1950s Beauty Pageants

While beauty pageants, Barbie, and icons such as Marilyn Monroe present a more provocative and sexual image than standard 1950s sitcoms, such as Leave It to Beaver or I Love Lucy, they do still fit into a prescribed gender stereotype. Most significantly, do not challenge the overarching notion that women are to be feminine and aim to sexually please males (Meyerowitz 16). Rather, they present and support the culturally-defined understanding of the ideal woman, physically. 1950s beauty pageant contestants, Barbie, and Marilyn Monroe all embodied the ‘perfect women.’ These women, icons, and toys were voluptuous, but petite. They were small in frame, had larger breasts, full hips, and a tiny waist. Their hair was done in a very feminine style

They did not challenge gender norms or ideals. Nor did they aim to usurp the position of the man. Rather, they supported the overarching mentality that women were to be submissive, strive to fulfill the needs and wants of men, and aim to please their male counterparts. (Kallen) Importantly, none of these women or representations of women exhibited any physical attributes that the dominant culture would view as masculine. Instead, they all displayed quintessential feminine characteristics and traits. Moreover, they were not valued for their brains or accomplishments; they were judged solely based on the degree to which they conformed to the male-dictated status quo. Marilyn Monroe and other sex icons of the 1950s were portrayed as dim-witted, naïve, childlike, and vulnerable, which was the polar opposite of society’s picture of the strong, smart, witty, and brave male. There was nothing about these women that challenged male superiority or threatened the overarching worldview that it was a ‘man’s world’ and women’s purpose was to make this world more enjoyable for the men who ruled it. (Meyerowitz