This blog post will focus on the objectification
of women’s bodies in Middlesex and Marilyn Monroe's portrayal in media. Marilyn Monroe’s peak
career and the first half of Middlesex both occurred during the mid-1900s; this
similar timeline makes the comparison somewhat relevant, as well as the study
on gender in Middlesex and the status of Marilyn Monroe as a sex symbol in American
culture.
In Middlesex, different female characters share different
attitudes on the “ideal” female body type. Desdemona is described as having a very
curvaceous, feminine figure that she is embarrassed about. She attempts to hide
her figure behind bulky clothing, as she believes that her body sends off
sexual messages that she does not want. For example, she gets catcalled by men
while walking down a street in Detroit for her curvy figure. While Desdemona
tries to hide her feminine figure, Victoria Pappas and Lucille Kafkalis try to
play up their femininity by dressing up like women from an erotic magazine to
attract a man. On the other hand, Lina is criticized by her husband for daring
to wear bolder, western clothing. Lefty capitalizes on women’s curvy body
figures through his erotic photography business in which barely-dressed women are
portrayed in suggestive poses on cars. In such erotic photos and magazines, the person behind the body becomes lost, as the body is the sole focus. With the emergence of a market that
capitalizes on the sex appeal of female figures, it seems that the female body has become more objectified within society.
In media, Marilyn Monroe is known for her curvy figure and her acting, as she plays women who are highly sexualized and seemingly objectified. For example, in the movie “Seven Year Itch”, Marilyn Monroe plays a female character who was a former model and commercial actress who made money by capitalizing on her body’s sex appeal. In the same movie, Marilyn Monroe’s character is lusted after by a male neighbor who daydreams about her upon her first visual appearance. In the movie “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, Marilyn Monroe plays a blonde bombshell character who voluntarily flaunts her body to manipulate men into giving her wealth and riches. 
I think it’s really sad that actresses have to fight against an image that is imposed on them when they play a “sexy” or “dumb” character. Often times, I think people may have a hard time realizing that actresses are playing a role, and that character is not who those actresses are in real life. The media probably doesn’t help when they talk about actresses like they actually are the characters that they are playing. People consume media articles, and the vicious cycle continues. Like Marilyn Monroe, Megan Fox, a current actress that is well known for being in Transformers, has also talked about being objectified by the media and her desire to break away from the media’s portrayal of her as a sex symbol. Although Fox is a beautiful woman, I encourage others to look past the image she has and to look at her as a capable person with varying interests, including intellectual endeavors. You might even learn something new and interesting about her.
ReplyDeleteI think that the sexualization and fetishization of the human body, especially of women, creates a new problem for us entirely. Being considered sexy can be seen as a double whammy for women. Sexualization of the body limits women completely. As you mentioned with actresses, sex symbols are put in a box and are expected to always portray these ideals. This pressure can cause various detrimental outcomes to try to pursue these ideals. On the other side of the coin, the sexualization of the female body can lead to negative receptions. Women can easily be shamed and degraded for the same attributes another might be praised for. Society has this ideal that only a few can conform to. This objectification of women's bodies puts women in a contradictory situation. Women must work harder to overcome these unfair perceptions in order to survive in society.
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