Marilyn Monroe, born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926. Making her 36 years old when she died on August 5, 1962 in her hometown of Los Angeles, California. Monroe became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and continues to be considered a major popular culture icon. Monroe was a 1950s actress and model. She stared in many movies and became a top-billed actress for 10 years. Her films grossed at about $200 million by the time of her demise in 1962.…
Betty White is one of the most influential actresses of television history. Born as Betty Marion White on January 17, 1922 in Illinois, her family moved to Los Angeles, California during the Great Depression. She began her career by reading commercials for the radio in 1939 when she was seventeen years old. Betty White then started acting on television shows and movies. Since then, she has won several awards and continues to act. Betty White’s autobiography, If You Ask Me: (And of Course You Won’t), reveals an actress's life from her perspective. Betty White’s long life and lengthy career have made it possible to provide inspiration to everyone in the acting world and in the real world.…
What began as a brunette beauty by the name of Norma Jeane Baker born in LA, California, soon transformed into the blondest, biggest sex symbol Hollywood has yet to cross paths with. Marilyn Monroe belonged to the public from the moment she stepped onto the screen and the voluptuous, 50’s goddess knew it. In combination with Monroe’s fascinating personal life and alluring pout and sensuality, the bombshell left an ever-staying impact on Hollywood, still yet to be outshined by any sex icons to come.…
Norma Jeane Mortenson, also known as Marilyn Monroe, was and still is an icon because of her bravery and high self-esteem. She is so famous because she didn’t cover up her body, she embraced her curves and never hid them like most girls did back in the day “Imperfection is beauty,madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” Many women from her era weren’t as sexualized as she was and that made her more entertaining also. In 1962 Marilyn Monroe died at age 36. No one knows how she died, but 50 years later she is still an icon.…
huge sex symbol in many films. As beautiful and successful as she is, she had a dark side.…
Question: Why do you suppose the New Woman, portrayed in either a positive or a negative light, was such a pervasive image in popular culture of the era?…
Professor Jenny Jochens is a medievalist from Baltimore, Maryland that devoted her career specifically to the study of medieval women. She graduated from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, where she was born. Professor Jochens considers her field of study to be Old Norse Society, but she didn’t always have this specialization. She helped create the first Women’s Studies Program in the country. Her and other founders wanted the program to be interdisciplinary and intended to be influenced by the way she taught, by getting involved with biologists, psychologists, and other members of departments in order to cover the whole subject of women in society.…
After her failed marriage and her going into adulthood way to fast, she appeared in many movies and modeling jigs. But, while all this was going on, she had a busy personal life. Miss Monroe then later married a New York Yankee centerfielder in 1954 named Joe DiMaggio after her first divorce with Jimmy Dougherty that ended because of the lack of communication. She divorced DiMaggio not even a full year later, but there were rumors he still loved her and they still had a connection shortly before she died ("Marilyn Monroe." American Decades.). During the filming of another movie in 1956, Monroe got married to the playwright Arthur Miller. She was so devoted to him, she even converted to his religion two days after their marriage. They worked together on a few films following the next few years, then got divorced in 1961. Shortly after their failed marriage, Miss Monroe went to a mental hospital because of insomnia and her addiction to sleeping pills. She was known to always be terrified that she would end up like her mother with severe schizophrenia. She was constantly put under pressure from her peers, press, studios and herself ("Marilyn Monroe." Dictionary of American Biography). All of these issues were believed to be caused by her childhood and upbringing. After she left the hospital, she appeared in Something’s Gotta Give, was fired then rehired. However, on August 5th,…
IOne of the methods straight edge women used as a resistance mechanism was by “refusing to prove their femininity” as a method to align themselves more with the superior and larger population of men (Haenfler 149). By adopting more of a masculine appearance and attitude, this is how the women aimed to set themselves apart from mainstream society. Rejecting one’s gender role expectations is what these women should have focused on rather than rejecting their gender identity completely. Marilyn Monroe embraced her sexuality and beauty to become one of the most confident, idealized women of her time. In fact, Monroe’s ability to showcase her womanhood and graceful attitude is how she began her career (“Marilyn”). Straight edge women would…
People looked at Marilyn Monroe different but nobody is perfect, Marilyn Monroe did what she wanted to do the way she thought made her happy a lot of people may have criticized which maybe was also a reason of why she suffered with going through things in her life which most people failed to realize. From Marilyn Monroe being stressed from many of the media and went through depression because of the social drama people either made up or was not even there business for others to know, really made her do tragic things. All the drinking she did was maybe a possibility of the media people did of her, or the stress of not getting sleep made her take sleeping pills, which lead to a tragic death (Notable…
Open for approximately 120 years, the Hull House in Chicago aided countless, different people. Some of those residents eventually rose to prominence and impacted even more people on local, state, and national levels. This beacon of reform served its purpose for many years and the residents helped make life as we know it today. However, this reform would never have been possible if Jane Addams had not been around. As an activist, reformer, sociologist, president and founder of several organizations, and even a Nobel Peace Prize winner, Jane Addams increased living quality for many, and ensured that no one in the Chicago area would have to worry about how to provide for themselves, become educated, or locate somewhere to live. As America became…
Mae West is a name that comes up when discussing U.S. censorship and film, mainly because she was a Hollywood star who danced the line between what was allowable and what was not. A great deal of her career as a Hollywood actress revolves around pushing the limits of the moral landscape. She became one of the biggest…
Elvis Presley was the first rock and roll star. He was born January 8, 1935, in East Tupelo, MS. Presley was the son of Gladys and Vernon Presley, a sewing machine operator and a truck driver. He and his parents moved to Memphis, TN in 1948 and Elvis graduated from Humes High School in 1953. Elvis Presley is one of the world’s most famous singers and icon of music and pop culture. His talent, good looks, sensuality, charisma, and good humor endeared him to millions, as did the humility and human kindness he demonstrated throughout his life.…
Marilyn Monroe is a very clever icon to use throughout the play. This is because using her as a reference sets us in the correct time period. She is also a good symbol, because she has links to many of the themes in the play including death, addiction and beauty.…
Shirley Jackson's stories and books arose out of the complex, sad, and joyous magic of her life. Often her stories were based on her own family or strange little customary romances, well suited for the magazines she wrote for. Jackson's restrictive upbringing created a struggle within her to both fulfill and deny the ways of her mother to whom appearance and social acceptance was all important. She was an odd, plain girl rejecting the gracious country-club lifestyle of her family, preferring to keep to herself for most of her life.…