top of page

In the Name of the Moon, My Paper Will Eventually Make Sense

As the first successful female superhero, Wonder Woman has since become a feminist icon and symbol of female empowerment. However, from her very first incarnation, she has been the subject of criticism. The same people who accused Batman of promoting a gay lifestyle have accused Wonder Woman comics of introducing young girls to lesbianism. While contemporary critics, such as Ben Saunders tend to read Wonder Woman as a body positive, sex positive character, there are still those like Kelli Stanley who view the character as overly sexualized and not feminist enough because of this. In both the original homophobic criticism as well as in current criticism, it is impossible to ignore that from the very start, Wonder Woman has been an overtly sexual character, in the way that male heroes like Batman and Superman are not.

Since Wonder Woman, overt sexuality is a common trait for female superheroes, however this is usually done in order to appeal to the male gaze. Though Kelli Stanley opposes the idea that Wonder Woman comics are truly empowering for women, she acknowledges that at the very least Marston attempted to create an empowered female character, even if she is also meant to titillate male readers. With many female heroes, this isn’t always the case. To find another character as potentially empowering as Wonder Woman as well as divisive a trip across the Pacific Ocean is necessary. In the world of Japanese manga/anime, one character stands out as a spiritual successor to Wonder Woman: the pretty soldier, Sailor Moon.

Written and drawn by Naoko Takeuchi, it might be expected that Sailor Moon would escape some of the criticism lobbied at Wonder Woman. After all, Takeuchi is a woman, writing for girls and women. However, Sailor Moon is still accused of pandering to the Male Gaze, that is, the character specifically appeals on a sexual basis to heterosexual men. Sailor Moon’s uniform, a mini-skirted sailor suit is reminiscent of uniforms worn in Japanese middle and high schools, but it also appeals directly to both Japanese and American male fantasies. Concerns that the majority of the Scouts are only fourteen is waved away with the explanation that they age up when transforming into the Sailor Scouts, much like DC’s Captain Marvel. This explanation is also given as the reason why the Scouts are not recognized from day to day.

Sailor Moon and Wonder Woman display a surprising number of similarities to one another. This extends both to tropes as well as to viewer/reader reactions. Wonder Woman is the princess of the Amazons who travels to America to fight crime and evil. She succeeds in battle because she is filled with love and has the help of a team of female sidekicks. She fights wearing a leotard that is criticized as too revealing. Sailor Moon is the reincarnation of the moon princess, born on Earth. She fights the forces of evil; succeeding by believing in herself and through the love she has for her fellow Sailor Scouts, a team of female heroes. She wears a sailor suit that has been criticized as being overly sexual. Much of the criticism regarding Sailor Moon and Wonder Woman centers on their costumes and the sexualization of the characters. This comes in sharp contrast to male heroes, both American and Japanese. Discussions of Superman and Naruto rarely discuss the characters’ sexuality, instead focusing on the violence of the characters.

Usagi and the other Sailor Scouts are frequently portrayed engaging in slight homosexual fantasies. Usagi, for instance often comments upon her friend’s beauty, and will seek to be closer to other girls in part because of their beauty. This become further complicated with the introduction of Haruka/Sailor Uranus. In the anime episode that introduces Haruka, “A Beautiful Boy? The Secret of Haruka Tenou,” she is introduced to the viewer and to Usagi and Minako as an impossibly handsome high school boy. Because she wears the boys’ uniform and speaks in a direct, masculine manner, the girls mistake her for a man. She is also shown to be incredibly suave and cool, urging the young Sailor Scouts to pursue her despite having Michiru as a girlfriend. The anime conveys Usagi and Minako’s desire for Haruka by using sketched still frames of Haruka accompanied by fluttering cherry blossom petals. However, it must be noted that the far more feminine Michiru is also given similar still frames when the girls see her, implying a deeper homoromanticism on the part of Usagi and Minako.

