Forerunner to the term "sex symbol"
Marilyn Monroe and
Jane Russell
Brigitte Bardot in 1962
Hind Rostom
The term bombshell is a forerunner to the term "
sex symbol " used to describe popular women regarded as very attractive.
[1]
[2] The
Online Etymology Dictionary by Douglas Harper attests the usage of the term in this meaning since 1942. Bombshell has a longer history in its other, more general figurative meaning of a "shattering or devastating thing or event" since 1860.
[3]
History
The first woman to be known as a bombshell was
Jean Harlow , who was nicknamed the "blonde bombshell" for her film
Platinum Blonde (1931).
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7] Two years later, she starred in the
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film
Bombshell (1933).
[4] One of the blurbs on posters was "Lovely, luscious, exotic Jean Harlow as the Blonde Bombshell of filmdom."
[8]
Hollywood soon took up the blonde bombshell, and then, during the late 1940s through the early 1960s, brunette, exotic, and ethnic versions (e.g., Jane Russell, Dorothy Dandridge and Sophia Loren) were also cultivated as complements to, or as satellites of, the blonde bombshell.
[9] Some of the
movie stars , largely of the 1940s–1960s, referred to as bombshells include
Marilyn Monroe ,
Rita Hayworth ,
[10]
Diana Dors ,
[11]
Jayne Mansfield ,
Mamie Van Doren ,
[12]
Jane Russell ,
Ava Gardner ,
Camelia ,
Carroll Baker ,
Brigitte Bardot ,
[13]
Kim Novak ,
Julie Christie ,
Sophia Loren ,
Elizabeth Taylor ,
Ann-Margret ,
Hind Rostom ,
Veronica Lake ,
Raquel Welch ,
Ursula Andress ,
[14]
[15]
Marlene Dietrich ,
Betty Grable ,
Marie Wilson ,
Judy Holliday ,
Lana Turner ,
Dorothy Dandridge ,
Barbara Eden ,
Carol Wayne ,
Goldie Hawn ,
Claudia Cardinale ,
Anita Ekberg
[16] and
Gina Lollobrigida
[17]
The epithet rose sharply in popularity after the death of Marilyn Monroe in 1962, and declined in popularity in the late 1960s due to emerging ideological conflicts.
[14]
Stereotype
Bombshells are identified with
hypersexuality , their
curves , including
hourglass figures and large
breasts ,
sex appeal , larger than life
personas or
hedonistic lifestyle,
[14] as well as
stereotypes associated with blonde women and
supermodels .
[14]
[9]
[18]
See also
References
^
"Definition of BOMBSHELL" . www.merriam-webster.com .
^
"bombshell – Definition of bombshell in English by Oxford Dictionaries" . Oxford Dictionaries – English . Archived from
the original on August 3, 2013.
^
"Bombshell" . Dictionary.reference.com. Retrieved 2012-08-20 .
^
a
b Jordan, Jessica Hope (2009),
The Sex Goddess in American Film, 1930–1965: Jean Harlow, Mae West, Lana Turner, and Jayne Mansfield , Cambria Press, p. 213,
ISBN
978-1-60497-663-2
^ Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow by
David Stenn , page 151, 162
^ The Guide to United States Popular Culture , 2001,
ISBN
0-87972-821-3 ,
p. 922
^ Grant David McCracken."Marilyn Monroe, the Inventor of Blondeness", Culture And Consumption II: Markets, Meaning, And Brand Management , page 93, Indiana University Press, 2005,
ISBN
978-0-253-34566-0
^ Richard Havers, Richard Evans, Marilyn , 2010,
ISBN
1-84912-026-9 , p. 16.
^
a
b Katie King and Debra Walker King, Body Politics and the Fictional Double , page 157, Indiana University Press, 2000,
ISBN
978-0-253-10832-6
^ Callahan, Dan.
"Get To Know Rita Hayworth, The Reluctant Bombshell" . Nylon . Retrieved 2020-09-16 .
Nylon Magazine
^ Rozen, Leah.
"The British Marilyn: Blonde Bombshell Diana Dors" . BBC America . Retrieved 2020-09-16 .
^ Nolasco, Stephanie (2020-02-27).
" '50s sex symbol Mamie Van Doren on leaving Hollywood after Marilyn Monroe's death: 'There were a lot of drugs' " . Fox News . Retrieved 2020-09-16 .
^
"Brigitte Bardot's Best Bombshell Moments at the Cannes Film Festival" .
W Magazine | Women's Fashion & Celebrity News . Retrieved 2020-09-16 .
^
a
b
c
d Stephanie Ann Smith (1 January 2006).
Household words: bloomers, sucker, bombshell, scab, nigger, cyber . U of Minnesota Press. p. 74.
ISBN
978-0-8166-4553-4 . Retrieved 13 September 2011 .
^
Harry M. Benshoff and
Sean Griffin ,
America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies , page 344, John Wiley & Sons, 2011,
ISBN
978-1-4443-5759-2
^
The Old-School Beauty Of Anita Ekberg , The Roosevelts, archived from
the original on 18 January 2015, retrieved 11 January 2015
^ Berman, Eliza.
"The Italian Bombshell Who Proved That Life Is About Much More Than Curves" . Time . Archived from
the original on July 24, 2015.
^ Afshan Jafar and Erynn Masi de Casanova (edited), Global Beauty, Local Bodies , page 73, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013,
ISBN
9781137365347