For a long time, she was seen primarily as a sex symbol. Today, the view is different: Marilyn Monroe as an early figure in the struggle for self-determination in Hollywood – between fame, control and feminist reassessment. With this scene, Marilyn Monroe created perhaps one of the most famous moments in the history of cinema: the white dress on the subway grate, the red lips, the platinum blonde hair, the Hollywood glamour. Hardly any woman of the 20th century has been so strongly transformed into an icon – and at the same time so reduced to her appearance alone.
Even that September night in New York in 1954, when the legendary scene from the comedy “The Seventh Year” was filmed: hundreds of photographers and curious onlookers watched as Marilyn repeatedly posed on the air vent, her dress billowing in the wind, trying not to reveal too much and at the same time looking like she was having endless fun. Ironically, this scene had to be reshot later, because the sound recording was unusable due to noise.
100 years after her birth and more than 60 years after her death, Marilyn Monroe is seen in a different light today. She is no longer considered just a 1950s sex symbol, but also an early figure of female empowerment in a male-dominated film industry – contradictory, fragile, intelligent and often ahead of her time.
FROM NORMA JEAN TO MARILYN MONROE
She was born on June 1, 1926, in Los Angeles as Norma Jeane Mortenson. Her childhood was marked by foster care, orphanages, and insecurity. She learned early on that women in Hollywood were judged primarily by their appearance.
Her career began as a model, before being discovered by film studios. Norma Jeane became “Marilyn Monroe” – a name that sounded like an artistic figure and that was exactly what it was intended to be. Hollywood molded her as a seductive blonde: sensual, lively, seemingly naive. Films like “Blondes Prefer” or Billy Wilder’s “The Seventh Year” and “Some Like It Hot” made her famous worldwide.
LITERATURE, POLITICS AND ART
However, behind the public persona was a woman who wanted to be taken seriously – as an actress and as a person. While the studios limited her to stereotypical roles, Monroe worked intensively on her acting, read world literature and was interested in politics, art and psychoanalysis. Photographer Eve Arnold captured a moment in 1955 that shows this other side of her: at an amusement park, Marilyn is engrossed in reading James Joyce’s “Ulysses”. Arnold later recalled that Monroe always kept the book in the car and read parts out loud because she liked the sound of the text – even though she found it difficult.
To this day, it is often said under that photo that Monroe posed only for the camera. But she herself rejected this stereotype and said that people preferred to create an image of her, rather than caring about who she really was.
CONSCIOUS AGAINST THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
Today, many feminists see Monroe as a woman who fought early against the mechanisms of the entertainment industry. She understood very well how her body and image were used for marketing – and used this strategically to her advantage. So she was not only a victim of a sexist system, but also tried to use it to her advantage.
A significant step was the establishment of her own production company in late 1954 – something very rare for an actress at the time. She demanded more control over roles, better contracts and more serious material. She achieved higher salaries, publicly defied producers and turned down roles she did not like. At a time when studios had almost complete control over their stars, this was a strong sign of self-confidence.
“UNSTABLE AND UNPROFESSIONAL”
However, Monroe remained caught up in the contradictions of her time. The public celebrated her femininity and sensuality, but these qualities were later used against her. The media often portrayed her as unstable, difficult, or unprofessional—terms that are still often used today to describe strong women who defy expectations. Her private life also became the subject of speculation. Her marriages to athlete Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller were publicly exposed, as were her mental breakdowns and drug addiction.
When Monroe died in 1962 at the age of just 36, the myth-making began immediately. To this day, conspiracy theories about her death persist, including claims of connections to the Kennedy family – but without concrete evidence.
#METOO CHANGED THE PERSPECTIVE
In recent years, the perception of Monroe has changed again. The #MeToo debate and discussions about the abuse of power in Hollywood have helped to reexamine her story. Many now see more clearly how much she suffered from a system that idealized and controlled women at the same time. The biographical film “Blonde” (2022) also addressed this perspective. Ana de Armas’s performance portrayed Monroe as a fragile and traumatized woman. Some critics saw this as a harsh criticism of the image of women in Hollywood, while others accused the film of reducing Monroe once again to suffering and the role of victim.
Marilyn Monroe paid the price of her appearance as a woman early on. She was desired, but rarely respected. Famous, but little protected. Intelligent and educated, but reduced to the role of an always-available sex symbol. Perhaps this is where her feminist legacy lies: Marilyn Monroe showed as early as the 1950s how complicated it can be for women to assert themselves in a world that both admires and controls them. The fact that her image, a century after her birth, is still famous around the world shows how much she has influenced modern pop culture. (DW)