Nerdy Fact #1434: Wonder Woman was originally based on two women: the wife of creator William Marston and one of his former students that both he and his wife had sexual encounters with.
Elizabeth Holloway Marston and Olive Byrne were among a number of women who contributed to the original Wonder Woman, and they’re fascinating people in their own right.
Elizabeth Holloway Marston was a brilliant woman. She earned three university degrees in psychology and law at a time when few women received any tertiary education. She was a successful career woman who assisted her husband with his work and was frequently the breadwinner of the family.
The main reason she was able to continue working after having children? Olive Byrne, who was not simply a casual “sexual encounter”, but the Marstons’ lover and life partner. To enable Elizabeth to work, Olive stayed at home and raised both her and Elizabeth’s children. She also wrote for Family Circle and contributed to Marston’s research.
Elizabeth is credited with pushing her husband to create a female superhero, and after his death she worked hard to preserve his vision for the character, urging DC to employ her as the comic’s editor (she was ignored).
Wonder Woman’s bracelet’s are Olive’s bracelets: Olive was known for wearing a pair of wide silver bracelets, and Marston had these in mind when he envisioned Diana’s bullet-deflecting accessories.
Marston died in 1947, but Elizabeth and Olive continued to live together until the end of their lives.
Wait. Clarification please. Are you telling me that the creator of Wonder WOMAN WAS IN A POLY-AMOROUS RELATIONSHIP?
Yep! They were in a poly relationship and had four children together, two by Elizabeth and two by Olive.
(And for those who’ve asked about sources, the Marstons’ story is covered in detail in The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore and Wonder Woman: The Complete History by Les Daniels)
Wonder Woman was inspired and shaped by not only a man who was incredibly progressive and awesome by todays standards let alone the standards of the day he lived in but also by a fierce, intelligent and awesome bisexual woman
This is one of the many reasons why the ways DC has ruined Wonder Woman in their pursuit of making the book as backwards and heteronormative as possible pisses me off…
Not a fierce and intelligent and awesome bisexual woman.
Two fierce and intelligent and awesome bisexual women.
Okay but seriously the MCU missed its chance to establish tony and steve as friends, and in the trailer when Steve says “but he’s my friend” and tony says “so was i” there is absolutely no actual emotional impact to it. But imagine natasha saying that, imagine steve saying “i’m sorry nat; you know i wouldn’t do this if i had any other choice, but bucky’s my friend” and natasha saying “so was i” like just imagine Natasha playing the lead in civil war instead of iron man, imagine marvel getting over its sexism long enough to recognize that absolutely no one cares that steve and tony are fighting but everyone cares steve and nat are just imagine
I genuinely feel like more people are angry about Nat and Steve possibly being on opposite sides than Tony & Steve. After the last two Avengers movies, people EXPECT IT, even though Tony’s approach doesn’t make a hell of a lot of sense when you look at his behaviour in the last 5 movies. No one is like, THIS IS A HUGE BETRAYAL. Everyone is like, LOL THIS AGAIN!!??
Meanwhile, I feel like Natasha’s approach to superhero registration and restraint would be SO COMPLEX. Natasha understanding the inherent danger of people who have near unlimited power and little control, but also understanding the inherent danger of the mechanism of the state, of the kind of corruption that comes with political and bureaucratic power. And having been a VICTIM OF IT.
And after CA:TWS, knowing the goodness inside of Steve, of the debt she feels to him. Of wanting to be on his side because of both friendship and, I believe, genuine affection for a man she deeply respects, especially when it comes to his loyalty. But also being a logical creature who is trying to make sure the kind of carnage she has both seen and committed herself is put to a stop.
NOW THAT WOULD BE A FUCKING HEARTBREAKING SCHISM. Add in Clint, and WOW SHOULD NATASHA EVER HAVE BEEN THE OTHER LEAD IN THIS.
Every single goddamn time I think I’ve at least gotten on with my life despite my continuing rage about how Natasha “Too Good For This Shit” Romanoff has been treated by the movies, y’all assholes bring up something like this and I am sO ANGRY ALL OVER AGAIN.
I appreciate that Americans who are anti-Trump threaten to leave the country and set their eyes north to Canada, like the world is their oyster and they can move wherever they want. But when another group of people are actually escaping real turmoil and want to move to the U.S. then it becomes a sensitive issue. Such entitlement even in jest.
this cuts deep
I am willing to bet the overlap between those wanting to leave the US if Trump becomes president and those who want to keep refuges out of the US is rather small.
^^^^ uh yes, that^^^^ like idk if you realize this but the people not letting other people into our country ARE the Trump supporters and the people who are desperately afraid and/or wanting to leave are the anti-trump people, often Democrats who WANT to take in refugees and immigrants in need. Also, people escaping “real turmoil” sure is a bit of a backhand to the immigrants and immigrants-children in this country facing the very REAL threat of an insane hitler-esque racist running this country who is already threatening to have us all deported immediately.
<p>tl;dr: wow stay in your lane there buddy
YES FUCKING THANK YOU That attitude annoys the shit out of me.
The ‘world is your oyster’ point is a somewhat fair criticism and ties into other issues like the persistent idea that americans are cultured only if they travel the world which is hella privileged in so many ways but to use it for this is glossing over other aspects of the whole ‘I’m moving to Canada’ thing.
In addition to the fact that the people in the US who are scared of what could happen and those who would refuse to take in refugees are pretty disparate groups of people, most people aren’t going to move. The number of people who could realistically move is spectacularly small
compared to the number of people who may talk about it or would
want/need to get the fuck away from this goddamned mess. NOT because they’re not ~serious~ like it’s a fucking joke but because they don’t have the resources it takes to move fucking anywhere much less internationally, no matter how unsafe or terrible conditions become. That shit is expensive, takes a lot of time and energy, requires specialized skills or exceptional work to land a visa, etc.
Also people need to realize that talking about moving to Canada or wherever if shit hits the fan is often a form of escapism for a lot of people as a way to temper their growing anxiety and panic because the thought of living for 4 years with these people in charge and the amount of damage and harm it’s going to do is overwhelming and they’re just trying to get through the fucking day.
Yes, I prefer Bernie Sanders. But if Hillary Clinton’s the nominee, I’m voting for her. I will be damned if I live in a country with a President Cruz or President Trump.
Important to remember. We must vote. If you choose not to vote because you prefer Bernie over Hilary or vice versa, then it essentially becomes a vote for the Republican party. Please vote.
I get so irrationally angry that the first suggestions on Google images for baby crows r just black baby chickens
I’ve lost track of the number of times that this picture of a baby rail has been mislabeled as a “baby crow”:
This is a baby crow:
And here’s a much younger baby crow:
At no point do crows have to suffer the indignity of being overly fluffy fuzzballs on stilts. Instead they start out as rather prehistoric-looking beasties to gawky teenagers who find solace in their baby bat goth status, until they eventually mature into this fine bird:
This concludes our brief lesson in corvid physical development.
