Living In The Female vs Male Gaze: The Audrey Hepburn & Marilyn Monroe Stylized Imagery Impact

Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn are both not only eternal icons in film, but also in fashion through their influential beauty and style that has captivated the eye and fascinated the hearts of many. The fashion and beauty practices of both women were well-suited to their personas and physical states in order to accentuate their features in an embracive manner and style that withstands the test of time to this day. Generations have been inspired by them from iconic classic films to high fashion, their external and internal states have defined fashion and beauty of many eras through their prominent presence on screen and off to the point that they are now visuals of quintessential imagery in modern media and culture which is both the mirror to and reflecting back the image of society. Their looks have changed societal standards so much to the point that they're even used as reference. For instance, the classic are you an Audrey or a Marilyn? Both women despite being remarkable with differing charms are often compared which is quite odd to think about considering how unique the personality, style, and look of each of these women were. Eternally these two had so much more in common than the personas through a gaze would allow to shine through. With media and culture defining imagery and beauty, being in the eye of the beholder we must recognize what our eyes are exposed to and the lens by which we see versus our own individualized gaze through understanding the psychology of beauty, the impact of stylized imagery, and the aesthetic of Audrey and Marilyn. We will be able to see the full picture of Audrey and Marilyn's impact of how they changed fashion and beauty for the better through their minds, looks, styles, and hearts. Actress Marilyn Monroe became the epitome of beauty in the 1950s. Marilyn broke the standard and then became it. Her signature style was upkept and adapted to every situation creating an entire repertoire. Her look became so dynamic that it is one that has echoed through time. She defined the Hollywood bombshell look and took the industry by storm going on to become the archetypal sex symbol of the 20th century through her style over its central demeanor and looks. On this Meredith Atherton Smith, ex-editor of Paris Vogue stated, she knew exactly how to get the effect she wanted with black jersey, fine silk crepe, or solid nimbus of skin-tight sequins. Marilyn would work close with costume designers to curate ensembles. She had a great awareness of the impact her style held. She was also one to support lesser-known designers and bring them into the spotlight such as Emilio Pucci and Ferragamo. Her fashion house association is now most tied to Chanel. The mission statement of this house is to be the ultimate house of luxury, defining style and creating desire now and forever. This is very much the spirit of Monroe's aura and essence. As we can see in her interview, She aided in the formation of the spirit that would be Chanel No. 5, carrying on her nature of wit and charm. Though in her time, Marilyn never formally appeared in a Chanel commercial as a muse, she did become a pivotal part of the Chanel legacy through her iconic interview as well as archival images revealing her penchant for Chanel cosmetics. As part of her beauty regime, Audrey garnered in a new era that changed the audience perception of women as well as a change in manner by which women would dress. In 1954, photographer Cecil Beaton stated, Pepperine was the public embodiment of our new feminine ideal. Audrey's style was more minimal, a focus on quality and clean silhouette, capturing sartorial shifts out of trends into a timeless style. For the film Sabrina, costume designer Edith Head sought out a genuine couture piece for Audrey to sport as Sabrina to tangibly capture her mindset, but their first choice, Balenciaga, refused to create the costumes. Audrey then turned to her favorite designer. In 1953, Givenchy was entering the height of high fashion and would meet the woman who would become his muse. At first sight, the designer was perplexed by her, expecting Catherine Hepburn and declined her invitation. Audrey was left to try on gowns herself straight off the rack and turned out to be a perfect fit, depicting her physically as the ideal Givenchy woman. Later that same evening, they had dinner and their lifelong friendship began. On this, the designer expressed her beauty, personality, and lightness of spirit, captured his heart. When Audrey returned to set, she had been gifted three original pieces from the collection that would appear in the film, the first of many Givenchy pieces to be featured in film. The designer already had an innate sense of designing for Audrey. Famously, she stated, his are the only clothes in which I am myself. He is far more than a couturier, a creator of personality. Together they would continue to collaborate creatively Screenwriter George Axelrod was even hired to suit the screenplay for Monroe. In production, speculations around the film had rumors of the character being a call girl. Monroe was strongly advised to avoid playing a lady of the evening and would go on to perform in internal beauty. Style is not only clothing, makeup, beauty, and physical appearance, but also spirit, attitude, and belief systems. In critical