Marilyn Monroe As A Potent Symbol Of Feminism
Introduction
Celebrities occupy ample space in the public consciousness. Whether we realize it or not, they're like political figures. Their image, on a big screen movie theater or television, is a representation of the power and the wealth celebrities possess. One of the most famous stars is Marilyn Monroe; she was a renowned actress recognized by her work ethic and her beautiful image she projected toward the public. Her looks were dazzling to the eyes of many men. People say she is a sex symbol because of her attractiveness. Her style was impeccable, the work of a true artist. But beauty wasn't the only thing Marilyn Monroe possessed. She was brilliant and loved reading, as well. The other factor to her fame was the scandals she was involved in; for example, she secretly had a relationship with President John F. Kennedy. This great artist was found sadly dead and naked with drugs scattered all over the room. Some say she died by her hand, while others believe it was by someone else hand. The scandals of Marilyn Monroe were not on purpose. She just wasn't aware of the consequences of her scandals. Like many other celebrities, she was suffering from the pressure of her career and public opinion. And fame itself it just got to a point where her happiness and dreams just became dull. Some say she lost feeling and purpose in her life, but there is also the possibility that Marilyn Monroe had a mental illness.
Identifying Information
Marilyn Monroe was a 36-year-old Mexican American female who lived in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. She was born on June 1, 1926. Her real name is Norma Jeane Mortenson. Marilyn's mother Gladys Mortenson named Marilyn after Norma Tallmadge, a famous actor in the mid-1920's. Marilyn was born and raised with no father figure in which to influence her life. She later changed her name through baptism to Norma Jeane Baker because her father left them she took on her mother Gladys last name Baker.
Her family was composed of her mother Gladys Baker, Berniece Baker, Robert Baker after her father abandoned the family. Marilyn's mother, Gladys, took the role of both mother and father over time. However, due to her depression and schizophrenic habits, she was put in many psychiatric institutions. She was decided unfit to take care of her daughter Marilyn. She died in 1984 due to heart failure. There is also Marilyn sister Berniece Baker, who is still alive today, as a centenarian. Berniece Baker has committed her life to assisting children with mental illness. Monroe also had a brother Robert Baker, who died in 1933 due to a kidney infection. It is a bit of an unfortunate series of health and mental illness issues that have fallen on the Baker family.
Marilyn Monroe spent a lot of her childhood in orphanages and eleven different foster homes. Many individuals mistreated her. She even suffered sexual abuse. Even with the struggle, she was a woman of faith. Marilyn original religion was Christianity, but then converted to Judaism when she married Arthur Miller it was her faith that gave her a bit of mental relief from the pressures and stressors of her career and her life in general. Still, it wasn't enough to help her pull through and survive. Her mental illness overpowered her faith and her life.
Though Marilyn Monroe dropped out of high school at the age of 15 and never really studied acting, she aspired it even though she saw it as impossible it came to a time Monroe moved to the South Pacific and worked for a munitions company in California. She encountered a photographer tasked to take pictures of working women in World War 1. Marilyn Monroe became the symbol for working women, and afterward, Monroe became a model sought by many even Hollywood. From there, she branched out toward an acting career. But over the years, Marilyn eventually got married; her marital status in the end sadly was single Monroe married and divorced three men James Dougherty, Joe DiMaggio, Arthur Miller. She didn't develop a genuine romance in her previous marriages just a need for pleasure; the one man who she lasted at least five years with her in marriage was Arthur Miller, a play writer, but she divorced him too. She never had any children with any of them, but she did have two or three miscarriages in her life the hardships of Marilyn were breathtaking it leads us to question how did she survive or keep going, after all, she has faced?
The world was calling Monroe; she couldn't force herself to settle down and start a family due to her constant need for substance abuse and attention. It clouded her judgment as an individual and actress. Despite her childhood experience and emotionally painful past, Marilyn Monroe went on in 1946 to become a model, and from that point, it took her to become a very famous actor.
