Female Objectification in the “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Female Objectification in the “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Feminism remain a hot topic to date, however the modern woman is deemed more privileged compared to their counterparts in previous centuries. The book “Gentlemen prefer blondes” depicts how objectification of the female gender was prevalent in the 1950s. Society tends to highlight certain stereotypes in regards to gender that end up pushing the victims to conform. While society paints the male gender as more superior and should portray strength, the same society illustrates females as subjects of their male counterparts. These notions have led to self-objectification where women believe they must conduct themselves as society perceives right. Since time memorial women are viewed as objects for the male pleasure which is evident in “Gentlemen prefer blondes.” The book showcases that everything a woman does is in order to please a man. While “Gentlemen prefer blondes” showcases the plight of a woman as privileged with the uncontested male attention, the book has a significant portrait of female objectification displayed by the female characters like Dorothy. 

The book “Gentlemen prefer blondes” by Anita Loo is designed on a professional lady’s diary of how her life basically seems. The book is based on a young blonde woman “Lorelei” who’s beauty is captivating. The protagonist who is the main character uses this aspect of her to manipulate men with her charm to get what she wants. The men in the book like Gus Eisman who finances for her educative travels and Henry the millionaire who marries her deem the protagonist as a shining beauty that lights up their lives. The narrator is accompanied by a close acquaintance “Dorothy” who falls in the objectification faze but does not fall in deep as her friend. These women go around the world where they meet a ton of people with the most highlighted being men. The book depicts that the blondes’ beauty charmed men which made it easy for the pair to maneuver around. 

Female objectification is still a pervasive issue that permeates the contemporary society. The valuing of their attractiveness seems normal and in most societies a woman is nothing more of a charming beauty that should be used to please a man. The degree of this objectification can differ from one community to another with some being more prevalent than others. In some cultures, women are trained on how to adorn themselves from the way they dress, think and conduct themselves for their husbands. In these communities’ women are not allowed to educate themselves as they are believed to not be capable to contribute to society in such a way. Due to these stereotypes, the fight of gender inequality remains a sensitive topic where others still argue that a woman’s position in the society is limited to taking care of her family. 

Similarly, women’s bodies have been reduced to sexual objects and their value is measured with how attractive they are to their male counterparts. These stereotypes remain a major hurdle in the women empowerment campaigns. The prolonged objectification has made women believe that all they encompass is to glorify a man. For instance, in the “gentlemen prefer blondes”, the narrator believes that Dorothy ought to educate herself so that she can be ideal to interact with her gentlemen friends. 

“Dorothy never has any fate in her life and she does nothing but waste her time and I really wonder if I did right to bring her with me and not Lulu. I mean she really gives gentlemen a bad impression as she talks quite a lot of slang. Because when I went up yesterday to meet she and Major Falcon for luncheon, I overheard her say to Major Falcon that she really liked to become intoxicated once in a “dirty” while. Only she did not say intoxicated, but she really said a slang word that means intoxicated and I am always having to tell her that “dirty” is a slang word and she really should not say “dirty” (Loos, 1952, p. 11). The contemporary woman is however more privileged compared to the traditional woman as the world has evolved significantly and the female objectification is less prevalent. 

Indisputably, female objectification is a theme that is evidently pronounced in “Gentlemen prefer blondes.” The two protagonists including Dorothy seem to cultivate their lives around men. Although different women objectify themselves in distinguished forms, they still package themselves as objects for the men in their lives. In some instances, these objectifications are transactional where some women worship men for their riches and other for the mere male pleasure. Dorothy fancied the handsome energetic men not necessarily to get anything tangible from them but to fulfill the conformed male validation that most women believe they need. 

In the book Dorothy is seen hanging out with gentlemen whose decorum is below her friend’s par level. “So Dorothy is out taking a walk up and down the deck with a gentleman she met on the steps, but I am not going to waste my time going around with gentlemen because if I did nothing but go around I would not finish my diary or read good books which I am always reading to improve my mind. But Dorothy really does not care about her mind and I always scold her because she does nothing but waste her time by going around with gentlemen who do not have anything, when Eddie Goldmark of the Goldmark Films is really quite wealthy and can make a girl delightful presents. But she does nothing but waste her time and yesterday, which was really the day before we sailed, she would not go to luncheon with Mr. Goldmark but she went to luncheon to meet a gentleman called Mr. Mencken from Baltimore who really only prints a green magazine which has not even got any pictures in it” (Loos, 1952, p. 10). Such scenarios explain how most females have self-objectified themselves in order to attain a certain class of men. 