Another prominent example of same-sex desire occurs in act 3 of volume 1 of the Sailor Moon manga. The readers are introduced to Rei/Sailor Mars in this chapter when Usagi rides a bus with Ami/Sailor Mercury because the latter promises that a pretty girl (Rei) rides the 5:00 p.m. bus. When Rei gets off the bus, Usagi follows, waving off Luna’s concerns with, “But she’s so pretty! <3” (heart included in text. 92.3). Usagi reacts to many of her friends in this way, though sometimes commenting upon their super strength as with Mako/Sailor Jupiter, or their intelligence as with Ami.

In her essay “Young Females as Super Heroes,” Victoria Newsom writes that, “Each of these characters performs masculine characteristics, masked by hyperfemininity as a way of reclaiming femininity as power. Ironically, this power is rooted directly in a concept that has previously been illustrated as a means of objectifying the female and rendering her primarily powerless,” (79). Though she is discussing Sailor Moon and the other Sailor Scouts, I would suggest that this passage could easily be applied to Wonder Woman and the girls of Holiday College, especially Etta Candy.

Interestingly, both Marston and Takeuchi choose to include female homoeroticism in their comics. This is more apparent in Sailor Moon, due to the inclusion of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune who are canonically lesbian. Sailor Uranus/Haruka is especially interesting given that the character is regularly mistaken for a man, and as Catherine Bailey notes in her essay, “Prince Charming by Day, Superheroine by Night,” Haruka does not seem to mind or even challenge the perceptions that others have for her (215). Though at the end of the episode, “A Beautiful Boy” Haruka quips, that she never made any claims of being a man. Talk here about genderfluidity and breaking down the binary, w/ more quotes from Bailey.

Haruka isn’t the only, or even the first Scout to play with gender in the franchise though. In act 5 of the manga, Usagi briefly disguises herself as a man to catch the attention of a ghostly bride.

The homoeroticism of the early Wonder Woman comics is less overt than it is in Sailor Moon, if only because Marston hides it behind a thin veil. As Wonder Woman comes from an island entirely populated by women, and Marston writes women as sexual beings, it must be supposed that the women of Paradise Island engage in same-sex partnerships. Even once Wonder Woman falls in love with Steve Trevor, she still engages in and seems to enjoy same-sex play. The Amazons in their contests of physical strength and the Holiday girls in their hazing rituals, all enjoy engaging in light female-on-female bondage.

This is of no accident. In Marston’s personal life, discussed by Saunders in his book, he was a part of a polyamorous BDSM relationship with his two partners. The influences of this felt throughout the early Wonder Woman comics stems from Marston’s sincere belief that bondage, and learning to both dominate and submit were key in learning to be a healthy and good individual. Marston seemingly believed that women were wholly superior to men, because he believed that whereas men were unwilling to allow themselves to enjoy submission, women easily slipped in and out of either role.

Stuff with Kelli Stanley’s arguments. Wonder Woman pandering to male audience. Marston still fetishizing women, even if Wonder Woman is stronger than many female characters at the time.

Counterpoint with stuff from Ben Saunders. Maybe stuff from Emad too.

Responding to Richard Reynolds’ criticism of Wonder Woman, Saunders writes that “Reynolds makes the sexist and homophobic mistake of assuming that only men could find Wonder Woman’s appearance sexually appealing, or have an interest in ‘sexual domination,’” (57). He goes on to suggest that women and girls who find Wonder Woman sexually attractive would be responding to the character as Marston intended (59).

Likewise, Takeuchi carefully crafted Sailor Moon in order to appeal to a wide audience. Though it is likely that many men will find the leggy, short-skirted Sailor Scouts to be desirable, they are also designed to be desirable to women. The girls are all given distinct but realistic personalities, ranging from the lazy procrastinator Usagi, to the studious and quiet Ami, and tough but girly Mako.

Supposing that Wonder Woman and Sailor Moon’s sexualization is meant to appeal to both male and female readers, it becomes a tool that is used to further break apart binaries within the comics. Following Newsom’s reasoning that the characters in Sailor Moon all possess

Note to self, change the order of like everything so that it makes sense. Get everything connected and junk…

No tags yet.
  • Pinterest Reflection
  • Tumblr Reflection
Follow Me
Featured Article
Tag Cloud
bottom of page