Supplemental Post -Objectification in the Studio Era

One thing we briefly touched on is the issue of objectification in relation to stardom -- this is evidenced throughout film history, from the nude photos and skimpy dresses of Marilyn Monroe to the shirtless photos of Rock Hudson and Arnold. However, one thing that has always struck me is the lengths the studio would go to to objectify their stars so as to further make them an object solely for the viewing pleasure of the public. Today, many stars, such as Megan Fox, purposely choose to objectify themselves, cashing in on their sex appeal as a valuable asset. It seems that modern stars understand that objectification, though inherently wrong, makes stars more accessible and attractive to the public.

However, for me, one instance really sums up the objectification of women by the studio system as an attempt to try to build their contractees into stars. Jayne Mansfield, as blonde bombshell of the 1950s, who was set up to be and strove to emulate Marilyn Monroe. She was Warner Bros. answer to Fox's Monroe -- a platinum blonde sex kitten with heaps of cleavage and curves. Though Mansfield never obtained the icon status of Monroe, one can clearly see WB's attempt to situate her as such. Marilyn is well remembered for being objectified -- from her teasing, nearly see-through dresses of "Some Like It Hot" to her constant reiteration of the role of object of pursuit for the male. Warner Bros. in their attempt to push Mansfield to a similar level of stardom objectified Mansfield in an even more blatant and extreme manner. While re-housing photos at my job at the Warner Bros. Archives, I was working on a file of photos from the Mansfield film "Illegal." Many of the candid and publicity stills show the actors sitting around set in their specific chairs with their names across the back. Though Edward G. Robinson, Nina Foch, and the rest of the cast had their normal names printed on the back of their chairs, Mansfield's had no name. Instead her chair merely said "40-21-35 1/2". Thus, the studio had objectified Mansfield to the point where she required no name -- she was reduced to her measurements -- a number giving us the particulars of her body parts. The fact that the studio decided Mansfield required no name, but rather could be identified the number of her measurements fully highlights the extent to which studios would objectify their actors to try to make them into stars. Indeed, photos of a glamorous Mansfield posing in the chair were distributed as publicity material.