Presenting Problem and Diagnostic Formulation
Marilyn Monroe developed many symptoms, but to narrow it down a bit will discuss 6 of the most significant ones she demonstrated. Fear/anxiety consumed Monroe her fear of getting her mother's illness tormented her, and her concern led to worry. It turned into a struggle for her acting career and left her feeling very stressful; depression plagued Marilyn Monroe's mind. Her three failed marriages and two miscarriages. The death of her brother the institutionalization of her mother in a mental hospital. It was too much to bear her being an actress with power and money. She couldn't do anything to prevent any of that Monroe lives with guilt over things she didn't have control over, insomnia was a severe influence in Monroe due to stress and pressures she faced in her life and career it left her sleepless and tired. Suicidal thoughts influenced Monroe greatly; she had finally built a great life full of riches and attention, none of which she received in childhood though it wasn't enough for her; Monroe still felt incomplete that she was missing something. Monroe knew she would never truly recover what Monroe was missing because if Monroe were to step back to her past, She believed she would feel pain once more.
Monroe lost a sense of identity and confidence in being herself. Her role as an actor took on the image of her life itself, becoming a show an act. It was not something she could live and enjoy and be proud of; Marilyn failed to find happiness and saw suicide as a way out of the pain. Substance use is sleeping pills Marilyn used to help with her insomnia. Still, she would do it so consistently that now it becomes a necessity for Monroe and alcohol consumption to become another necessity to drown her depression. Norma Jeane could have changed many things in her past life if Norma had been Marilyn Monroe from the very beginning. But she couldn't change who she indeed was or her past, so she changed her identity. Identity disturbance affected Norma Jeane greatly and created Marilyn Monroe to mask Norma Jeane's true self. Because she didn't want someone who suffered so much to earn the privilege of becoming an actress, she didn't wish for her rise to stardom to originate from her traumatic experiences and insecurities. These symptoms are signs of Borderline Personality Disorder.
Borderline Personality Disorder is a disease that is heritable via genetics, so I believe that Monroe received this disease from one of her family members. Her mother, Gladys Baker, who was Schizophrenic, and also the influence of her traumatic childhood, played an essential role. So we can say Marilyn Monroe's final diagnosis is Borderline Personality Disorder because it is a mental disorder that shows frequent changes in mood, behavior, and relationships. According to her family history and medical history and psychological assessment of her past traumatic experiences, it demonstrates proof of Borderline Personality Disorder in Marilyn Monroe.
Treatment Plans and Recommendations
The effective treatments that can help Marilyn Monroe with her mental illness of Borderline Personality Disorder would be individual psychotherapy. Speaking one on one with a therapist is one of the best forms to begin the recuperation process from the illness that plagues Monroe mind. Another common way would be having Monroe attend counseling sessions on relapse prevention for her to continue to improve and not succumb to the mental illness to avoid being in an even worse state of health. Outside help from her friends or fellow actors that have been through what Monroe has been through talking it out with her form a support group helps motivate her to continue treatment. It shows her that she is not alone and has all the advice and support she needs on the way to recovery.
Dual diagnosis treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder and addiction can help Monroe ease her inappropriate behaviors and need for drugs that harm her not only mentally, physically, but her public image as well. Finally, psychiatric medication like SSRI, an antidepressant stimulant, can help Marilyn Monroe with her sleep insomnia, depression, and anxiety. Though there is a problem that can make treatment movements very hard for Marilyn Monroe, her career being an actress limits her ability to form a new life for herself. Her commitment to her profession and people is more of a priority than her dedication to her health itself.
Marilyn Monroe will be unsure of entering inpatient treatment due to the traumatic experience of being hospitalized. The will to improve is essential in treatment which is a problem for actors such as Marilyn Monroe herself her high public image will keep her from finishing treatment to protect the said image and keep the attention of the public. To manage such an issue, I would send Marilyn to a clinic rather than a hospital because when she was in the hospital, she always complained about her room that it felt like a prison cell. Helping Monroe trust new counselors, training on the attributes and symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder can truly help over the long term. This way, we will know what to expect from her counselors as well from her overall treatment experience.
