Bette Davis and Her Unique Ideals in the Manipulation of the Male Gaze

A star’s success is mainly dependent on the way they can represent an ideal, whether that be what men want women to be, what women wish they could be or what women relate to the most. Bette Davis is one actress who represents more of what the average woman might relate to, rather than a man’s ideal woman. Not to say that she isn’t desirable to the male gaze, but she plays into that desire in a more subliminal way. She does so by being nonthreatening and lacking a greater sex appeal. She manipulated the male gaze with her nonthreatening mannerisms and looks, resulting in undeniable success. Her success is not defined by the male gaze, as she is wildly talented and has gone down as one of the best actresses in film history, but the male gaze definite helped her gain popularity. By using it, she was able to empower women with her platform of being different from the typical female star. She showcased her natural self, was unique in her acting approach, strayed away from being sexy and moved more into the mystery and emotion of her roles. Richard Dyer explains in “Part Three: Stars as Signs” that stars are supremely figures of identification…and this identification is achieved principally through the stars relation to social types.” People felt that they could relate to her and that she represented what an average woman at that time looked like, so they identified more with her performances. 

Her talent was so well regarded that she often superseded the other main characters in the films she was in. For example, in the film Dangerous, she stole the show from her co-star Humphrey Bogart, an extremely famous actor, and took the name space in all of the reviews about the film. Her differences from other female stars are what put her on top. She got more opportunities that typical female actresses would not get. Her perception in the public was unique and one that did not die with her age. While, she did face ageism in Hollywood, her roles were not always solely based on her looks, so ageism did not affect her career as immensely. Even though she was a  successful actress with a public image of female strength, professionalism and confidence, her audience lacked seeing her sexuality and passion. To the point where they could not truly picture it unless she alluded to it blatantly. This, unintentionally, made her more mysterious, so in each new film that she starred in she showed more and more of her personality, sexuality and passions, which intrigued her fans and made them want to continue watching all of her films. Her stardom stayed consistent with her positive manipulation of the male gaze, the revealing of a new part of her personality in each of her films, her professionalism and confidence and her raw talent—all resulting in female empowerment that showed women they do not need to conform to societies typical standards of beauty, especially within the male gaze. She showed women that they can be desired by men in other ways than their looks and that desire from men does not define them. Their success can stem from their own talents and self confidence. Bette Davis showed women that they don’t need to conform to any male standards to thrive and achieve their dreams.

The Star Image and Its Ability to Empower Women

The image of a star is dependent on both their on-screen and off-screen appearance. It is also dependent on the way they play into the male gaze or how they can represent an ideal for men or women. Richard Dyer explains in “Part Two: Stars as Images” that “Star images function crucially in relation to contradictions within and between ideologies, which they see to variously ‘manage’ or resolve.” This is due to the fact that we, as consumers, are searching for that ideal and glamorous star, but will never be fully satisfied with what we are given. With this, early Hollywood stars had to play the system by manipulating the male gaze with both their off-screen and on-screen personas. The paradox of the extravagant life-style and success of the stars explained in “Part Two: Stars and Images” is perceived as ordinary, but can be explained in how stars can be seen as regular people who just happen to live more expensively than the average person. This plays into both the desire of glamour and the ideal of what a normal person could be. Another way that this paradox offers is in how stars tend to represent what is typical in a society or feels typical to those in a society. This plays into the relatability that stars often have, but lacks when the male gaze comes into play, due to that concept needing to consist of an ideal, not something relatable. Dyer explains in Heavenly Bodies that “how we appear is no less real than how we have manufactured that appearance, or than the ‘we’ that is doing the manufacturing.” We are whatever we want ourselves to be. Whether that may be authentic or manufactured, they are just as real as the latter. At a certain point, we must differentiate the fact that we are dealing with stars and not just fictional characters. These actors and actresses are real people and, while their fictional character may add to their personality, it doesn’t not make up fully who they are. The phenomenon of being a star is supposed to capture more of who the person is and less about the roles that they play.

This manipulation of the male gaze can transcend time—empowering women from many generations, all with the same pieces of work. Dyer explains in Heavenly Bodies that “Star images have histories, and histories that outlive the star’s own lifetime.” This is true for most stars, especially those that are referred to as “iconic.” Because of the study of film and media, these images are studied time and time again and new information is consistently discovered about said images, causing these stars legacies’ to continue to grow and their impact on the feminist movement to continue on. Even without the film education that many often have when studying these groundbreaking female actresses, they still make important commentary on female empowerment and showcase their talent by representing an ideal, being relatable, being a star and also staying true to themselves. “There is a rhetoric of sincerity or authenticity, two qualities greatly prized in stars because they guarantee, respectively, that the star really means what he or she says, and that the star really is what she or he appears to be,” Dyer explained. People are more likely to support a star if they are genuine and real and, to successfully do this while also pleasing the male gaze, manipulation of it has to occur, resulting in popularity among all and female empowerment among many.

Marilyn Monroe and How She Used the Male Gaze to Empower Women

Marilyn Monroe: a house-hold name, a fashionista, an award-winning actress, a sex icon and so much more. She is a multi-faceted actress that is often misunderstood as surface level or is just seen for her looks. This misunderstanding typically comes from men and women who fail to see the way she utilized her body and talent to get viewers to feel a certain way and to climb up the ladder of success. Monroe showed women that they could use their bodies to play into the male gaze and get whatever they want. Some may see this as degrading, but I see it as a way of working against societal norms and using what you’ve got to get to the top. She was all about taking control of your situation and being confident in who you are. She also kept her public life and on-screen life similar, leading her to be successful on all fronts. Thomas Harris explains in “The Building of Popular Images” that establishing Monroe’s image as the ideal “playmate” was the image that got her most of her pictures, so she carried this image both on and off screen. While the male gaze did define much of her success, that does not mean that she conformed to it. She gave the viewers what they wanted, but also showed women that they can be beautiful, smart and talented. 

The male gaze is all about ideals, so she played into the ideal of being the perfect “Playmate” and into the ideal of being a non-threatening “dumb blonde.” Her act as a “dumb blonde” was one of the smartest acting methods that she perfected. She may have seemed dumb, but she was actually the complete opposite. It took extreme intelligence, talent and strategy to create a consistent character trait that was so believable and that ended up making her one of the most successful actresses of all time. Not only did she take over the dumb blonde act, but she also became a glamour icon. Being this icon, she took on objectification of her body, while also representing how women can live a happy and luxurious life. Łuksza Agata explains in the article, “The girl, nature, goddess, or how Marilyn Monroe became ‘the queen of glamour’?” that “hyper-feminine visual code that marks the female body as an object of desire, an object of consumption and the bearer of social aspirations, and changes it into a spectacle and a commodity that becomes a visible sign of the longing for a better life.” 

Aside from being a glamor icon generally, she was also a sex icon in both senses of representing sexuality and normalizing sexuality, especially for women. Richard Dyer explains in “Monroe and Sexuality” that “Monroe became virtually a household word for sex.” Utilizing this association with her Playboy history and pin-up style, she manipulated the male gaze to garner success and popularity—giving her a platform to empower women through ways only women would understand. Monroe said it best herself: “If I’d observed all the rules, I’d never have got anywhere.”

Outside Source Used:

Łuksza, Agata. “The Girl, Nature, Goddess, or How Marilyn Monroe Became ‘the Queen of Glamour’?” European Journal of American Culture 37.1 (2018): 57-73. Web.