Intelligence vs. Icon

The stranglehold of hegemonic masculinity in the United States exploits female sexuality to promote consumerism, but typifies female intellect as emasculating to men.  Hollywood moviemakers actively participate in this social domination of women in the entertainment industry.  Decades before advertising utilized ‘midriff’ ads of showing women as “desiring sexual subjects, who seem to participate enthusiastically in practices and forms of self-presentation” (Dines 280) studio heads were leveraging starlet’s active sexuality to sell movie tickets, using actresses like Marilyn Monroe.  Monroe was a talented actress who duped the public into believing that she was a merely the blonde bimbo, whom she portrayed in her movies, when in reality she had raw aptitude.  Monroe did not benefit from the kind of intelligence that Harvard-educated actress Portman has, but instead possessed the knowhow to become a sought after entity in the movie industry, who furthered herself by connecting with influential and academic people who advanced her skills and knowledge.  In her own right, Monroe was a captain-of-industry, like John Rockefeller, uneducated and with no financial capital, who used her knowledge of an industry to capitalize on it and become as synonymous with success in 1950s motion pictures as Rockefeller was with petroleum products.
          While she did not live long enough to read Cosmopolitan while Helen Gurley Brown was its editor-in-chief, Marilyn was the epitome of the ‘pink collar’ woman who lacked formal education and a good family background, but used her looks and sensuality to advance her position in society by connecting with men of power and influence.  After all, gentlemen prefer blondes.  At least that’s the message from one of Marilyn Monroe’s most famous movies: the 1953 movie with the same name.  In its musical number, Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend, Marilyn courts diamond-offering men with lyrics: “The French are glad to die for love/They delight in fighting duels/But I prefer a man who lives/And gives expensive jewels.”  The lyrics demonstrate the message – women need not look for love or attempt to improve themselves, but instead should trade sexual favors for items of concrete value (diamonds).  The song reinforced the message that women sought to please men and were to be satisfied not to be powerful in their own right, but to accept whatever they could get from men using their sexuality.
          When Sut Jhally asserted that “…gender (especially for women) is defined almost exclusively along the lines of sexuality” (Dines 245) he was directing this toward advertising. Yet, Jhally’s point is applicable to the entertainment industry just as strongly.  Women whose brand of sexuality is identifiable to audiences will succeed. Thus, Marilyn Monroe became advantaged by the popularity of her sexual imagery.  She became known for it both on and off the screen, in effect advertising her brand of sexuality by carrying it through to publicity of her private life. So it follows that if Marilyn openly displayed her intelligence, she would have obstructed the media image that made her movies popular.  At a primal level, it would have disturbed the illusion that men could possess her because she was vulnerable and vapid.  From a societal perspective had Marilyn shown her intellect, it would have run counter to hegemonic masculinity, which continues to be a driving force in today’s entertainment media by maintaining that men are dominant and therefore women cannot be competent or intelligent.  Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s 2012 documentary on media’s depiction of women aptly stated the framework that sustains this inequality, “Studio chiefs see the world, but don’t challenge it, replicating what we know” (Miss Representation).  Marilyn was a product of these studio chiefs, and while she profited from it with her popularity, she suffered it too, by hiding her intelligence and being belittled for her ‘dumb blonde’ façade.

Actress Natalie Portman is an example of a modern-day celebrity who displays her sexuality, but does not boast her intelligence.  She won the Academy Award for best actress in 2010 for the movie Black Swan as well as two Golden Globe awards (Natalie Portman Awards).  She speaks multiple languages, graduated with the Bachelor’s degree from Harvard and has been published in scientific journals (Lamare).  She is among the smartest celebrities with an SAT score that may have been in the 1400s (10 Celebs). Yet, with all her accomplishments, look at the images below.  Portman is clearly promoting her sexual image.  Look at the quote attributed to her, “Smart women love smart men more than smart men love smart women.” Portman speaks to the issue at-hand:  Men do not appreciate female celebrities for their intellect.  So, rather than have photos showing Portman with her Harvard diploma or her Oscar, she is shown half naked(see below).  That says it all!

 

 

Works Cited

“10 Celebs with Amazing SAT Scores.” Best Colleges Online. 7 November 2011. Web. 14 March 2015.  http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2011/11/07/10-celebs-with-amazing-sat-scores/

Dines, Gail and Jean M. Humez. Gender, Race, and Class in Media.  Boston: Sage Publications, 2014.  Print.

Lamare, Amy. “12 Stars Who Are Smarter Than You Think.” Your Daily Scoop.
11 February 2014. Web. 14 March 2015. http://www.yourdailyscoop.com/12-stars-who-are-smarter-than-you-think/

Miss Representation.  Dir. Jennifer Siebel Newsom.  Virgil Films, 2012.  Film.

“Natalie Portman.” QuotesValley.com. n.d. web. 14 March 2015. http://www.quotesvalley.com/smart-women-love-smart-men-more-than-smart-men-love-smart-women-8/

“Natalie Portman Awards.”  IMDb.com. N.d. Web. 14 March 2015. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000204/awards