So you probably know by now that I’m writing, lecturing and making sculpture (The Fluidity of Gender will travel for 3 years) addressing my current fascination with the connection between Steig Larsson’s Girl with the Dragon Tattoo of 2009 and William Moulton Marston’s Wonder Woman of 1941-1947.
Got into a big discussion with a woman last week who thought Lisbeth Salander was “empowered” by having breast implants prior to the start of book 2.
I have the opposite take; in fact I think that this breast part of the book was certainly written by a man, but I question whether the really empowering book parts weren’t written by his girl friend!
Salander’s image of herself is critical to the strong feminist thrust of the story, and critical to why so many viewers feel her revenge is cathartic and empowering and even “ethical.” An eye for an eye?–as a peacenik it’s hard for me to get my arms around this. What do you think?
Like all cathartic morality plays Larsson’s story appeals to a primitive sense of justice. It doesn’t get caught up in the nuances of right and wrong, only the visceral big picture.
I will ponder the strength, moral judgment, mobility and access to self-protective devices of both Wonder Woman and Lisbeth Salander in terms of their role-model value.
Are you a Salander fan? A WW fan?
Linda