In the 1950s, it would have been rare for a woman to play such an action-filled, self-governing role. Typically, these feature roles were reserved for men, as women were considered much too fragile for these daring stunts. .
The image of women in film has transformed throughout the years. From the 1920s through the 1930s women in film modeled the "Victorian woman." These characters were often delicate and simplistic. They were portrayed as childlike and pure – and never dared express their sexuality (Benshoff & Griffin, 2009). "Bad" women were portrayed as explicitly sexualized, which taught young women of the era that to be sexual outside of marriage most often led to ruin (Benshoff & Griffin, 2009). In America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies, Harry M. Benshoff and Sean Griffin write, "Victorian culture and early film simplistically divided women into two groups. This cultural construct defining women on their sexuality has been dubbed the virgin-whore complex (2009, p. 219)." The virgin-whore complex proposes that women are either pure, innocent "good girls" or morally-void, promiscuous "bad girls", and leaves no room for in-between. In the early 1900s, sexually expressive women were often ostracized from society and were looked at with little respect. So, when did this all change? When were women liberated from the chains that bound them from sexual expression? .
As America became more open about its sexuality in the 1950s, so did women in film. The sexually adventurous "blonde bombshell" was often portrayed; hence, most of Marilyn Monroe's roles throughout her career. Although this character often came across as simple-minded, she had a special way of manipulating men with her effortless sex appeal (Benshoff & Griffin, 2009). The "blonde bombshell" also often seemed unaware of her power over men, which made her all the more attractive.
