100 years of Marilyn Monroe: A working-class heroine
By Lucy Nichols – Counterfire - 2 June 2026 Born 100 years ago this month, Marilyn Monroe is the most famous face that Hollywood has ever produced. Monroe was arguably Hollywood’s first modern sex symbol, but represents much more than just the sexualised feminine object she is most often remembered as. Monroe was born during the Great Depression and grew up in various foster homes and orphanages in multicultural, working-class parts of California. It was later, during the Second World War, that Monroe was ‘discovered’ while working in a factory. From here, she began modelling and her career took off: she starred in films, adverts, magazines and more, her face instantly recognisable even decades after her death. Less is known about Monroe as a politically active woman, one who pushed back against homophobia, anti-Communism and racism, who advocated for free love, herself rumoured to have had many affairs, most famously with the Kennedy brothers but also with a number of women. It is well known that Monroe married left-wing playwright Arthur Miller, perhaps less well known that she founded the Hollywood branch of the ‘Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy’ and was even elected as an alternate delegate to the California state Democratic caucus. The FBI opened an investigation into Monroe in 1955 after she applied for a visa to visit the USSR, as well as due to her support for her then-husband. Full at: https://www.counterfire.org/article/100-years-of-marilyn-monroe-a-working-class-heroine/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#41929): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/41929 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/119639819/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
