Monroe and Kardashian as sexual icons: active agents and cultural products

Marilyn Monroe and Kim Kardashian are sexual icons who are both formed by heteronormative culture and are active agents who aided in creating their identity as performers. Monroe's appearance of a "dumb blonde" allowed her the freedom actually to subvert passive femininity. She subverted normative views of womanhood both in her films like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and in the facts that the public knows about her personal life. Kardashian's family life fits within heteronormative modes of womanhood. Kardashian appropriates African American culture to help build her family's empire and to present herself as sexually appealing. Marilyn Monroe utilizes heteronormative ideals of beauty tied to whiteness to make her a sexual icon. Both icons' bodies have an excess of sexuality that makes them desirable no matter what form of media captures their style.