Abstract: This dissertation, 'Manipulating the Messenger: Wonder Woman as an American Female Icon,' examines the process by which Wonder Woman became an icon and what that process and the ever-changing icon tells us about popular culture, gender and commodity production. At different times in the publication of Wonder Woman, and for different reasons, diverging groups vied for the greatest influence in defining the comic book, and thus manipulating what Wonder Woman represented according to each group's own purposes and desires. In 1941, William Moulton Marston, a Harvard trained psychologist, created Wonder Woman to play out his theories on gender relations and thus portray what he considered the characteristics of a strong female. This dissertation investigates Marston's theories and his version of the superheroine, as well as how subsequent creators influenced the message of Wonder Woman, how the comic book changed over time to reflect changes in the political and social American atmosphere, and how the comic book's fans influenced the direction of the superheroine and thus the depiction of a female American icon. In essence, Wonder Woman serves as the medium through which to understand how a female American icon is constructed and reconstructed to reflect changes in culture.