Power Couples and the Patriarchy
A few weeks ago, it was argued that the Superman and Wonder Woman relationship defies patriarchal traditions while Superman and Lois Lane's relationship upholds it. Patriarchy, in this case, was defined and conflated with hypergamy as "a woman securing her future and those of her children, by marrying a man of higher social and or economic standing." Given the inadequacy of this definition, the resultant argument which asserts that Superman and Lois affirmed patriarchal norms when Lois "married up" with the super powerful, super famous, god-like Superman becomes seriously flawed.
To clarify, within the patriarchal system, women were pressured to marry to secure their livelihood since in many cases they were restricted from the pathways to self-sufficiency that their male counterparts were granted on account of their gender (not their wealth; although wealth was often inherited because of one's male gender). Therefore, when any woman married for practical reasons more than romantic reasons it could be said she was marrying up since men, regardless of wealth or status, were always higher in the social order than women. Yet, according to the pro-Superman and Wonder Woman argument, "by marrying Superman/Lois DC created a hypergamic marriage on two levels" the first being "a modern marriage of unequals; the case of Clark Kent mild mannered reporter ‘marrying up’ by becoming the husband of the star Journalist Lois Lane" and the second being "having an exceptional, but otherwise normal woman, marry the otherworldly hero of the story."
The first description is irrelevant because whenever Lois agrees to marry Clark Kent, she either knows he's Superman or he's on par with her as a professional. In Superman Takes a Wife, for example, Lois warms to Clark when he starts to exhibit more boldness as a suitor and as a reporter. The later Post-Crisis engagement of Lois and Clark is also between two star reporters. Indeed, one of Lois' greatest frustrations with Clark, which created obstacles to their courtship during this era, was her sense of professional rivalry with Clark Kent. Moreover, soon after getting engaged Lois learns Clark is Superman. His status as Superman actually serves to deter Lois from wanting to marry Clark. Lastly, since it's difficult to apply a label like patriarchy to this scenario, where the gender dynamic is reversed, the problems with conflating patriarchy with hypergamy reveals itself.
The second description is similarly problematic, as it disregards Lois Lane's motives and worth as well as recent history. The Superman mythology doesn't need Superman to marry Wonder Woman to reject his narrative's previous alignment with the patriarchal values, or more specifically the hypergamic tendencies, of the times. It has already progressed using Lois Lane. Yes, during the Silver Age comics chose to depict Lois with attitudes similar to many women of that era whose lives were riddled with restrictions. As famed feminist and well-known Wonder Woman fan, Gloria Steinem said in the PBS documentary Women Who Make America, "My ambitions were getting out of Toledo and marrying somebody who had a life I wanted because I didn't think I could create a life myself." However, the Lois Lane and Superman dynamic of the past 30 years has distanced itself from that system in pace with society. Lois' attraction to Superman was presented as her finally finding a man who could keep up with her, and in both the comics and television of the 90's it's the relationship between fellow reporters, Lois and Clark, that takes center stage. More importantly, Lois Lane is no less extraordinary or equal as a participant in the fight to make the world a safer and better place just because she relies on her courage and cleverness as an intrepid reporter instead of superpowers.
It is said that "Superman and Wonder Woman flies in defiance of the old Patriarchal system and so reflects current progressive trends, where the better educated are tending to partner with people same life experience and status, and aren’t seeking relationships where one individual is of a lower status and the other is perceived as pursuing a higher status relationship." Sadly, this perspective is far too dismissive of Lois Lane's true status. As a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter who has been shown to arrive at answers before Clark himself on multiple occasions, Lois can hardly be described as academically or intellectually inferior beyond her lack of an inherited Kryptonian IQ and yellow sun enhanced sensory system. Not even Wonder Woman has equivalent faculties. As life experiences go, Lois and Clark both grew up in America. Clark himself is even from a more humble, rural background compared to Lois' military brat and Metropolis bound cosmopolitan childhood/adulthood or Wonder Woman's island upbringing as a warrior immersed in the world of Olympian gods. Professionally, Lois, Superman, and Wonder Woman are all in pursuit of truth and justice and all frequently find themselves facing off against the powerful and the dangerous. Assessing a person's status purely based on superpowers--having them and using them--has troubling implications. For if one can label Superman and Lois as supporting a regressive patriarchy, then what, for instance, could one say about Scott Snyder's marriage to his wife where he is a comic book creator while she is a doctor?
Perhaps what's most disturbing about the reasoning used to dismiss Superman and Lois Lane's relationship as an artifact of a patriarchal past which must be discarded in favor of Superman and Wonder Woman's so-called more progressive relationship, is it ignores the other ways in which traditional systems operated. Normally, when one thinks of a prince marrying a princess or an aristocrat marrying another aristocrat one is imagining the class and patriarchal systems working to perfection; since rarely did royalty or aristocracy feel free to marry beneath their station or for love when powerful alliances, inheritances, and purity were at stake. This is why love stories like that of Titanic's Jack and Rose resonate and inspire those who encounter them. They are stories where the superficial things that often comprise one's status are rendered insignificant in light of the connection made between the hearts and souls of the characters. Jack didn't love Rose or pursue Rose for her money or her status and Lois doesn't love Clark/Superman or pursue him for those reasons either. For Superman to find common ground with the human Lois Lane, and to face the challenges that a relationship with her potentially creates, sends what is arguably is an even more inspiring and progressive message about what a person's true worth and what true equality really is.
Recently, some Superman and Wonder Woman fans balked at Dan DiDio's description of Superman and Lois Lane as "the original power couple" because of the amount of time Superman and Lois were a couple and because of their respective power levels. In their view, because Superman had other love interests in the past, and only wed Lois in approximately the last 30 years, Lois can't be the "original" other half of any kind of couple with him. Strange reasoning for fans who had no trouble embracing Superman and Wonder Woman being placed atop DC Comics' list of power couples and being called a power couple after only an announcement of a kiss between them. Furthermore, it's asserted that Lois can't be a part of a power couple with Superman because she's literally not as powerful as he is and has to rely on him occasionally. Few power couples in real life could satisfy such rigid demands. It's more appropriate to view power couples not as people who are "powerful" in the exact same ways, but in their own ways, and whose strengths and weaknesses are complemented by their partners' in ways that, if relied upon, make both partners stronger and better in their own lives.
