Lorelei's Guide to a Lady's Luxury: The Secrets of Social Mobility in Anita Loos' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Anita Loos’ Gentlemen Prefer Blondes constantly acknowledges tensions between the intentions and actions of its protagonist, Lorelei Lee. Some literary critics and authors have speculated in depth the reasons and/or effects of Lorelei’s humorous oblivion, coming to the conclusion that Loos creates this character as a parody for the reader. This article asserts instead that readers should grant Lorelei autonomy, thus giving her more credit than she is generally given at face value. I read Blondes as a self-help book rather than a parody. Specifically, I read Lorelei as not only a creation of modernist work, but a creator of such work: her diary works as a satire on the nineteenth century social etiquette texts directed at women. By identifying some implicit lessons in Lorelei’s diary, I will demonstrate how Loos carefully constructs Lorelei’s humorous rhetoric as a disguised societal guide for the contemporary American flapper who aspires upward mobility.