have waxed and waned through the decades (starting in 1941 I think). The most remarkable thing about Wonder Woman is that since her inception, she has never gone out of print. If I am remembering right, the only other superheroes who came out around 1940 and never went out of print were Batman and Superman. Wonder Woman represents a woman taking a place in history that is normally reserved for men, and for that reason, she is a meaningful character to a lot of women and girls. At least that's the impression I got from listening to the interview.

They mentioned in the interview that a Wonder Woman movie might be coming out in the not-too-distant future? That would be kind of cool, I'd be curious to see the movie and find out how they deal with that character and her various implications. In any case I thought it was an enjoyable and interesting interview.
 
Yeah, inventor of the blood pressure cuff, lie detector, and Wonder Woman - what an interesting person. I remember how intrigued I was a few years ago (enough to Google around to read more about him) after another member here posted this paragraph in a thread called "Historical Figures in Poly:"

The creator of Wonderwoman and of the first ever lie detector, William Moulton Marston, lived openly with his wife Elizabeth Holloway Marston and Olivia Byrne, whose two children the couple took in and raised as their own. Olivia was the stay-at-home mum for all the four children, whereas Elizabeth supported the entire family, being one of the first career women of her time.

There is a brief little bio about Marston here, with a few pictures:
marintheatre.org/productions/learn-more/lasso/lasso-of-truth-marston-bio/
(from a site for a theater company that ran performances of a play about Marston).

It may have been a secret when they were alive, but hasn't been for a few years. I am sure historians and genealogists will continue to dig up more evidence of polyamory in researching many other famous folk, and someday it won't be such a surprise anymore!
 
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