Marilyn Monroe As Perfect American Woman

Another way in which Hollywood defused any anxieties caused by Monroe’s sexuality is through symbolism. According to Banner, ‘Monroe’s whiteness was important to her look throughout her career.’ (Banner, 2008, p.6) This is because the colour white is often used as a signifier of purity, innocence, goodness, and even divinity, indicating the whiteness of angels. Just through her light skin tone, which contrasted with the highly desired and popular tanned skin tone, Monroe was unintentionally attaching herself to the symbolism of the colour white. According to Dyer, ‘the white woman is offered as the most highly prized possession of the white man, and is also part of the symbolism of sexuality itself.’ (Dyer, 2004, p.42) Furthermore, her dyed platinum blonde hair not only took its symbolism from the colour white, but was reminiscent of ‘the fluffy down of some children’s head, or baby chicks, or ducklings.’ (Warner, 1994, p.372) Together with her Monroeisms, Monroe is infantilised through her gestures, voice, image and the symbolisms it all draws. Therefore, her whiteness can be argued to be another mask in which Hollywood could bury her threatening behaviour. ‘It was a sign of conformity that allowed her to criticize norms about gender, sexuality and race,’ (Banner, 2008, p.8) without having to deal with the repercussions. This is because, like a child, she is deemed as not knowing any better, and her intentions are all pure. This can be seen multiple times in Monroe’s movies and is even scrutinised in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), when her father-in-law to be writes her off as a gold digging airhead, but is surprised at the end when she argues over the issues regarding gender and marriage. 

Although written as comedic and therefore not to be taken seriously, Monroe does on many occasions point out the issue in 1950s American society. Banner describes this as ‘the irrational logic of the dumb blonde concealing a penetrating intuition. She brings the wisdom of the ancient fool into the modern era.’ (2008, p.14) As a result, the gendered meanings produced are that women are equal only to children, animals, and even objects. They are to be cared for and adored over but are not supposed to talk about important topics, as they are not supposed to know better than their care takers.

In conclusion, costume and mise en scene play a very important role in producing gendered meanings and defining femininity. In the case of Marilyn Monroe, Hollywood tried to present her as the perfect 1950s American woman, bringing to life the much loved pin-up. This resulted in the femininity which she defined being emulated by many women. This reveals a more liberal femininity in 1950s America that embraced a powerful female sexuality and independence. However, she was also rejected as too fetishistic and transgressive, showing that a more traditional femininity also existed. This shows that there is not just one version of femininity in 1950s America, but multiple different strands. Many of which may have been produced by costume and mise en scene from not only Marilyn Monroe films, but other stars such as Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Rita Hayworth and Joan Crawford.