theory, sociology, and psychoanalysis, the term gaze is defined in both a philosophical and figurative sense as an individual's awareness and perception of other individuals, groups, or oneself. Film techniques that produce a gaze are the stylization of imagery where the camera captures a stylized view derived in one's beliefs, thoughts, messages, and intent. The male gaze is defined as the act of depicting women in the world in the visual arts from a masculine-heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the viewer. This is not to say that if you are male you only have the male gaze and if you're female you only have the female gaze and no one is exempt from this as we all intake media. I will be using these as terms similar to the use of menswear or womenswear. Anyone can wear either. These gazes we may find or see in, but they are not our own. How we intake this visual information as a spectator is much more defining than the presentation in terms of our own viewpoints. Since we are the physical eye gazing at the image in our life, it is important to keep our own individualized gaze developed rather than having it defined for us considering both gazes produce pleasure and viewer identification, but in The more exposure one has, the more ingrained the external gaze becomes. If there is not an individual thought while established backed with a strong sense of self, the sub- and conscious mind are bidirectional in function. The conscious is your individualized and the subconscious mind is automatically engaged, taking in all information. When a stylized lens impacts our own, we are taking in information that is already filtered which disturbs our natural thought patterns. We begin to question and think in a way we didn't before. This allows for the externally created point to shape the narrative rather than creating our own. A quote from The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood comes to mind, peering through the keyhole in your own head if nowhere else. You are a woman with a man inside watching a woman. You are your own voyeur. This is why it is so important to be mindful of stylized insights and unlearning a gaze if it has hindered our connection to our own individualized sense of a gaze. Beauty is often in the eye of the holder, but then that begs the question, what defines the eye? Our belief systems, experiences, biological, societal, cultural, and individualized views. The earliest theories of beauty find a strong connection between mathematics and beauty often in relation to the golden ratio. When one views beauty, it is often most a combination of external and internal factors such as personality and intelligence. With much emphasis on either side, inner and or external will lead the other to a diminished value which can lead to issues of self-esteem, body image, and insecurity of intellect or personality depending on the variable dismissed. For instance, Marilyn is noted to feel a sense of inadequacy due to her lack of a formal education and went on to be dubbed a dumb blonde in the media in spite of the fact that she herself was incredibly intelligent. Initially, she utilized this to propel her career forward. Her beauty, style, and sex appeal was often used as a marketing tool and her performances were captured in the male gaze. She also did this for herself, stating, I dress for men, a woman looks at your clothes critically, a man appreciates them, and Gentleman Prefer Blondes 1953 was one of her most notable performances. She was sensual, vulnerable, and lively, so much so that she would breathe life into following media and culture for generations. In The 7-Year Itch, Marilyn officially became a sex symbol. This would be the turning point of her personal struggle. And in this film, her character is literally the object of desire and forever changed American film psyche. Even though the actress was captured on screen in the male gaze, Marilyn was at ease in front of the camera and allowed her personality to shine through. She went beyond limits of her time. Later though, she would often be mistreated and compared to other actresses in a lesser light who were publicly classified as quote-unquote proper, hence all of the Marilyn and Audrey comparisons. Depending on the gaze, a Audrey type will lose to a Marilyn in concept, or a Marilyn type will fall short to Audrey in concept, hence the running conceptual competition. This is produced by the male and female gaze in unison, taking the aesthetics, beauty, and style, then diminishing the formable attributes to create categorical standards of how a woman should be. Creating this whole narrative that if you're physically attractive, you're lacking internally, and if you don't meet the standard of beauty, you will compensate internally rather than recognizing an individual for who they are. Treehopper and Son reveal one of the reasons for her low self-esteem is that when she started out, some newspaper articles depicted her as not so perfect. She had big feet, a big nose, and small breasts. She wasn't at all what the average beautiful girl was perceived as, especially by men. When Audrey was rising in her career, the bombshell look was in favor. Audrey is physically quote-unquote lacking what is necessary to be the surface value subject. She is presented more on a conceptual pedestal, a different form of objectification that makes her more of a symbol. Her own presentation of how she