The first words a person may hear when they think of the name “Marilyn Monroe” is sex icon. There is no denying that part of her life; she embodied sexual nature in her very step. Everything about her, to her iconic flowing skirt to her sultry voice singing "Happy Birthday Mr. President" oozed sex appeal. Many people hold the belief that she wasn't a role model at all because she was over sexualized so much. This idea took away much of the respect she deserved for all she accomplished in her short lifetime.

In her article, Holly Cooper lists many of the achievements and reasons as to why Monroe should be held in such a high respect. After all the modern day film adaptations of Monroe's life, the audience is able to see a different and more intimate version of her. This article could become an endless list of all the good she has done in the world. As an actress she studied and studied to improve her craft and create movies that are still referenced today because of her incredible presence on the big screen. As a woman she inspired those around her with her kind heart and generosity to all. Many people have studied her life and learned more about her as the years have gone by. She suffered with mental illness, liked to write poems in her spare time, and had an enormous library. After all this information that has gathered about her, it is easy to conclude that she was more than just a sex icon; only this is not how modern mass media has portrayed her. Despite all her success, she has been created into an accessory for all sorts of merchandise.

All these items were found in popular stores such as Icing and Spencer's. The question that I am proposing is, why is it that a woman who created over thirty films in her very short life time, owned her own production company in protest to the media type casting her, and was one of the most iconic figures in pop culture, on products such as a lanyard and a shot glass?

She has been gone for 53 years and throughout her life she fought movie makers against casting her as a dumb blonde. All she wanted in her career was to be taken seriously as an actress. She studied at the Actor's Studio in New York City in the midst of her career in order to improve her art. Does this sound like a woman that would want her legacy to be printed out on a bath mat? Due to pop culture she has become less of a person and more of just a popular accessory. The respect that she fought for in life was only dismissed after her death. She is not honored as she should be, but made into a product companies can use to sell their images. The idea of old Hollywood is a popular aesthetic among teenage girls in particular. They are the main consumers of most of these products, and by buying into them they are losing the idea of what Marilyn truly embodied. Young girls would rather focus on her image rather than what she stood for. They want to achieve the curvy figure, platinum blonde hair, and sultry eyes. The closest thing the media portrays her in a somewhat respective light is by creating those well known posters of her with an inspirational quote over it many young women can relate to. Many times in this case, it is a quote that she never said, but the media found it relatable to her image. For example one of the most famous quotes associated with her is, "I'm pretty, but I'm not beautiful. I sin, but I'm not the devil. I'm good, but I'm not an angel." Which was actually said by Alona Kimhi. BuzzFeed created an article with many other famous quotes associated with her that have been proven to be false. That's beside the point. The main problem is that when young girls see her image on a product, they don't connect all her achievements, but lower her to the same status that big hollywood film makers did to her. She became only a sex icon.

For someone that many young girls look up to, Marilyn has more to offer them than just a decoration they can use or wear. She believed in loving oneself and standing up to people to earn the respect she deserved. Marilyn was more than a sex icon; she was a human being that should not be memorialized in gift shops or stores. From her own words in her last taped interview with Richard Meryman, published in LIFE magazine a few days before her death she stated, “Please don't make me a joke. End the interview with what I believe. I don't mind making jokes, but I don't want to look like one... I want to be an artist, an actress with integrity.”