Mary Erbeck
Professor Joan Robinson
ENG 102: Composition II
March 21, 2015
Remember Our Power Feminist Gloria Steinem cofounded and became editor of Ms. Magazine to which she published her article “Wonder Woman.” In her article, Steinem wrote about Wonder Woman’s background and life along with the representation of women in comic books and how these different depictions can influence and inspire predominately younger audiences regardless of gender. Steinem’s style is focused mainly on logos to relay a clear image of Wonder Woman as a character and her impact on readers. She ultimately wanted to inform the reader of the importance of Wonder Woman’s effect on youth in a platform largely directed by the patriarchy and she made a compelling case with a strong, justified logos and clear ethos. Steinem first wrote about her youth as a comic book reader and how comic books were the easily accessible and cheap building blocks to her reading comprehension along with “cereal boxes and ketchup labels” (Steinem). She discussed the psychology behind the need for superheroes in children’s mindsets as a way to better cope with reality and express their individualism but with every superhero being a man young women, like Steinem, had to project their consciousness into male characters suppressing their womanhood to only being a damsel in distress. Steinem wrote that Wonder Woman “rescued” her at the age of seven from the “weak, bosomy, blonde heroines” (Steinem) with her strength, wisdom, speed, and power to inspire love. Steinem being a young and impressionable girl who had read comic books before and after Wonder Woman is her ethos. Ethos is essentially the ethical appeal behind the writer’s intent and Steinem clearly has this because she was a young girl that had to relocate her ideals into male characters until the female character Wonder Woman allowed her to be her own female superhero instead of just a woman needing to be rescued.
Even though Steinem is strongly related to her topic, her pathos appeal in most of her article lacked passion and the only instance she made an emotional connection to the audience was when discussing Queen Hippolyte’s sexual influence. Steinem described Hippolyte as “a mother who is good, powerful, and a mentor to her daughter” (Steinem) but all the while was seen as a sexual being due to her succumbing to Hercules. Steinem explained that Queen Hippolyte was Wonder Woman’s equal but both were allowed independent sexual freedoms that revolutionized the image of a woman’s sexual identity from being competitive to mutual. Steinem begged the question “How many girls grew to adulthood with no such example of a strong, sensual mother?” (Steinem) which evoked some emotional consideration of what defines a mother or how sex should be represented to young children. However, Steinem quickly moved on to Wonder Woman’s final ability seemingly making the topic of sexual freedom almost unimportant so the emotional impact from her rhetorical question was lost leaving a weak pathos or emotional approach.
However lacking any passion in her argument, Steinem did not need to rely on emotions to persuade the reader because her evidence was proof enough that her stance was valid. Steinem explained that once the original creator of Wonder Woman died, her character changed from being a strong woman to a boring James Bond which lacked consumer interest because she had lost her original spirit that made her so irresistible. Steinem discussed that editors of Ms. Magazine who grew up on Wonder Woman’s influence like herself wanted to rescue her from her fate as another damsel in distress and when they finally did restore her glory, consumers became interested again. Steinem claimed that even young boys dressed up as Wonder Woman for Halloween and considered her their favorite superhero. This evidence made Steinem’s logos or use of reasoning powerful because Wonder Woman’s reach wasn’t only just towards the female comic book readers but to anyone who can read. Steinem’s entire argument was based around Wonder Woman’s versatility and influential importance that far reached her target audience and the fact that young boys took a liking to her and even went as far as to look like her is strong proof that Wonder Woman is a character created for anyone and everyone like all other comic book heroes are.
Steinem discussed Wonder Woman’s character and her importance as a female superhero for female and male readers alike. She wrote about her representation as a women and the inspiration she created in herself and women like her to be better people. She ultimately wanted to inform the reader of the importance of Wonder Woman’s effect on youth in a platform largely directed by the patriarchy and she made a compelling case with a strong, justified logos and clear ethos. Steinem lacked emotional interest but still persuaded the audience with her evidence and personal interest with comic books and feminism. Ultimately her argument was convincing and informative about the subject of equal or at least a different representation of women.

Works Cited
Steinem, Gloria. "Wonder Woman." The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues across the Disciplines. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. 455-62. Print.