Health & Fitness
BLOG: Marilyn Monroe Left No Children Behind. Does Anybody Care?
Children aren't the only vehicle for women to leave important, memorable legacies for future generations to cherish. One shining example comes to mind to prove the point: Marilyn Monroe.
Every generation is convinced that their icons are too colossal, too talented, too...well, iconic, to ever be replaced. For Baby Boomers, there's an dimension of, "Angelina who?"
Think of the original Bodacious Ta-Tas (of Jayne Mansfield), the violet eyes of Elizabeth Taylor, bronze siren Lena Horne, and the whispery Marilyn Monroe, whose every body part earned reverential respect that has lasted the test of time.
To us and those who will come after, Marilyn Monroe will always be 36 years old. That white dress will always be blowing up in the air. And, obviously, Marilyn will always be a NotMom. She married 3 times, but I haven't found much about her failure to conceive. Then again, does a man marry a woman like Marilyn Monroe to have children?
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When I try to imagine what impact motherhood might have had on the superstar's career, my eyebrows link up in a knot. Even with supersize curves, Jayne Mansfield was not viewed quite the same after the arrival of a daughter in 1964 (AKA Law & Order's Mariska Hargitay). But, what do I know? I live in an age that cheers when re-bootylicious Beyonce slips back into a sparkly catsuit. Blue Ivy who?
This August is the 50th anniversary of Lady Marilyn's death. Who cares that there were no surviving children? Wasn't it always all about her? She is her own legacy.