I'm a failure as a woman. My men expect so much of me, because of the image they've made of me and that I've made of myself, as a sex symbol. Men expect so much, and I can't live up to it.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a woman's struggle with societal expectations and self-image as a sex symbol.
In this quote, Marilyn Monroe reflects on the pressures placed upon her as a woman and an icon of beauty. She acknowledges the high expectations men have of her, based on the image they have constructed of her as a sex symbol, leading to her feelings of inadequacy and failure in fulfilling those expectations. This highlights the conflict between personal identity and external perceptions, illustrating the deeper emotional burden that such societal roles can impose on individuals.
In practice
In a discussion about women's empowerment and self-identity, this quote can illustrate the societal pressures women face.
They weren't happy, and neither of them had touched the chicken or the ale---and yet they weren't unhappy either. There was an unmistakable air of natural intimacy about the picture and anybody would have said that they were conspiring together.
I might as well enquire,” replied she, “why with so evident a design of offending and insulting me, you chose to tell me that you liked me against your will, against your reason, and even against your character?
And she keeps saying, how can you do this to me? And i want to scream, what do you mean, how can I do this to you? Aren't we confusing our pronouns here? The question, really, is How could I do this to myself?
A liberated woman is one who has sex before marriage and a job after.
Once I was in a cafe in Portland and the woman at the next table and I began chatting and in the course of our conversation she strongly recommend I visit this web site called 'The Rumpus' so I could read this advice column called 'Dear Sugar.' It was so painful not to tell her that in fact I was Sugar, but I didn't.
If a relationship is perfectly natural there will be a complete fusion of the happiness of both of you-owing to fellow-feeling and various other laws which govern our natures, this is, quite simply, the greatest happiness that can exist.
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