BreakinG the BomBshell

ho is the American “bombshell,” and why do we revere her? Perhaps equally important (and far less overtly asked) who is the American “bombshell,” and why do we resent her? There is a complicated identity that accompanies such a title and an even more complicated way of perceiving those who are known by it.

Marilyn Monroe, Brooke Shields, Kim Kardashian, Sele na Gomez, Emily Ratajkowski — the bombshell connotes an aura of unimaginable beauty and power, and it often feels as though the ubiquitous nature of the media is designed to persistently remind us what it is about her that we should simultaneously attempt to be but to which we will never amount. In doing so, the media also enables us to more easily remove the humanity from the figure, as she becomes more of a commercialized entity than an individual woman. Hence, the perception of her perfection fluctuates alongside our satisfaction with her when she reveals her true nature to us.