The Anatomy of an American Beauty
By Kitty Quinn, Photographed by Milan Lazovski, Makeup by Kitty Quinn, Styled by Kitty Quinn & Milan Lazovski, Model: Ashtyn Vanlerberghe
Lovely, luscious and exotic are just a few of the adjectives that could be used to describe the illustrious blonde bombshell. She’s the golden girl of Hollywood, a quintessential aspect of the American dream and serves as the embodiment of femininity according to societal standards. The blonde bombshell is a vessel for love and sex but is disregarded in all other respects. Though presented in a more sensationalized fashion, she is not treated much differently than the average woman and can represent a reflection of the collective view on femininity and womanhood.
The term “bombshell” being used to describe an attractive woman can be traced back to a popular sex symbol of the 1930s, Jean Harlow. Known for her striking platinum blonde hair, Harlow was appropriately cast in the 1931 film, Platinum Blonde, which garnered her the title of the original blonde bombshell. By 1933, Harlow was cast to play in the film Bombshell, where the posters outlined her as the “Blonde Bombshell of filmdom”. Following this, the term “blonde bombshell” became a common descriptor for blondes within Hollywood. However, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary by Douglas Harper, the term “bombshell” cannot be fully traced within widespread vernacular until 1942. Following the establishment of the term, during the 1940s to the 1960s, it became widely popular due to icons such as Marilyn Monroe, Mae West, Brigitte Bardot, and more. Moreover, during these times counterparts to the blonde bombshell began to appear in the form of brunettes and ethnic resembling women as well. In order to easily identify a bombshell, there are a few factors such as hypersexual behavior, a curvaceous figure, a tantalizing personality and a beauty sought after by women and lusted for by men.
Even in times when sexuality is frowned upon, she appears like a shining star of sensuality in the darkness; perhaps that’s what makes her alluring, or maybe it's the fact that she owns her power and uses it accordingly. In that way, the bombshell can be viewed as empowering to a certain degree. Despite this, however, she is merely a pawn to the American dream. She isn’t her brains or ambitions, she is to be sought after above all. During the golden age of Hollywood, it seemed to many that the American dream was alive and breathing within the heart of Los Angeles. Thousands traveled in hopes to make it big after seeing the success of the stars that spangled the silver screen. What made the American dream so appealing to men especially was the possibility of possessing things like fame, fortune, and even the woman of their dreams. The concept of the blonde bombshell within itself represents this “all-American” image that is in such high demand; however, it also represents the darker side of it as well.
For the most part, the blonde bombshell has typically caucasian features such as obvious blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. While bombshells of all races and hair colors were seeing a rise, especially in the latter half of the 1950s and 1960s, the blonde bombshell always seemed to be able to reach prolific heights of stardom while other bombshells and women of color were pushed aside. Women of color were rarely given the bombshell title despite being highly sexualized. Rather than being idolized and rewarded, these women were vilified for their sexuality instead.
That’s not to say women like Eartha Kitt, Lena Horne, Dorothy Danridge, Diahann Carroll, and many more weren’t admired— in fact, they were. However, due to racist ideologies and a large focus on the “American ideal”, they could never be mythologized like Marilyn Monroe and her other white bombshell counterparts.
The bombshell archetype is harmful to all women, just in different ways. While women like Marilyn Monroe would never be racially discriminated against, a nearly universal experience for all bombshells is the mistreatment that they face. Far too often people see a sexually liberated woman and feel entitled to sexual favors because they are seen behaving a certain way. This isn't just an issue of the past, but something that continues even in present times. For example, when Pamela Anderson’s sex tape with Tommy Lee leaked in 1995, Lee was admired while Anderson faced more sexual harassment than ever before. Lee was able to move on with his life, but Anderson continues to experience the negative effects 27 years later. With the release of the Disney+ series Pam & Tommy this year, Anderson’s power was taken away once more and her story was told without her consent. Countless other bombshells like Anna Nicole Smith, Jayne Mansfield, and nearly all of the aforementioned women also have tragic experiences that endlessly haunted them throughout their lives.
There is a common misconception that because our society values beauty and because these women are beautiful, they would lead relatively unproblematic and happy lives. Past surface level, it is easy to see that this is quite the contrary. Although deified and highly valued, the bombshell is hated for the same reasons that she is so loved. In film, bombshells were either killed or tamed with marriage as punishment for provocatively due to the shame that sexual desires provoke within our society’s puritanical ideals about sex. The bombshell archetype is just another case of women being condemned for the carnal desires that they bring out in men.
