coming back with examples to illustrate my point & i am being so strong and refraining from going into a lengthy digression about how batgirl year one's commitment to a more "grounded" start for babs diminishes and mocks her over and over again...
In Batgirl Year One #4, we see Bruce dictating what Dick is allowed to call Babs. You could argue this is control over his "brand," but it's part of a larger pattern of control over Babs throughout this run:
And it's immediately followed by drugging & abducting her to the Batcave, where he interrogates her to try and find out her identity...
Followed by drugging her again and making it clear that she does not get to decide what is done with her identity or her body
They maneuver her unconscious body multiple times in this issue and forcibly unmask her. Alfred and Dick are Bruce's accomplices in this. Dick occasionally challenges Bruce, but never with any real seriousness. There is no reciprocity in Barbara and Bruce's relationship here--she is entirely at his mercy at all times, and he wants her to be aware of this & works to crush her down whenever she defies him.
Bruce controls Steph also from as soon as he knows who she is: we see him do this in Detective Comics #649... her third appearance
Her identity is a bludgeon he can deploy against her-- and he's eager to do it immediately. He always goes for this blow (and yes, I'm aware he uses Tim's secret identity against him later + sabotages his relationship with Steph... but he only does it to Tim after he's been really upset with him. With women, he will deploy it right away)
In this case, Tim is apparently the first one to discover Steph's identity, but immediately gives it to Bruce, who then uses it against her. (I am admittedly so very tired so my chain of events could be off here as I am kind of throwing this post together).
He ambushes Helena with Dick to scold her for not being good enough while calling her by the hero identity she's currently not using, revealing that he's "known from the start" who she is.
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120
He browbeats her into giving up the cowl and Dick cooperates with him, calling Helena by the same name:
Then he takes the costume and basically kingmakes Cass into the new Batgirl... then prefers that she never step out of the role. The one girl he chooses and she can have no other identity. The moment she "gives up" the secret, he supports her & builds up a way to avoid getting it back.
And, you'll notice, Oracle's identity is a weapon that he can use to keep Cass in line here. She can't stay with Babs any more, because that would compromise the secret... the one that Bruce knows and has known since nearly Barbara's debut & claims ownership over once again.
