"Despite her carefully cultivated soft, breathy voice, Marilyn was full of anger." — Barbara Leaming
In the 1930s, a 9-year-old orphan named Norma Jeane was sexually abused by a male caretaker. When she sought justice, she was scolded and called a liar.
Little Norma Jeane was shamed into silence.
She would be sexually abused within the foster care system for the rest of her childhood. Whenever she would fight back, she would be punished. So, Norma Jeane learned to keep these incidents to herself.
At age 16, her foster family could no longer care for her, so an arranged marriage was made. A teenage Norma Jean married 21-year-old Jim Dougherty.
She finally belonged to someone. She was no longer an orphan.
The marriage crumbled a few years later and Norma Jeane was now working as a model. Norma Jeane found herself in the domain of strangers. She posed for their cameras. She was poked, prodded, and fondled by strangers. She was told how to look, dress, and act. She was told to change her hair, fix her teeth, and get cosmetic surgery.
She was told to change her name.
In 1946, Marilyn Monroe was born, and through this new identity, she hoped to shed her childhood shame. She soon found herself in the hands of Johnny Hyde, a talent agent 30 years her senior who helped launch her career.
Johnny was in love with Marilyn. However, Marilyn did not feel the same. Johnny left his wife and children to be with Marilyn but she turned down his marriage proposal.
Johnny died of a heart attack soon afterward and in the eyes of the public, Marilyn's rejection was cited as the reason for his death. Marilyn was again reminded that saying "no" to a man could have devastating effects.
Her childhood shame returned.
The day after Johnny's funeral, Marilyn attempted suicide. This would be one of many suicide attempts throughout her life. A roommate discovered her and Marilyn recovered.
Despite her troubles, Marilyn's star continued to rise. Although, her fame did not protect her from powerful men's abuse. Actor Orson Welle's recalled a story about an incident he witnessed at a party in which Marilyn was a guest:
"Marilyn was surrounded by men and one reached out and tore off her top, revealing her breasts … Marilyn laughed with the others at this indignity. Laughter hid her fury."
It was an open secret in Hollywood, that in order to get roles, you had to sexually please the men in power. Decades before the #MeToo movement, Marilyn discussed these power dynamics in her autobiography My Story.
"Don't let the studio big guys dictate to you. You're just a piece of meat to them. We all are."' Marilyn Monroe warned then-unknown actress Joan Collins.
Marilyn became increasingly dependent on pills and alcohol for the rest of her life. By the end of her career, she was unable to work and was fired from her final film Something's Got to Give.
The last movie she starred in was The Misfits. Her co-star, Clark Gable, died shortly after The Misfits completed filming. During her childhood, Marilyn often pretended that Gable was her father, as her biological father had rejected her.
Marilyn once revealed at a party that she wished to seek revenge on her absent father. She confessed that she "longed to put on a black wig, pick up her father in a bar and make love to him.' Afterward, she would ask, 'How do you feel now that you have a daughter that you've made love to?'"
Losing Clark Gable was like being rejected by her biological father a second time. As with Johnny Hyde's death, Marilyn was blamed for Clark Gable's death due to her mental health struggles on the set of The Misfits.
Marilyn would attempt suicide again, and this time, she would be successful.
Even in death, Marilyn could not escape being sexualized. A man named Richard Poncher, who died in 1981, is buried above Marilyn and was asked to be buried face down.
Playboy founder, Hugh Hefner, famously bought the grave next to Marilyn's. He once said, "Spending eternity next to Marilyn is too sweet to pass up." When he died in 2017, he was buried in a crypt next to Marilyn.
Marilyn was featured on the first cover of Playboy Magazine, although Hefner never paid Marilyn a dime for the photos that made him a millionaire.
"Monroe's premature death raised one haunting question for the men who were, in their own fantasy, her lovers.
Was it possible, could it be, that she hadn't liked it all along? Had those smiles been masks covering despair or rage?
Her apparent suicide stood at once an accusation and answer:
No, Marilyn Monroe, the ideal sexual female, had not liked it."
— Andrea Dworkin
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