The male fantasy

And so it continued throughout her career. Monroe was the male ideal of the perfectly desirable female, which says much for masculine limitations. As with Betty Grable, who had been every man’s pin-up before her, it was based almost entirely on her beauty and fabulous figure. Men didn’t care whether she was a good conversationalist or helped old ladies across the road: she was sexy, voluptuous and only too ready to play up to their fantasies, and that was enough.

What was it that made her more lusted after than all the other big-busted film beauties of 1950s Hollywood? To understand, you only have to listen to her songs, especially I Wanna Be Loved by You. Monroe excited men across the globe not merely because of her physical attributes — there were other stars who shared those — but because she personified what men really wanted in women. What made her unique was her apparent malleability, a polite word for the weakness that so many men found thrilling. I defy any man to listen to her singing (breathing, actually) Happy Birthday, Mr President, and not think: “That’s exactly what I want. Now.” Her genius lay in the fact that she convinced them they could have her. But, as you might expect from the woman who shrewdly commented, “Hollywood pays $1,000 for a kiss and 50 cents for your soul”, she kept her integrity to the truly bitter end.