Gentlemen Prefer Blondes- research project

                                         Gentlemen Prefer Blondes 

When told she was not the star of the film, Marilyn Monroe was quoted: "Well whatever I am, I'm still the blonde."

Marilyn Monroe reportedly suggested the line "I can be smart when it's important, but most men don't like it." 

The title suggests that women have to be a certain way to be attractive to men and that a womans appearance is judged by men.

Stereotypes of the dumb blondes- sexualised, only there for male pleasure, Male gaze, objectified.
Sings Diamonds are a girls best friend- suggests women are superficial and shallow. 

Two main females rather than one main man one supporting woman.

 Lorelei believes in only dating rich men and falling in love with them later, whereas Dorothy is a romantic who keeps falling in love with poor men. Each thinks the other is foolish when it comes to relationships, but they accept each other’s differences and are loyal to each other before any other man in their lives. 

The Brunette actress Jane Russell was paid more than Marilyn Monroe for the film- classier  also a sex symbol but respected more than Monroe was. 
Monroe: $500 a week
Russell:$200,000 for the whole film.


Jane Russell: More statuesque than other sex symbols.
Howard Hughes said, "There are two good reasons why men go to see her. Those are enough." - Objectified. male gaze
"Sex appeal is good—but not in bad taste. Then it's ugly. I don't think a star has any business posing in a vulgar way. I've seen plenty of pin-up pictures that have sex appeal, interest, and allure, but they're not vulgar. They have a little art to them. Marilyn's calendar was artistic.". sexually and intellectually confident in an era that tried to force patriarchal notions of morality

Marilyn Monroe: Was misunderstood and only remembered for the negatives such as how she died or her appearance and rumours of surgery and affairs. An early feminist. People assume she was the same as her stage persona when in fact she was intelligent and loved to read. She was an early civil rights activist. She used her fame to make a segregated club book Ella Fitzgerald to sing guaranteeing that she would attend every night and bring the press with her, this meant Ella Fitzgerald would never have to play small clubs again. 

Pretty Little Liars

 The one constant throughout Pretty Little Liars is the girls friendships throughout all of the series. The girls talk of less trivial matters than in usual teenage girl programmes, with the focus less on their love lives but more on their best friend Alison who was murdered and who did it. There are occasional mentions of fashion just to incorporate issues that the girls are having in their current lives. Such as Hanna's shoplifting which started after her mother told her of their money struggles, however Hanna resolves herself  selling her designer items online to support her and her mother.


Hanna- Used to be overweight and was bullied for it by everyone including her friends. Due to her weight the boy that she fancied refused to look at her- however when she lost the weight they started a relationship- showing us that in order to be attractive to men you have to live with ideal beauty standards and change yourselves to fit into society, after losing the weight she also becomes the queen bee. Hanna does not fit in with the usual stereotype of the queen bee as she is friendly to everyone and stands up to her friend when she bullies someone.


Emily- Emily is the typical American high school girl who plays sports and likes swimming. She is seen as the boring one of the group due to her friendly nature and the ability to be compassionate with those who are different to her. Emily is from a strict Asian family, with her dad in the military and holding a lot of power in the town. When Emily comes out as a lesbian her father goes against the stereotype and supports his daughter and her partner rather than forbidding the relationship and disowning Emily. Her mother on the other hand tries to like her daughters partner to keep up her friendly image and reputation, however she does not agree with her daughters choices and struggles to accept them. There is no mention of Emily's grade which does not conform to the stereotype of Asian people being really smart and studying all of the time. Unlike other TV programmes Emily's relationships are focused on the same amount as the other straight characters, this shows a lack of bias towards straight people and gives the show a fairly equal portrayal of the sexual orientations.