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thecinamonroe · 3 days

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Marilyn Monroe, then Norma Jeane, photographed by Andre de Dienes at Death Valley, 1945.

#marilyn monroe #1940s #40s #1945 #vintage #retro #Old Hollywood glamour #old hollywood #history #andre de dienes

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mikasasrippedtoenail · 2 days

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Why Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend

Women and their jewellery have a very intricate relationship. The tale of the nagging wife troubling her husband for new jewellery is as old as time. It is a reflection on a woman's vanity. Folk tales mock her ignorance of worldly ways and her frivolous obsession with being adorned. She is redundant to a mere crow that admires shiny things. However, this begs the question, is a woman's desire to collect jewellery as absurd as men paint it to be?

The world has forgotten that until very recently, women were forbidden from owning any form of capital. Be it property, money or even small inanimate objects, they belonged first to her father then her husband. The roof above her could be taken away on a whim with a clock's tick. In these trying times, jewellery emerged as a beacon of financial security for most women of the globe.

Mother of pearls, diamond earrings, gold necklaces etc. were-- although not in print-- under a woman's reign of control. They had an impressive resale value and could last several generations under proper care. More so, they could be secretly sold usually without paperwork to acquire a woman some monetary freedom. If her husband gambled all their assets away, atleast she'll have enough money to put some food on the table for her children.

Jewellery has often times saved people from calamities. Unlike land, jewellery is easier to sell. In case of an emergency, a large sum of money could be obtained without much trouble. Jewellery are an excellent heirloom. The wisdom of grandmothers is passed down to granddaughters to come, allowing them some command over their own life.

Jewellery is a form of investment just like land and shares. Its value is diminished solely due to its association with women. It is not a woman's vice but a survival tactic against the suffocating patriarchy. Jewellery is something she can have under her own name--no matter how small or how futile-- it is her sole capital, her best friend.