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Her talent was so well regarded that she often superseded the other main characters in the films she was in.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.
