Bombshell (slang)

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). Two years later, she starred in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film Bombshell (1933). 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. Some of the movie stars, largely of the 1940s–1960s, referred to as bombshells include Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth, Diana Dors, Jayne Mansfield, Mamie Van Doren, Jane Russell, Ava Gardner, Camelia, Carroll Baker, Brigitte Bardot, Kim Novak, Julie Christie, Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Ann-Margret, Hind Rostom, Veronica Lake, Raquel Welch, Ursula Andress, Marlene Dietrich, Betty Grable, Marie Wilson, Judy Holliday, Lana Turner, Dorothy Dandridge, Barbara Eden, Carol Wayne, Goldie Hawn, Claudia Cardinale, Anita Ekberg and Gina Lollobrigida.

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.

Stereotype

Bombshells are identified with hypersexuality, their curves, including hourglass figures and large breasts, sex appeal, larger than life personas or hedonistic lifestyle, as well as stereotypes associated with blonde women and supermodels.

References

References

1. "Definition of BOMBSHELL".
2. "bombshell – Definition of bombshell in English by Oxford Dictionaries".
3. "Bombshell". Dictionary.reference.com.
4. Jordan, Jessica Hope. (2009). "The Sex Goddess in American Film, 1930–1965: Jean Harlow, Mae West, Lana Turner, and Jayne Mansfield". Cambria Press.
5. ''Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow'' by [[David Stenn]], page 151, 162
6. ''The Guide to United States Popular Culture'', 2001, {{ISBN
7. 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
8. One of the blurbs on posters was "Lovely, luscious, exotic Jean Harlow as the Blonde Bombshell of filmdom."Richard Havers, Richard Evans, ''Marilyn'', 2010, {{ISBN. 1-84912-026-9, p. 16.
9. Katie King and Debra Walker King, ''Body Politics and the Fictional Double'', page 157, Indiana University Press, 2000, {{ISBN. 978-0-253-10832-6
10. Callahan, Dan. (17 October 2018). "Get To Know Rita Hayworth, The Reluctant Bombshell".
11. Rozen, Leah. "The British Marilyn: Blonde Bombshell Diana Dors".
12. 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'".
13. (16 May 2017). "Brigitte Bardot's Best Bombshell Moments at the Cannes Film Festival".
14. [[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
15. "The Old-School Beauty Of Anita Ekberg". The Roosevelts.
16. Berman, Eliza. "The Italian Bombshell Who Proved That Life Is About Much More Than Curves".
17. Stephanie Ann Smith. (1 January 2006). "Household words: bloomers, sucker, bombshell, scab, nigger, cyber". U of Minnesota Press.
18. 9781137365347