moves, dresses, carries herself, furthers this development stylistically. Through her demeanor she was able to change the presentation of women on screen even in more risque roles, hence how the reaction of Breakfast at Tiffany's had changed completely. The type of opportunity Monroe would not receive due to being taken at surface value as down blonde and beautiful. This is not to say that the male gaze is wrong and the female gaze is right. Both are insightful and damaging because of this elusive and ever changing concept around beauty and femininity. This is produced by idealization and aspiration towards a conceptual state of being that is not grounded in reality, but rather an artistic curation that is a result of production not meant to be taken at surface value or have the concept linked to complete gratification. I talk about the idealization of women and this cycling in and out through a character style analysis of Betty and Megan from Mad Men if you're interested more on this topic. Conceptualizing to the extent that idealization is formed beyond reach is damaging as well. Our own gaze needs to be intact and we must appreciate others for who they are internally as well as externally rather than having this defined for us. In the French branch of Freudian theory, psychology the ego has been defined as an image of the perfect self towards which the ego should aspire. Many people see these women and aspire to be much like them, but Marilyn and Audrey both did not meet convention only going on to becoming established because of each of their unique beauties internally and externally regardless of their own insecurities. Often the male gaze is hyper-focused on attributes of conventionally attractive women and a traditional feminine appeal. This dismisses other attributes such as personality, skill set, talents, etc stripping them of their agency. Marilyn despite being a very surface value icon in her time on beauty stated, Imperfection is beauty. Madness is genius. It's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring. Marilyn was so often presented in the male gaze with a complete focus on her romantic body lines in spite of the fact that she was incredibly intelligent, eloquent, sensitive, and in the few fleeting moments when she had the opportunity revealed she is a deep thinker, with so much beneath the surface that was never shared. In the gaze of film that aims to stimulate thought, Audrey's look was often more favored because of societal preconceived notions and the biases and attribution of women and discussion of beauty amongst Monroe and Audrey. Monroe is often more physically admired while for Audrey personality comes up more. Her beauty from within shined outward even though these terms were not around at the time. Audrey was often more perceived in the female gaze which allows for this to be brought forth giving her look suited to be a Givenchy woman. The Givenchy products whether it be fragrance or clothing are tools of transformation encouraging the men and women who wear them to express their character freely. Each piece is pure artistry in its own right but truly comes to life when worn. Givenchy as a designer in its time gave Audrey more agency. Marilyn's curated persona and by extent, style, and image was a tool that she could switch. Rather than being ashamed of her beauty, she embraced it but others cannot see past the exterior. Her lack of agency always being seen in a gaze that didn't allow her to be dimensional forced this persona to be switched on at all times even when Marilyn wanted it off. Monroe did not get the chance to be in the female gaze on or off screen during her time as she was deemed two-dimensional even though Audrey was not well-suited for the male gaze. They are both now seen as beauty, fashion, and feminine icons. They are also both more appreciated in the female gaze socially speaking. The male and female gaze and media are perspectives outside of our own. How we apply and what we do with this information can be positive or negative no matter which lens Audrey and Marilyn were captured in both in terms of camera or thought. They transformed how fashion is seen, defined stylistic approaches for all to partake in, and changed the way women thought of their own looks and bodies. What has made these two women so formable and admired as icons of fashion and beauty isn't one specific look as they developed and transformed over time themselves but their own specific look through breaking the mold and living with conviction which then as a to be embracive, staying true towards oneself even in the face of any hardship. Both are rightfully seen as some of the most glamorous and beautiful icons inside and out. Tom Ford has two quotes on this that often comes to mind for me. He states, Glamour is something more than what you put on your body. It has to do with the way you carry yourself and the impact you have on others. Amplify your individuality and show the world you are of maximum impact. Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe have done just this and as we move forward in life we can recognize their beauty, formable personalities, intellect, charms, styles, and signature fashion as inspiration to draw from so that we can embrace our own beauty and style internally as well as externally. I hope you enjoyed this video, if you did please subscribe, like, turn on notifications, and comment. Thank you so much!