Marilyn Monroe Research Papers

Who is the first person that comes to your mind when you hear the word "blonde"? Marilyn Monroe, born Norma Jeane Mortenson, a name no one remembers, adorns magazine covers, billboards, and various consumer products, making her a symbol of American consumerism and the growing influence of mass media. Monroe's popularity transcended all boundaries, inspiring artists, filmmakers, and performers worldwide. Her signature platinum-blond hair, voluptuous figure, and broad smile became synonymous with the idealized American female beauty in the 1950s and beyond. The famous skirt-blowing scene that blinds people from seeing her as an emotional, hard-working intellectual woman behind the glamor ultimately embarrasses her. She became a pop culture phenomenon and a '50s icon, exuding confidence and sensuality, she challenged the traditional gender roles of the time. Monroe's image as a sexually liberated woman represented a departure from the conservative norms of the era. Her status as a sex symbol

Was Monroe a victim or a beneficiary of her glamorization? During Monroe’s lifetime, her tough childhood experiences and humble origins legitimized the American Dream; however, after her alleged suicide, they became a key to understanding the somber mysteries of American culture and politics. Monroe ceased to be solely the icon of the problematic 1950s and started to exist also as a sign of the hidden conflicts of this decade. As such, she became a harbinger of the turbulences and disappointments of the 1960s. Therefore, Marilyn Monroe incorporates both the bright and dark side of the American project, its opportunities, costs, traps, and challenges. She was the poster girl of the 50s: a fixed feminine identity in a legible representational order. Marilyn is the womanly woman who represents, albeit playfully, a deliciously innocent American character. (Baty