Self-objectification happens as a result of prolonged push for these ideologies that women ought to possess certain attributes to fit in the conformed society. The story by Ann Loo shows how the women character objectified themselves and entirely aligned their lives to fit in the men realm. The narrator, kept highlighting that Dorothy should educate herself to appear as a fine lady when interacting with the gentlemen. The narrative seems to insinuate that if Dorothy educated herself, she would interrelate with more high level gentlemen. “I told him I had a girl with me who I was trying to reform because I thought if she would put her mind more on getting educated, she would get more reformed. Because after all Mr. Spoffard will have to meet Dorothy sooner or later and he might wonder what a refined girl like I was doing with a girl like Dorothy” (Loos, 1952, p. 62). Although it is noble for women to get educated, a more valid reason other than to impress a man ought to propel their curiosity in education. 

Notably, females also believe they can get what they want using their overly objectified selves. In the contemporary world, women use their proclaimed beauty to seduce wealthy gentlemen. Also, cases of women using their sexual anatomy to get ahead of their colleagues in places of work is more common. In the 1950s, since the idea of professional women was not popular, these individuals were known of utilizing their beauty to get gentlemen fund their livelihoods. The book “Gentlemen prefer blondes” is a good example of how these ideologies were popularized. 

In the book, Dorothy wonders how her friend “the narrator” could settle for a billionaire’s son yet she could get the father who seemed wealthier. “So Dorothy says what a fool I am to waste my time on Henry, when I might manage to meet Henry’s father and the whole thing would be over in a few months and I would practically own the state of Pennsylvania. But I do not think I ought to take Dorothy’s advice because Henry’s father is watched like a hawk and Henry himself is his Power of Attorney, so no good could really come of it after all. And, after all, why should I listen to the advice of a girl like Dorothy who travelled all over Europe and all she came home with was a bangle!” (Loos, 1952, p. 50). From the text it is evident that these characters believe that their female demeanor ought to earn them much more and they should strike when opportunity knocks. 

Correspondingly, the consistent objectification from outside forces has made women to succumb to the pressure of self-objectification. The value tag on women is publicly pronounced even in the modern world which has suggestively affected how females rate themselves. For instance, when the media keeps promoting a specific narrative about women then the viewers will involuntary compare themselves to this narrative. In the modern world the media has portrayed that a woman who looks a particular way and dresses provocatively gets the male attention and in most cases attains whatever she desires from her male prospects. The blonde woman has for a long time been promoted as the ideal woman for every man which is growing in young girls. Most young adults go to extra lengths to attain fit this ideal narrative which at times ends up being hazardous. Women should be comfortable in their own skin and society should stop reducing them to just puppets. A skilled woman is equally important to a skilled man and they can both contribute in societal development. 

In conclusion, the book “Gentlemen prefer blondes” by Anita Loo, has an evident theme of female objectification which is highlighted through the female characters like Dorothy. Society has numerously valued women on the basis of their sexual attractiveness. Perusing through “Gentlemen prefer blondes”, this ideology has existed from as early as the 1950s. The book which narrates of the life of two women who travelled the world together seem to depict that gentlemen played an essential role in these excursions. While it is a noble and permissive thing for men and women to occasionally interact, there needs to be a balance on how these genders interdepend on one another. The story paints a woman as an object that majorly depends on a man for survival. Through one of the protagonists, “Dorothy”, it is evident that due to the constant objectification, women have also subjected themselves to self-objectification. After living with these ideologies, women also seem to have joined the wagon of identifying as objects that should please the male gender and in turn get whatever they need. These stereotypes have eroded society its moral touch where humans act as plain transactional beings. The modern woman is however privileged compared to her traditional counterpart as currently women can hold equal positions as men and work as colleagues or partners. Although, a ton of work to entirely reverse these ideologies, there is hope for the contemporary woman as more and more communities are embracing the analogy of women empowerment. 

Reference

Loos, A. (1952). Gentlemen prefer blondes. WW Norton & Company.