An approach to evaluate prevention would be clinician reports and progress notes; another could also be self-report measures, and the borderline personality disorder scale; it shows the degree of difficulty in managing emotions. We trust that with therapy treatment Marilyn Monroe will never again meet analytic criteria for Borderline Personality Disorders and will help decrease substance use and developments of further symptoms of Post-traumatic stress disorder characteristics.
Accuracies and Inaccuracies
Sadly Marilyn Monroe's childhood was very traumatic than the film The Secret Life of Monroe displays. Monroe was put in the care of foster parents Ida Bolender and Grace Goddard and her mother for some time and orphanages. Monroe moved a lot in real life from place to place and had lots of guardians. She was also sexually abused in two of her foster homes, which The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe doesn't elaborate much on.
Gladys Baker, Marilyn Monroe mother had schizophrenia and spent her life in and out of psychiatric hospitals. The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe shows Monroe's relationship with her mother as closer than it indeed may be. Monroe many times went to visit her mother, but when she became an actress, she had her manager bring her reports of her mother's condition.
Marilyn Monroe married Dougherty to try to avoid going back to the orphanage when she married him at the age of 16. Monroe later revealed that she felt insecure around Dougherty from the beginning. Dougherty says he loved Marilyn Monroe, but the theater was something difficult for Monroe to avoid. It was her career her dream her life. After four years of being married, they divorced in September 1946 because Monroe couldn't sign a contract with Fox unless she were single. The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe says something else that Monroe lied about being single when she signed the contract, but it doesn't touch on her divorce from Dougherty.
The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe shows DiMaggio came back into Monroe's life close to the end to get her out of a mental clinic in February 1961. They could have been married again if Monroe didn't die. DiMaggio arranged Monroe's funeral and kept on sending roses to her grave after she died. The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe skips over that part of their marriage. The rest of was Monroe's marriage with DiMaggio was full of conflict and violence.
The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe depicts Miller to be harsh and heartless to his wife, which is not true; they had a loving relationship. The marriage became unstable when Marilyn had a miscarriage, he believed she was to blame. So Miller left his diary out for Monroe to discover which describes his disappointment in her, which crushed Monroe. Marilyn Monroe's drug problem also had a hand in destroying the couple's marriage.
The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe states that mental illness is in Monroe's family. Gladys Baker Marilyn mother who had schizophrenia she dealt with paranoia, delusions, and depression. Things got bad in Monroe mental state she nearly killed herself which caused her psychologist, Dr. Kris, to put her in a psychiatric hospital in 1961. It's unknown if Monroe ever showed the behavior seen in The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe. It was a troubling experience the doctor was trying to do studies on her and Monroe was trying to resist and harm herself if not taken out from the psychiatric hospital. A newspaper report published the day after Monroe's death describing the actress as being depressed and reckless before she passed away.
If you see The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe film, you will learn more about Marilyn Monroe; then you know that she is one of the most ambitious figures of all time. Sadly you'll also realize that you will never honestly know Monroe either, which is what Monroe wanted but also feared the most.
Conclusion
This Famous actress Marilyn Monroe is an exemplary example of life she will never be gone from history. But be remembered forever. Marilyn's life was short; she died at the age of 36, surrounded by all the sinful pleasures of the world adultery and drug abuse. Many believed she killed herself by her hand, having suffered from the effect of being famous. Having to be all alone and eventually developing feelings of depression and hopelessness, she did attempt to take her life 12 years ago in 1950 before her death in 1962. She was treated 11 years later for a nervous breakdown in 1961. Marilyn Monroe died August 5, 1962, in her home from an overdose on a sleep-inducing sedative drug she was taking for her insomnia known as a barbiturate. Marilyn burial was at Westwood Memorial Park in L.A., California. Though the famous Marilyn Monroe was psychologically ill, her legend nonetheless is still alive today, making her image a potent symbol of feminism. Even though Marilyn Monroe is a thing of the past today, her life story and name remain cemented in history.
