Who’s Better For SUPERMAN? Does It Matter?


This article was written by Fatima Bastaki.

 

In anticipation of Valentine’s Day, Newsarama posted an article entitled “5-on-5: WONDER WOMAN vs. LOIS LANE – Who is Better for SUPERMAN?” The premise being the question of who would make a better match for Superman – a topic that’s become a heated debate in the hallowed halls of the internet comic book community.

The topic has split fans into primarily two camps: those who support Lois and Clark, and those who support Wonder Woman and Superman with a few in-between who simply do not care about either.

clark kent and lois lane man of steel movie, a picture of amy adams and henry cavill as lois and clark

Henry Cavill and Amy Adams as Clark and Lois.

The article seeks to give both Lois Lane and Wonder Woman equal standing by having five points in support of each character, but the glaring problem at the heart of the issue itself is the fact that the article suggests there has to be a battle between Lois Lane and Wonder Woman for the opportunity to become Superman’s girlfriend, to begin with.

The prevailing narratives that drive most of the article’s arguments are ones that put Lois Lane into a box labeled “Human” and Wonder Woman into a box labeled “God”.

The first argument the article tries to make is the fact that Wonder Woman can protect herself, while Lois Lane is the damsel-in-distress. It places value on physical strength and power and they are compared based on whether they are physically strong enough to protect themselves.

The article glamorizes Diana’s powers because it uses physical power as the measure of strength and ability. This immediately undervalues Lois’ abilities by implying that she isn’t capable of protecting herself.

But the truth is, there is more than just one way of kicking ass and both Lois and Diana are skilled in kicking ass in their own ways – with or without superpowers. For anyone who reads Superman, they would know that true strength doesn’t come from superpowers – it comes from strength of character, both of which Diana and Lois possess.

But the funny thing is, Lois/Diana’s perceived need for protection has less to do with their own abilities and more to do with Superman’s inability to let other people take care of themselves.

Superman is going to insist on protecting them anyway. In fact, he still acts overprotective around Diana despite the fact that she’s just as strong as he is. What the protection/damsel-in-distress issue overlooks is the fact that both Lois and Diana can handle themselves and that they both resent Clark’s overprotective attitude.

The second argument that the articles makes is that Lois Lane brings out the humanity in Superman, while on the other hand, Wonder Woman brings out the super part. Instead of being characters of their own that offer something unique to the mythos, both Lois and Diana are made out to be vessels with which readers can enjoy Superman’s character with.

More than that, what about Superman himself? Doesn’t he have any agency in this situation? Why does he necessarily need to have someone to bring out a part of him that already exists at the character’s core?

Superman can be human without Lois Lane. His parents instilled that humanity in him before he ever met Lois and he wasn’t exactly inhuman before that. His humanity doesn’t go away when he’s not with Lois – that suggests that he doesn’t have a strong enough human core to begin with.

You see, Lois Lane doesn’t necessarily show him his humanity, however, she does show him that he doesn’t have to be alone. And it’s the same situation with Wonder Woman – she doesn’t necessarily show him his godhood, but she does show him that he doesn’t have to feel lonely.

Even when it comes to godhood, Wonder Woman might understand Superman’s super side better because they can share each other’s experiences. But what the article tries to do is paint a picture where Clark would learn to be a god like Wonder Woman and this would eventually make him understand his humanity better because the predictable outcome is that he would choose his humanity. Or maybe his godhood. But hey that’s what Diana is for – adding excitement to Superman’s story line!

Besides, putting Wonder Woman in a relationship with Superman as a way to elevate her status as a character is stupid and misogynistic. There are other ways to elevate the status of a character, and putting them into the context of another person doesn’t appreciate them as their own full-fledged individuals. It’s not like, I don’t know, Wonder Woman is a cultural and feminist icon or anything.

Either way, it’s not about the superpowers, it’s not about the humanity; it’s about wanting to be with someone because being with someone is stronger than being alone.

What’s worse is the fact that the article puts Lois Lane and Wonder Woman in a blatantly sexist and misogynistic dichotomy of “Power vs. Love” and of “Gods vs. Humans” when the two characters are not necessarily just one or the other.

Lois Lane knows power, love and humanity. Wonder Woman knows power, love and godhood. Sometimes one of those qualities is expressed more than the others but that does not mean that they can be labeled as just one of those things because that’s not an accurate representation of either character.

In fact, the same can be said about Superman/Clark Kent because he actually knows what all of these qualities are. Isn’t that reason enough to believe that these qualities can exist in the same person; that you don’t have to choose just one?

Neither Lois Lane nor Wonder Woman possess just one of these qualities – they are so much more than that and putting them in a dichotomy like this just so people can decide which one of them makes a better girlfriend for Superman doesn’t give them the credit they deserve.

There was that one time Lois Lane became Wonder Woman…

It’s an incredibly superficial and oversimplified way to view these two because Wonder Woman has always been more than just a god; Lois Lane has always been more than just a human; and Clark Kent/Superman has always been at least both of those things.

All of these characters have made their own contributions to the DC Universe and they should be appreciated for that as full-fledged, fully-developed and independent characters.

Whenever the article tries to elevate Lois Lane or Wonder Woman’s respective statuses in the DC Universe, it always falls short. It’s pretty clear, “Lois is a fully realized character on her own” but if that’s true, then why is the article putting her character into such a narrow and confined box?

And even though it tries to be balanced, it ultimately only ends up putting them in one-dimensional terms: Human vs. God. As if all that Lois represents is her humanity and all Diana represents is her godhood. It disrespects the complexities and histories of not just Lois Lane and Wonder Woman, but Superman/Clark Kent, too.

The problem doesn’t start or stop at this article, though. This issue is part of a wider and broader discussion that the comic book community is currently participating in, but it’s the wrong discussion to have when two-thirds of the characters that we are talking about are made into tools for the advancement of another character.

Why can’t they just hang out?

SOURCE: NEWSARAMA

Source: NEWSARAMA