Fads come and go, but this household name has stuck around for the long run. Monroe was a famous actress during the 1950s. Marilyn Monroe, also known as the sexy and ideal playmate and the dumb blonde was and still is, a major sex symbol within society. She embraced her star persona each day, leaving her fans and admirers drooling as she passed by. Her star persona was not just based off of her character on-screen, rather, it was greatly influenced by her life before her stardom.
Before acting, Marilyn was already establishing herself as a sex symbol. She was a pin-up model and a famous one at that. She was attracting the male gaze from the start. Monroe first posed as a model of “streamlined femininity.” These images typically show women gracefully posing in a one-piece swimsuit, with little props and backdrops, bright lights, and the camera facing straight forward. The streamlined femininity image was basic and left much to the imagination. Naturally, her career progressed. Soon, Marilyn was posing nude in magazines for the world to see. Monroe was featured “…on the cover of the first edition of Playboy and…[as the] Golden Dreams nude calendar photo…[as] the magazine’s first centrefold.” (Dyer, 25) These scandalous shots were filled with innocence from Marilyn’s perspective. She would describe these images and shoots as nothing more than a typical photo, saying, “I think that sexuality is only attractive when it is natural and spontaneous.” (Dyer, 30) Comments such as this caused the name “dumb blonde” to describe her. It emphasizes the innocence Marilyn displays in her actions and words.
Monroe’s life as a pin-up continued to impact and influence her until her death. In the book, Heavenly Bodies, author Richard Dyer writes, “Pin-ups remained a constant and vital aspect of her image right up other death, and the pin-up style also indelibly marked other aspects, such as public appearances and promotion for films. The roles she was given, how she was filmed and the reviews she got do little to contract this emphasis.” (Dyer, 18) Marilyn played the sexy, raunchy character in the films she was featured in. The men were chasing her and her looks, both literally and figuratively. On-screen, the male actors wanted her. In the real world, men were buying tickets at the box office waiting to see her act. On paper, she was the face of the film, showing off her body and looks to draw viewers to the box office. Dyer writes, “It was 1953 that Monroe was first voted top female box-office star by American film distributors. She was a centre of attraction, in films, promotion and publicity.” (Dyer, 25) Her successes were attributed to her beauty and sexual appeal.
Monroe was able to use her looks to her advantage. They were like an economic asset to her; where her looks went the money followed. Classic Monroe images depict the star with her lips open, eyes slightly closed, and innocent, yet sexy, expressions, such as a half smile or a laugh. According to Heavenly Bodies, “Monroe normalises sex appeal…while still associating it with something to be possessed, like a mistress bought with diamonds.” (Dyer, 38) Image 1 (below) shows just this description. The photo is so innocent, yet brings a high deal of sexual delight to the viewer. One of the most famous images of Marilyn (Image 2) again highlights this sense of innocence and sex. As she stands over a subway grate in New York, her dress flies up, revealing her body under the skirt. Marilyn uses a mix of star personas, channeling the innocent dumb blonde and the sexy playmate. She throws on that childish, yet sexual face, signaling “Oops!” Her body language tells otherwise, showing a high sex appeal to all who were looking. Why else would she stand over the grate for minutes on end, letting the wind blow up her skirt for all to see? Monroe was smart and used her body to her advantage.
Dyer’s novel Heavenly Bodies proved Marilyn Monroe’s significance as the sex symbol she still is to this day. He dove into three categorical aspects of her life (Playboy, Desirability, and Sex Pol) and used these as evidence to show the impact and impression it left on herself and her career. Her film roles centered around this sexual aspect; it sold who she was. The sex appeal Marilyn displayed was profitable for both her and the film she was in. People desired her visually and sexually, making her body a selling point. Yet, she claims this sex was not forced, it came naturally and led to happiness and truth. She showed female sexuality on a platform never indeed seen before. Marilyn Monroe embodied sex and is still known as a sex icon to this day.
Images: Heavenly Bodies, Wikipedia
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